Looking forward to 2019, Browns coaching search

Normally, young up and coming coaches aren't typically in a position to be treated like Gods among mere mortals if they win a Chamionship.

 

Should we read anything into the fact that they pushed the Mike McCarthy interview to next week?

Is anybody else surprised at the number of HC candidates Dorsey is bringing in? Considering we've been on the hunt since mid-season, I'd have thought his wish list would be whittled down a little more. Eveidently JD wasn't joking around when he said he was gonna be thorough...

I think it's funny that Josh McDaniels stonewalled the Bengals completely, and then turned around on the same day and spoke about how he's emphatically interested in the Cleveland job...lol! That's the power of #6. He makes all the difference...

 

Maybe we're just seeing a repeat of how Dorsey played having the 1st overall pick in the draft? I think he truly relishes playing it tight lipped and close to the vest with a pinch of smokescreen thrown in for good measure.

 

I think this is wherein lies the Browns problem. If Kitchens doesn't get the HC job, he'll surely be "the guy to hire" after 2019.

Is he ready to shoulder the full HC job for the Browns in 2019? Maybe/maybe not. One way or another, Williams is not likely to get the job and I suspect will be leave the team. Not sure who mentioned it earlier (SAS? Lyman?) that Arians might be the choice but maybe as Asst. HC due to age and he would help transition Kitchens into the HC. But how many times has this ever happened in the NFL? Do you really think Jimmy H. is that smart or willing to listen to Dorsey about this?

I keep flip-flopping on how this coaching hire is going to work out. As of now I'm thinking an outside hire with Williams leaving and Kitchens possibly leaving after next season, which is truly a mistake. I haven't seen this offense hum like this since Lindy Infante had the Browns offense as a top 5 back in the 80's.

I'm not even sure a 1-year prove it for Williams with Kitchens as OC this year and HC in 2020 if Williams falters is the right way.

 

I can see the possibility of this. I just don't think they should phuque around and just hire the guy they want. And do it IMMEDIATELY before someone makes a better offer!!!!!!

 

There is no better offer.

 

It pretty much happens every year doesn't it? Teams have major success, and their coordinators are all considered the next best thing. How many have fallen from the Belichick tree alone? There's only 32 HC jobs out there at the highest level in football...We are all free to believe what we want, but I seriously doubt there are many out there like Josh McDaniels, picking and choosing and whatever that was in Indy....If an NFL owner offers you a job as HC of his football team, ya take it. I think that's an unwritten general rule that most up and comers would agree with. That's all I'm saying.

 

Crazy Crextin’s Mad Musings...

If I’m Dorsey (I’m not btw); first thing I’d do for Williams’ Interview for HC; is put in the Baltimore tape and ask point blank “If you get this position, WHOM do you propose we bring in to be the DC to FIX this Problem?”
In a playoff caliber game for both the Browns and Ratturds the Browns Defense gave up 296 yds rushing; including nearly 90-yds and 2 TDs to the GUY WE all knew the Browns HAD to stop from running.

Since the jettisoning of HUE the defense didn’t improve, and in key areas regressed. With Williams as HC/DC the Browns went from averaging 2.6 sacks and 2.75 takeaways per game to 1.2 sacks and 1.1 takeaways per game, and still gave up over 130yds/game average on the ground.

Spoiler

Fix the Rush Defense and the Browns will be extremely dangerous

As I think about this more, In my own perfect little world Kitchen’s would be named HC. Promote from within, the next OC. Keep Williams as the DC, and add Assistant HC to his duties.

 

I'm coming at this from a different perspective. I agree Dorsey had "a guy" who he was planning to hire as HC, but the subsequent performance from the Gregg & Freddie show, put him under a lot of unexpected pressure to take another look.

IMO, he has expanded his search, in order to be sure he's turned over every candidate he believes fits what he wants in a HC, but I also think what he wants has evolved having seen what Freddie in particluar has accomplished.

The question in my mind is: How much was Freddie's genius, and how much was just a OC who got out of the way of Mayfield by recognizing and enabling him through good game plans? Who's to say Baker won't develop a good relationship with the next OC, provided he's a good one.

