They should seriously consider giving him the job if this team continues as it has.
Just think- FK has the remainder of this season to find what works in the existing playbook/what BM likes... and an entire offseason to completely integrate this knowledge before next year's OTA's. Get a head start/hit the ground running. Win/win.
This is how unknown/unheralded talent moves up and makes a name for itself. It's the age-old story of the NFL: 'Next man up' means
be ready when your opportunity drops.
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So... admitting my ignorance about FK, I decided to do a little homework. Interesting dude, to be sure. It also seems as though his NFL career as perennial position coach did a great job of setting him up for this unexpected opportunity (it helps to know The Game from the inside out, yo). In my research, I came across this article that was a fresh breath to read. So fun to read complimentary, insightful coverage of our team.
Enjoy, My Hounds:
The All-22 [It's a Baldinger-type article, complete with embedded game film, so by all means, visit the site]
The All-22: How new offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens became the Browns' MVPBy: Doug Farrar | 8 hours ago
Freddie Kitchens had already led a pretty interesting football life before he became the Browns’ interim offensive coordinator on October 29, following the dual firing of head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Kitchens was a plus-size quarterback at Alabama from 1995 through 1997, and after his collegiate playing career came to an end, he started his coaching path as an offensive assistant at Glenville State in 1999. He worked as a tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach, and running backs coach for the Cowboys and Cardinals from 2006 through 2017, and was installed as Cleveland’s running backs coach before the 2018 season.
When Kitchens was promoted following the Browns’ Black Monday–when head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley were fired on October 29–it was imagined as yet another uninspiring move from a franchise that has had plenty of them since re-entering the NFL in 1999. But what Kitchens has done to invigorate Cleveland’s offense has few modern precedents. For a coordinator to come in mid-season, install his schemes, and see a massive uptick in efficiency and productivity?
That doesn’t generally happen. But it certainly has in Cleveland.
Per CBS Sports, the difference in rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield’s play under Kitchens has been jaw-dropping. Under Jackson and Haley, Mayfield threw eight touchdown passes to six interceptions. Under Kitchens, he’s thrown nine touchdown passes to just one pick. Moreover, as former NFL offensive lineman and SB Nation contributor Geoff Schwartz points out,
the Browns have had 10 red zone opportunities in their last three games, and they’ve converted them all… with touchdowns. And per Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted efficiency metrics, only Drew Brees has been more valuable on a play-to-play basis than Mayfield since Kitchens took over.
Again, this just doesn’t happen. But it’s happening with the Browns, and Kitchens is the primary reason.
“He’s been fun,” left guard Joel Bitonio recently told Cleveland.com about his new play-caller. “Kind of a no-nonsense guy, he’s going to tell you how he feels and he has a good time with it. It’s been really cool to see, actually.”
That collaborative effort seems in stark contrast to the Jackson/Haley duo, who weren’t communicating with each other, never mind with their players. But none of that happy stuff matters if your team isn’t bringing it on the field. And that’s where Kitchens’ presence is truly remarkable—when you watch what the Browns’ offense has become in the last three games, you see a truly multiple offense in which concepts from many different masters are used in a highly effective fashion. And when you see how some NFL offenses feature the same staid concepts over and over, it makes what Kitchens has done all the more refreshing.
To compare and contrast how Jackson and Haley called stuff, let’s take this empty set from Cleveland’s 33-18 Week loss to the Steelers—the game that got them fired. The protection breaks down, the reductive routes give Mayfield (No. 6) nothing to see, and he dumps the ball off to receiver Jarvis Landry (No. 80) for a one-yard loss.
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Now, let’s take a look at Mayfield’s 13-yard touchdown pass to receiver Antonio Callaway (No. 11) last Sunday in the Browns’ 35-20 win over the Bengals.
Here, Kitchens calls mirrored route concepts to both sides—dig/wheel combinations that ostensibly gives Mayfield short and intermediate reads to the front and back side.
The routes are covered reasonably well—including the sit route by receiver Rashard Higgins, who’s blocked out by defensive tackle Geno Atkins (No. 97), so Mayfield bails out of the pocket, with Callaway following him, and throws a dart to Callaway after the receiver pivots back to the boundary. This is a great example of a young quarterback having faith that his offense will work outside traditional structure.
