The Cleveland Browns may have their next head coach nearly decided.
According to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, Freddie Kitchens has a “good chance” of being named the Browns’ next head coach. She says signs are pointing to that outcomes.
The Browns fired Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley after a 2-5-1 start. Gregg Williams was promoted to interim head coach, while Kitchens was bumped to offensive coordinator. Under the new leadership, the Browns went 5-3 to finish the season, while the offense and Baker Mayfield took off.
In eight games under Kitchens, Mayfield threw 19 touchdown passes, 8 interceptions, and was sacked just five times, compared to 8/6/20 in the first eight games. His completion percentage improved by over 10 points under Kitchens as well.
Since beginning their coaching search, the browns interviewed Williams, Jim Caldwell, Dan Campbell, Brian Flores, Matt Eberflus, Kevin Stefanski and Kitchens. As of Tuesday, they were said to be down to Stefanski and Kitchens as their finalists, and they had put their interest in Mike McCarthy “on hold.”
Kitchens’ playcalling was creative, and he seemed to get the most out of the offense. Keeping him around seems like a smart move by Cleveland.