I'm not sure about the answer to that. I like Freddie a lot, but if I'm the GM, I have to consider that many good OCs could find success with Mayfield. That said, I have to be looking for the best HC I can find, and trust he will match his OC to Mayfield's skillset/style. Freddie may become a casuality, but if Dorsey believes it's Mayfield, not Freddie who's most responsible for the improvement, then it may have to be.

Or he chooses a Def minded HC, and Freddie stays, but then Williams has to go.

Williams has done well too, but neither Williams or Kitchens is a lock to succeed as HC, and Dorsey has to get this right. I wouldn't be surprised to see both gone, and I'm sure Dorsey will/has taken all those possibilities into account, as he prepares to write the next chapter of Browns history.

 

Vegas lines on our HC search. Josh McDaniels is the early favorite;

 

Browns coaching search: 5 things to know about Dan Campbell

Andrew Gribble
SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Throughout the Browns’ search for a new head coach, ClevelandBrowns.com will break down the candidates after their interview with the team is complete. It continues today with a look at Dan Campbell, who has worked closely with Saints head coach Sean Payton over the past three seasons.

1. Campbell’s 11-year playing career came to an end in 2009. Four games into the 2015 season, he was a head coach, taking over on an interim basis for the fired Joe Philbin. Campbell, then the Dolphins’ tight ends coach, was put in a tough spot, and it wasn’t always easy, but he kept the boat afloat while leading the team to a 5-7 record under his watch. The Dolphins won their first two games under Campbell, scoring 38 points in a rout of the Titans and following it up with 44 in a win over the Texans. The most impressive effort came in the regular season finale, when the Dolphins prevented the Patriots from nabbing the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in an upset, 20-10 victory. Campbell interviewed for the full-time job, but the Dolphins opted to hire Adam Gase.

2. The experience, Campbell has said in interviews over the past three years, was invaluable. In an interview with The Palm Beach Post, Campbell detailed how the experience has changed his approach as a position coach. “As a position coach, you don’t know all the ins and out and whats and whys, but when you’re the head coach, you get exposed to every bit of that. It only helps you,” he said. “So to come back and be a position coach for the Saints, it allows you to look at the game a different way and you want to coach to help the head coach. In your head, you can put yourself in his seat and go, ‘Ah, I understand why he’s doing that.’ … “I don’t care who you are, if you talk to any first-time head coach, they can say all they want but they don’t know what they’re getting into. There’s little things always popping up. I bet half of them didn’t realize you have to worry about the seating chart on the plane. You know what I mean?”

3. In his three seasons with the Saints, Campbell has led a position group that has seen a different player emerge as the full-time starter each year. This season, veteran Ben Watson led the way with 35 catches for 400 yards and two touchdowns. Campbell played a pivotal role in the development of another Saints tight end, Dan Arnold, who was a previously undrafted wide receiver out of Wisconsin-Platteville. Arnold finished the season with 12 catches for 150 yards. Arnold called Campbell “one of the best coaches in the NFL,” adding “honestly, I don't think I would be here if it wasn't for Dan Campbell."

4. Campbell broke into coaching one year after his 11-year playing career came to an end. According to an NFL.com feature, Campbell visited his alma mater, Texas A&M, in spring 2010 to observe coach Mike Sherman and ultimately stayed there for a while, living in an RV off campus. Campbell initially didn’t want to become a coach after his playing days came to a close, but he quickly caught the bug. "I remember at the end of my playing career, after I wasn't sure if coaching was the right choice, thinking, 'You've got your whole life ahead of you. What are you going to do with it? What do you love? And it was football,'” he said.

5. A third-round pick out of Texas A&M, Campbell began his NFL career with the Giants and appeared in all but four games in his first four seasons. Campbell, who sported long, flowing blonde hair during his playing days, made his mark as a blocker but proved to be a valuable pass-catcher when necessary. Three of his eight receptions in 2000 went for touchdowns, and he caught more than 20 passes in back-to-back seasons in 2002 and 2003. His most productive year as a receiver came in 2006 with the Lions, when he notched 21 receptions for 308 yards and four touchdowns. Campbell played for Payton in his final NFL season (2009) but did not appear in any games.

 

Meh NO.

After what he pulled on the colts.

Plus he wasn't that good in Denver.

No thanks.

 

I thought he said Cleveland was the only job he'd come out of retirement for...

