Cleveland Browns: Time for Kitchens to be a serious coaching candidate

Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens is getting no run as a head coaching candidate. It’s time for that to change.

Around Cleveland Browns town, Freddie Kitchens is getting no love for the team’s permanent head coaching gig.

As talk of finding the next young, offensive oriented wunderkind is fed by the media to the public daily, perhaps the organization and John Dorsey should look no further than the man currently calling plays.

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At 44, Kitchens is young-ish, offensive minded and he’s already having success with Baker Mayfield, and that’s huge, because the biggest concern surrounding Mayfield is development.

The Browns need to be asking themselves daily if their franchise savior is getting better every day.

And the 2-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway where Mayfield changed the play after recognizing something in Denver’s defense, suggests he’s making tremendous strides.

Mayfield appears to be the rare talent the Browns have been in search of since 1993.

Chances are, he’d be successful with a lot of other coaches pulling the strings behind him. There can be impediments to his growth, though. Browns fans saw it first hand as the rookie fell into a lull as discord between Hue Jackson and Todd Haley grew.

It’s for this reason, a good working relationship shouldn’t be cast aside and the two clearly have a bond based off that four-to-five-second hug the pair shared after the go-ahead touchdown in Denver.

NBC’s Peter King described Kitchens as “no-nonsense tough,” just like Kitchen’s mentors, Gene Stallings, Nick Saban and Bill Parcells.

Kitchen’s done enough over the past couple of months to deserve serious consideration as the team’s next head coach. A long shot? Yes, but if he leaves Cleveland without even getting an interview, it’ll be a point in history worth noting.

• Elsewhere around Browns Town, Gregg Williams’ only appears to see his stock go up, despite some questionable clock management decisions at the end of the Browns’ win in Denver.

Williams is an excellent motivator, and that’s so important for a coach at any level, but especially so in the NFL.

Perhaps the Browns give the gig to Williams and keep Kitchens on board as the offensive coordinator if you’re worried about his lack of experience in the upper hierarchy of NFL coaching. If Gregg doesn’t work out, Baker’s offensive coordinator will be there to take the reigns.

Yes, this situation sets up to be disastrous, which is why Kitchens should be taken more seriously as a candidate right now.

Sean McVay, who’s team has struggled the last couple of weeks by the way, didn’t go to LA with a sign around his next reading “Next big thing.”

Next. 5 Browns whose stock is up after Denver win. dark

Sometimes, you’ve got to find someone you believe in and then give that person a chance.

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