T-shirt fiasco reminder Cleveland Browns don’t need a fan coach

Yet again, Freddie Kitchens displayed behavior unbecoming of a head coach as the Cleveland Browns’ coach was seen waring a “Pittsburgh Started It” shirt.

Sometimes, you just can’t make this stuff up. Freddie Kitchens wore a “Pittsburgh Started It” shirt to the movies over the Thanksgiving break, days before the Cleveland Browns highly anticipated rematch against the Steelers at Heinz Field.

It was supposedly a gift from his family, according to Cleveland.com’s Terry Pluto.

Could you imagine Bill Bellichick doing such a thing?. Heck, Pat Schurmur and his 17-43 career record wouldn’t attemp those shenanigans.

So, what is it with Kitchens? Is is a lack of tact? Does he just not care?

Based off what we’ve heard from the head coach, the problem is that he’s one of us. On its face, that sounds great because any one of us would take on his responsibilities in a heartbeat. Since that can’t happen, we get the next best thing: A fan coach.

He’s out there making the same moves we’d all dial up…although 4th and 9 draws and empty sets from the 3 aren’t in any of our playbooks.

But from the moment Kitchens uttered the phrase, “If you don’t wear orange and brown, you don’t matter,” he endeared himself to one of the most rabid fan bases in professional sports.

We rooted for Kitchens to get the job, especially when it was either him or Kevin Stefanski as the finalist for the gig.

Unsurprisingly, a fan coach hasn’t worked out as Kitchens’ team is one of the most undisciplined squads in the league. It’s been better of late, but the statistics entering Week 13 remind us just how egregious things have been.

The Browns are tied with the Saints, drawing 121 flags. The Saints have played one more game than the Browns. Go ahead, Face Palm it. Additionally, if there is still a stat the Browns are crushing the competition, it remains yards penalized for, which stands at 892 entering the Steelers rematch. Dallas is second, with 839, but like the Saints, they’ve already played their Week 13 contest.

Four players have been suspended by the league for on=field actions during Kitchens’ short reign. Greg Robinson kicked someone in the opener, and then there’s the whole Myles Garrett fiasco, in which Larry Ogunjobi also got the boot. Most recently, Damarious Randall was left at home for something he did during the practice week.

And then, there’s the unimportant stuff, like his players not understanding the uniform code. Joker Shoes, watches and tinted face glass all put Kitchens in a bad light.

This isn’t meant to be a personal attack Freddie seems like a good guy, but perhaps you get a better understanding as to why he wasn’t though of as head coaching material until he caught lightning in a bottle with Baker Mayfield in the second half of 2018.

He’s riding a winning streak that I worry will cloud the judgement of what’s actually going on with the head coaching position. The truth is, three of the Browns’ wins have come against JV squads (Jets, Dolphins, Steelers). The Browns left points off the board in each of those games.

Kitchens will ultimately be judged on wins and losses, but you’ve got to wonder when this type of stuff will catch up to him.