Cleveland Browns: Sticking with Freddie Kitchens right move?

The Cleveland Browns are sticking with Freddie Kitchens in 2020 unless there’s a huge collapse to close the season. Is this the right move?

Throughout the entire 2019 season, Freddie Kitchens’ job security has been in question. The Cleveland Browns rookie head coach has had a lot of growing pains throughout this first season which has come under fire.

There were even concerns he could have been fired during the season as the front office — mainly owner Jimmy Haslam — was allegedly furious over a loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

However, things seemed to have calmed down since then as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network now says the coach has support from team management and without a huge collapse down the stretch, they plan on sticking with Kitchens in 2020.

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"“Sources say Browns management continues to stand with Kitchens and wants him to continue to have the success necessary to remain in that position for a long time. As the end of the regular season looms, the speculation about job security is at its peak.But as of right now, barring a horrific collapse or circumstance to end the season, it appears the Brownswill be moving forward with Kitchens.” — Rapoport, NFL Network"

There will be those who are quick to say this is the right move. Kitchens is young and has no experience outside of 2019 as a head coach. He will need to learn from his mistakes and can still grow into a good coach for the team.

Another reason many will like this news is it shows some patience from a front office that has never had any of that in the past. They’ve been quick to fire coaches and moving on from Freddie after one season would bring up some old, painful memories.

As for those who think Kitchens should be fired, there’s a lot they can point to. Kitchens has a roster that’s much more talented than their 6-7 record suggests. While that could be explained away with him being a rookie, it’s hard to use that excuse because Kitchens isn’t showing growth.

His questionable play-calling and poor game management has not changed from Week 1 to Week 15. That makes it hard to see him changing in the future because he clearly does not believe there’s anything wrong with his approach — or else he would be changing it.

It’s also not wise to keep a coach simply because of the optics. Sure, the Browns have fired coach after coach in the past but you don’t stick with someone who can’t do the job simply because you pulled the trigger too quickly in the past. I mean, would someone who has been divorced in the past stay in a terrible marriage simply because others might think it would look bad?

There’s also a faction of fans that want to change coordinators and take play-calling from Kitchens. The problem with this thinking is that the coach should be the top guy. If you have to surround him with better coaches to elevate his game, that’s a problem.

Bill Belichick, as an example, is not elevated by his assistant but rather he causes them to raise their game. Asking assistants to cover Kitchens’ shortcomings won’t fix a problem but rather could just disguise it for a short time.

In the end, the Browns need to be honest about Kitchens and evaluate him for him. Don’t worry about the past because that cannot be changed. Also, don’t try and patch a great staff around him to elevate his coaching.

They need to try and decide if he is the guy or not. If so, great. If not, then move on and fix the problem.

Next. Browns roster wants to see changes for 2020. dark

But this situation needs to be judged for what it is now. Not what the team did in previous years. Otherwise, they could be making a huge mistake just for the sake of saving face.

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