Cleveland Browns: 4 Benefits of hiring Freddie Kitchens as head coach

2. Some clarity to power structure

This isn’t to say the Cleveland Browns’ power structure makes sense, but the hierarchy of power in Berea can at least be a little bit better understood.

Freddie Kitchens will report directly to general manager John Dorsey, who reports directly to owner Jimmy Haslam. Paul DePodesta, who still has an undefined role, at least publicly, will continue to report to the owner directly.

The football coach reports to the boss in charge of the roster, who reports to the owner. So crazy, it just might work!

As for DePodesta, the public is left to assume that he’s in charge of analytics as chief strategy officer and that he’s basically a special adviser to ownership, who happens to carry a lot of clout.

Prior to Kitchens’ hire, media reports had the Browns on the brink of chaos.

Credible rumors indicated chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta wanted to hire Vikings interim offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski. John Dorsey, on the other hand, wanted Kitchens.

Other reports had Stefanski on Dorsey’s radar, though, too. It was reported that Stefanski was a candidate to come in as offensive coordinator prior to the season.

So the Browns’ don’t have the perfect organizational structure, but at least card carrying members of the Dawg Pound have an idea of how things are going to work.

Which brings me back to Dorsey.

This is his hire. If Kitchens fails, it’s a stain on the general manager, as well as Haslam. But when you’re the owner, who cares? You get to do it all over again and Haslam is no stranger to coaching searches.

As for Dorsey, this might be the only coach he gets to hire.