Kitchens has a real knack for making simple route combinations work, and this touchdown pass to halfback Nick Chubb (No. 24) against Cincinnati shows another example. Chubb is running a drag/wheel combo with Callaway, and the intersection of the two players provides a natural rub that gives Chubb one-on-one coverage as he takes his route upfield. Safety Brandon Wilson (No. 40) actually does a great job of sticking with Chubb through the route, but the back makes an incredible catch to seal the deal.
Now, let’s move to Cleveland’s 28-16 Week 10 win over the Falcons, in which Mayfield became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to post a quarterback rating over 150 with 20 or more passing attempts. Mayfield threw three touchdown passes in that game, and I loved how Kitchens helped him out by pilfering a concept often used by Rams head coach Sean McVay: Multiple route concepts out of tight formation splits.
This touchdown to Higgins shows how tight splits give a wider field to a quarterback—especially helpful to a young quarterback who’s used to the NCAA’s wider hashmarks. But within that tight split, Kitchens isn’t just running a couple of go routes—watch how the vertical route diversity opens things up. Higgins is running a fade-stop to the right-side boundary, Landry runs a crosser from right to left and then heads up the numbers, and Higgins beats cornerback Robert Alford (No. 23) with the deep over. This is an optimal way to stretch the field, and Mayfield has the arm and anticipation to take advantage of these concepts.
Against the Chiefs in a 37-21 Week 9 win, Kitchens took advantage of another concept you see from McVay a lot–the double-slant combination in the red zone. This is an outstanding way to take any goal-line coverage and turn it on its head–when the deep slant receiver stems his route and draws extra attention by design, there’s often something easy for the underneath slant receiver. With Landry taking the high slot route, this is a simple pitch-and-catch to running back Duke Johnson (No. 29).
Perhaps most fascinating Kitchens-led series was the seven-play stretch in the second quarter against the Falcons where the Browns went with a full-house diamond backfield (quarterback, three running backs) every single time. Mayfield lined up both under center and in the Pistol formation. The Browns ran on the first five plays for 28 yards, and this was the first run–a nine-yarder by Johnson. Watch Johnson fake the pitch to Chubb based on the actions of end Takkarist McKinley (No. 98), and how off-balance McKinley gets.
Once Kitchens got the Falcons thinking about old-school run plays and putting nine defenders in the box as a result, he dialed up this 17-yard pass from Mayfield to receiver Breshad Perriman (No. 19). All Mayfield has to do here is to hit the receiver after he slants away from the cornerback, and before the safety converges. The best offensive play-designers put defenses in awkward positions by tweaking space and numbers based on defensive alignment. Kitchens seems to have a gift for that.
Of course, it’s possible to get a bit too cute with this stuff. Here, running back Dontrell Hilliard tries throwing a duck to Mayfield, with a predictable result–an interception by Falcons cornerback Damontae Kazee (No. 27)
“It was something, wasn’t it?,” Mayfield said after the game. “We threw a different look. We moved the ball well. It was just a thing to switch up the tempo, and I think it was great for our offense.”
Interim head coach Gregg Williams agreed.
“We have a good package of things that we wanted that group of players to come onto the field,” Williams said. “We also wanted to see how they would respond. How would they visualize or see the package? We had a good package of plays. We had a little no-huddle concept, also, if we needed to try to keep that package on the field. Very well-thought out on Freddie and the offensive staff on utilizing what we have here.”
So, there’s more for Kitchens to roll out in the Browns’ final five games. The tests will be tougher down the stretch, with the defenses of the Texans, Broncos, and Ravens among the NFL’s best. But with a 4-6-1 record and an offense that’s humming far beyond what anybody expected, the Browns are more than an interesting novelty–now, they’re must-see TV for anyone who loves to see creative offensive play-calling.
Whatever happens with Kitchens in the future–whether he stays with the Browns or winds up somewhere else in an off-season coaches’ coup–he’s proven to be one of the best in the business at what he does.
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