Cleveland Browns: Freddie Kitchens will leave if not hired as head coach

If the Cleveland Browns go with someone other than Freddie Kitchens as their head coach, he will eventually leave the franchise as someone will hire him for that role one day

Throughout the day on Tuesday, reports continued to come out that Freddie Kitchens was emerging as a favorite for the Cleveland Browns head coaching job. This could be surprising to some considering not long ago, no one really knew who Kitchens was.

Then when Hue Jackson and Todd Haley were fired, the Browns promoted Kitchens from running backs coach to offensive coordinator. From there, the legend was born.

Kitchens immediately endeared himself to fans with his hilarious press conferences and his players loved him as well. He became even more popular due to the way he called games and got the most out of the players he was coaching.

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Quarterback Baker Mayfield seemed more comfortable as Kitchens tailored the offense to his strengths. They also saw Jarvis Landry playing more effectively, and Duke Johnson finally got involved after years of Hue saying he needed to get touches with no action following those words.

All that, coupled with an apparently impressive interview for the head coaching job, now has the dark horse in front as the favorite for the job. Many have called for the Browns to just pull the trigger and hire Kitchens, but his inexperience may be giving the team pause.

It shouldn’t though. Because the fact is, if Kitchens isn’t hired by the Browns, someone will come in within the next year or two and steal him. Yes, they could potentially keep him on staff as the offensive coordinator this season, but that will only keep him in town for a limited time.

In this day and age in the NFL, offensive minds like his are in high demand. Take for example the recent hiring of Matt LaFleur in Green Bay and Kliff Kingsbury in Arizona. LaFleur led an inconsistent offense in Tennessee and Kingsbury was fired at Texas Tech.

Even so, their new employers fell in love with the offensive gameplans they created and decided to give them a chance. Kitchens could be in demand as well if the Browns retain him as an offensive coordinator and he continues to impress.

The Browns need to act now. If they believe Kitchens has head coaching potential he needs to be the guy. They know the players respond well to him and the fans love him. It’s time to make the move. If they don’t, he won’t be around for long.