 

Maybe he's afraid he wouldn't get his social security checks with the gov't shutdown going on........

 

He amended that about two weeks ago when, not only didn't his phone ring, Dorsey also didn't return his phone calls, lol.

 

That's why I was surprised the oddsmakers still had Arians to Cleveland at 7 to 1...Who was betting on that?...He was one of the few candidates that Dorsey has not set up a formal interview with.

 

Browns coaching search: 5 things to know about Freddie Kitchens



1. When Kitchens took over as the Browns’ offensive coordinator, Cleveland’s potency on that side of the ball had hit a bit of a wall. After scoring 42 points in a Week 4 loss to the Raiders, the Browns posted 12, 14, 23 and 18 points, respectively, in the games leading up to the dismissal of head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Under Kitchens’ watch, the Browns offense improved in nearly every facet en route to posting a 5-3 record in the second half of the season. Cleveland surrendered just five sacks during the second half of the season -- by far the lowest of any team in the league -- compared to 33 in the first half. Rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield completed 68 percent of his passes for 2,254 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions compared to a mark of 58/1,471/8/6 in the first half. Rookie Nick Chubb averaged 84.75 rushing yards per game and eight different receivers caught a touchdown pass. The Browns turned nearly every red zone trip into a touchdown under Kitchens.

2. Kitchens’ offense used the same terminology as Haley’s but provided a number of different looks throughout the second half of the season. Against the Falcons, the Browns broke out a Wishbone-type formation that featured all three of the team’s running backs. Wide receiver Jarvis Landry attempted multiple passes and Mayfield pitched the ball to himself before tossing a touchdown pass in Cleveland’s regular season finale. Asked if he was coaching with “nothing to lose,” Kitchens disagreed. “I am a week-to-week kind of guy. I call the game, the offensive staff prepares for the game and the players prepare to win the game on a week-to-week basis, even a day to day basis,” Kitchens said. “That is the way that I approach every call I make. It is not necessarily to win the game with that call, but you are either setting something or to be successful. You do not call plays to be unsuccessful. I do not care. I am calling the play to win that game.”

3. Kitchens worked closely with Carson Palmer in Arizona during some of his most productive seasons. Palmer set the Cardinals record for passing yards (4,671), touchdown passes (35) and passer rating (104.6) during Kitchens’ stretch as quarterbacks coach from 2013-16. In 2015, the Cardinals had the top-ranked offense in the NFL for the first time in team history and set numerous single-season team records including points (489), touchdowns (59), touchdown passes (35), total net yards (6,533) and first downs (373).

4. Kitchens experienced a health scare in 2013 he now cites as a life-changing experience. Kitchens underwent emergency heart surgery to repair a defective aorta after experiencing dizziness and light-headed feelings. He returned to work a little more than a month later. “I always felt like I lived life every day like it could be your last, but what an incident like that makes you realize and thankful for are the friends that you have,” Kitchens told the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram in November. “You find out how many people truly care about you and how many people you’ve impacted and didn’t even really realize it.”

5. Kitchens was a star quarterback during his high school days, winning Alabama’s “Mr. Football” award after his senior season, and went on to start for three seasons at the University of Alabama. He finished his collegiate career ranked third in school history in career attempts, fourth in career passing yards and fifth in career completions. One of his biggest highlights came in the 1996 Iron Bowl against Auburn, when Kitchens threw a touchdown pass that turned out to be the game-winner in a 24-23 victory. The comeback ultimately sent off longtime Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who retired shortly thereafter, a winner.

 

i was gonna list some more, but I don't think there's gonna be a need....

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/20...med-the-browns-head-coach-mary-kay-cabot.html

Get ready for Freddie!!!

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sp...cdaniels-interested-mccarthy-hold/2511655002/

Hmmm...Now why would they do such a thing?

 

NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reports Browns OC Freddie Kitchens is receiving "strong consideration for the head job."

The Cleveland Plain Dealer adds there's a "good chance" Kitchens is promoted. Per Rapsheet, the Browns have been "making calls to people who’ve worked with" Kitchens, a sign they are seriously considering promoting him. Kitchens' 2018 performance after replacing Todd Haley was excellent, though he had previously never even called plays at any level. It would be a leap of faith for a franchise that is finally on the rise.