Cleveland Browns: Freddie’s not ready

The Cleveland Browns hired a rookie head coach this off season. At the time he sounded like a veteran, but now the inexperience is starting to show.

Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens is struggling through his first three games. The 1-2 Browns could have easily been 3-0 had the team been more disciplined, had better game management and better play calling. In the NFL, all three of those issues fall on the head coach.

After the firing of former head coach Hue Jackson last season, the team showed a remarkable turnaround. That turnaround, in part, was credited to the play calling and swagger of then interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens.

Kitchens did a great job. He took a struggling quarterback in Baker Mayfield and simplified his decision making process. He called plays to fit Baker’s strength as an Air Raid style quarterback. Freddie finally made the Browns look smart with one of their draft picks (which is a rare and amazing thing to do).

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It was only logical to look at Kitchens as a head coach candidate last off season. Kitchens was last to get an interview. He had the least amount of experience. Kitchens had been a position coach his entire career. His role as the interim offensive coordinator was his only experience calling plays.

When the Browns hired Kitchens for the head coach position, they had to know there would be bumps in the road. He never spent an entire season as a coordinator. He spent half a season calling plays. He has no experience as a head coach (which is not all that unusual).

What Kitchens had going for him was that he fit the trend. He fits the trend of hiring the young offensive minded “genius”. The Browns also followed the trend by hiring an experienced defensive coordinator with head coaching experience to help out along the way.

Nonetheless there have been bumps along the way. Except Kitchens’ bumps in the road so far look more like major road construction. He looks like a head coach that is drowning under the pressure. He looks as if the spotlight is too big for him. He looks like a coach lost in the sea and pressures of being a head coach are overwhelming him.

To be fair this is only week 4 of the NFL season. But the Browns have looked brutal. They are the most penalized team in the NFL. The play calling has left fans and players alike scratching their heads. His use of time outs and overall game management is bewildering.

Play calling has been a major issue in itself. The players are not out of the huddle and in formation for the Browns to read the defense. (Some of this could be a strategy to give the defense less time to react to the offensive formation) The calls themselves are questionable. The offense usually feels rushed and the ensuing penalties are predictable.

Game management has been just as awful. There is no reward or points for not using time outs. But not only are the time outs not used, but there are times when a strategic time out would have helped tremendously.

Kitchens needs to focus on fixing one of these two concerns immediately. He needs to fix the game management issues by not calling the plays. Or he needs to fix the play calling by letting a different coach manage the game.

Kitchens is trying to double dip as the Browns head coach. Usually when that happens, the head coach has considerable experience doing one piece or the other. In Freddie’s case, he has minimal experience in both.

It might be time for Freddie to simplify his duties as a head coach. It’s time for Freddie to give up the play calling to offensive coordinator Todd Monken to focus on game management and clock management.

Freddie’s not ready. He needs to divest himself of some responsibility to get things under control before the season is truly lost.