5 coaching candidates Cleveland Browns should hire to replace Freddie Kitchens

5. Matt Rhule, Baylor

Matt Rhule is one of the hottest candidates in college football after leading the revival of Baylor’s program in 2019. He took over that job in 2017 after a successful four years coaching Temple to back-to-back 10-win seasons..

Prior to Baylor, he spent 15 years cutting his teeth at Temple and Western Carolina.

Unlike some other college coaches, Rhule does boast some NFL experience, having served as an offensive assistant for the Giants back in 2012.

If you’re the Browns, you should be interested in Rhule, especially because the offense still possesses so many weapons. With that said, while Rhule’s been a head coach at the college level, doing it in the NFL is a different beast.

It’s for this reason, I think the Browns have to go with someone who has more NFL experience. As the Dawg Pound was reminded constantly during the regular season, the egos in the locker room appeared to be too much for Kitchens to manage.

It’d be a big ask for Rhule to come to Cleveland and lay down the law demanding OBJ report to OTAs. Perhaps he’s capable of communicating with players at the top of the roster, just the same as players all the way down to the bottom of the 53.

His track record, at the very least, deserves a conversation, where the Browns can better determine what kind of coach Rhule can be.