Cleveland Browns coaching search will be extremely complex

The Cleveland Browns will have one of the most attractive head coaching jobs available, but it will be an extremely complex search for the front office.

The Cleveland Browns fired Hue Jackson in October so that general manager John Dorsey and the rest of the front office could get a head start on the search to find their next head coach.

But with only two games remaining in the regular season, it is becoming apparent that this will be an extremely complex coaching search for the Browns. That is mainly because of the two men the Browns promoted after firing Jackson and Todd Haley.

Under interim head coach Gregg Williams and offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, the Browns have looked like an entirely different team. Since taking over, Williams and Kitchens have led the Browns to a 4-2 record and put them in contention for playoffs.

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With how well the two have led the Browns over the past seven weeks, it may be hard for the Browns front office to move on from the duo. The team has played at a different level under the two and the players seem to have trust and confidence in the coaches.

What is going to make this coaching search difficult is if the Browns front office is going to want to break up the trust that the players have in Williams and Kitchens to bring in their own guy. The Browns might plan on bringing in a young offensive mind to groom Baker Mayfield instead of keeping the veteran, hard-nosed defensive coach in Williams.

Williams has done a great of job of creating belief in the players, and that has led to the Browns winning games that they are not usually winning. The players have had nothing but good things to say about Williams and they have played at another level for him.

Williams has been able to be the CEO type of coach and manage the whole team instead of focusing on his specialty. Since being named the head coach, Williams has given his son, Blake Williams, more control over the defense.

But with Williams, he is an older coach that does not specialize on offense. If the idea is to find a head coach to work with Mayfield, then Williams is not that guy – even though Mayfield has shown to have a great relationship with Williams.

Then there is Kitchens, who has transformed the Browns offense into a creative offense that has put defenses in binds. It is obvious that Mayfield is a huge fan of Kitchens and the two are a perfect combination for each other.

Kitchens has done such great work with Mayfield that he has reportedly locked up the offensive coordinator job for next season. If that is the case, then it allows the Browns to look at more candidates then just offensive minded coaches.

With Kitchens in the fold for next season, they can instead find a head coach that prefers to manage the entire team instead of focusing on one side of the ball. It could also add a bunch of defensive minded coaches onto the potential candidate list.

But with the Browns telling candidates that Kitchens is going to be the offensive coordinator, then it will take some candidates out of the running. Coaches are going to want to bring in their own staff and have control over their staff. By keeping Kitchens, it will take most of the offensive minded coaches out of the running.

It would make a lot of sense for the Browns to keep Kitchens and/or Williams. They have done great work since taking over and the players love to play for them. By already making the decision to keep Kitchens, it will take a lot of candidates off the list, but also add more. Keeping Kitchens just adds another wrinkle into this process.

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It will be a difficult process for Dorsey and the rest of the front office over the next couple of weeks. They need to make the right hire this off-season, as the Browns are ready to compete for the playoffs in 2019. The success of Williams and Kitchens has made this search a much more difficult search than anyone would have anticipated.

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