Cleveland Browns will have competition for Freddie Kitchens

Freddie Kitchens is a hot name in the NFL right now, but could the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator be garnering interest from the Tennessee Volunteers as well? He does have a tie to their head coach

Interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens has done an outstanding job helping to turn around the Cleveland Browns offense. Kitchens took over following the firing of Todd Haley and head coach Hue Jackson.

In replacing them, he took over an offense that ranked in the bottom five of almost every major offensive category. Kitchens has made them into a force, while also helping Baker Mayfield grow and help his case to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Freddie’s offensive magic hasn’t gone unnoticed either. He is rumored to be a hot commodity for several offensive coordinator positions around the league, as well as in college.

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Although Jay Glazer previously reported he has secured the coordinator job in Cleveland, no deal has been signed. Things can change quickly, and if a good enough offer comes in, Kitchens will have to consider leaving his current team.

One reason that he may leave is the still-vacant head coaching position. If general manager John Dorsey looks outside of the current coaching staff for a head coaching hire, he will likely also be looking for a new coordinator.

While Dorsey could sign Freddie Kitchens as the full time offensive coordinator, any potential head coaching candidates would likely prefer to bring in their own coordinators.

Even if Dorsey keeps the current staff, or beings in Bruce Arians, who is very high on Kitchens after working with him in Arizona, they will have competition for his services. One place to watch is the offensive coordinator job for the Tennessee Volunteers.

Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt knows Freddie very well, and while they’ve never coached together, they played together at Alabama in the 1990s. Although Kitchens hasn’t coached in college since the early 2000s, the right call from a former teammate may be enough to lure Kitchens back to the college level.

The NFL is working for Freddie Kitchens, and he’s a hot name for many jobs. But an NFL job isn’t always better than a college job. Surely, working with a great young quarterback in Baker Mayfield is something hard to pass up. If another offer is made, though, you have to think that Kitchens will weigh the options.

He’s bound to have plenty of them this off-season. Cleveland will have to work hard if they want to retain his services for the long haul.