Browns fire Freddie Kithens after going 6-10 in one year as HC. (Rob Lorenzo)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
CINCINNATI
BREAKING NEWS: The Browns have fired Freddie Kitchens after going 6-10 as their Head Coach. This story was posted prior to the news being official. Story to come.
The great expectations of the Browns and their fans were doused weeks ago. There wasn’t one single event that killed the hopes of a fun playoff season. It was death by a thousand cuts. Torture from beginning to end.
So when the flame of this season finally was extinguished under steady rains in empty Paul Brown Stadium, in a dismal 33-23 loss to the 2-14 Cincinnati Bengals, there wasn’t any anger or embarrassment left.
What lingered was curiosity.
What do the Haslams do now?
Do they trust General Manager John Dorsey, himself joining the ranks of “embattled” in recent weeks, and defer to his decision on the future of novice coach Freddie Kitchens? Do they give it another try after a 6-10 season and use the band-aid approach of changing coordinators and hope Kitchens has a revelation of how to do it right in his second season?
Or do Dee and Jimmy Haslam fire their fifth head coach in eight seasons as owners? And if that is the route they take, do they change the way they select their next coach, take it out of Dorsey’s hands? And if so, to whom do they turn this time?
It’s more complicated than simply firing a coach.
As Haslam exited the locker room for the final time in 2019, the look on his face suggested he had not made up his mind on the extent of changes he intended to make.
And having been through the meat-grinder now for just this one season, Kitchens expressed no awareness about his fate.
“I haven’t been told anything different. They expect me to do my job,” Kitchens said with exasperation. “I’m gonna show up tomorrow and do my job.
“Mr. Jimmy and Dee, they want me to do my job and that’s what I’m going to do until they tell me not to. I haven’t been told anything. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, to going to work tomorrow.”
A year-and-a-half ago, Hue Jackson had no idea what awaited him when he reported to work the day after his eighth game. Haslam and Dorsey did not tell him the night before and Jackson was blind-sided by the news he was being replaced.
It is a common theme among coaches and executives fired by the Haslams. They seem to be the last to see their pink slips coming.
Kitchens was given a star-studded, ego-driven roster with enormous expectations. He stubbornly refused to delegate offensive play-calling to somebody else. Not many outside the building felt Kitchens was fit to handle the myriad tasks of the job.
“It’s a big challenge,” Kitchens admitted in his post-mortem. “There were a lot of firsts. I am not making any excuses. But I think I learned over the course of the year, so I can be a better version of myself going forward. That is the only thing you can do. When something arises, you make the best decision you can, and then learn from your mistakes.
“I critique myself. I know I will be better.”
If that was a public appeal to the Haslams, it may be too little too late.
Sunday’s loss to the lowly Bengals was more of the same hard-to-fathom issues that plagued the Browns from beginning to end.
Facing the No. 32-ranked Bengals run defense, Kitchens emphasized pass early, rendering Nick Chubb a decoy most of the day (13 attempts for 41 yards) and costing the second-year back the NFL rushing crown to Tennessee’s Derrick Henry.
Given the freedom to wing the ball all over, Baker Mayfield connected on home-run scores with Damion Ratley (46 yards), Jarvis Landry (56) and extremely dehydrated Odell Beckham Jr. (20). But he was wildly inaccurate again (12 of 27 and intercepted three times) and was besieged for six sacks after the Bengals took a 20-7 lead.
And after Mayfield and Beckham combined on the touchdown to close the deficit to 30-23 with 7:16 to go – Beckham shook off vomiting and IV’s at halftime to exceed his goal of 1,000 receiving yards on the season – the defense laid down and allowed Andy Dalton to tack on a field goal to thwart any hope of a Browns win.
The defense repeatedly failed to tackle Bengals back Joe Mixon (26 attempts for 162 yards and two touchdowns). One time they lined up 10 on their goal-line defense after a timeout. They could not mount any pressure on Dalton, who triumphed for the 12th time in 17 games against the Browns in possibly his last game for the Bengals.
In the grim locker room, players were torn between expressing faith in Kitchens and kicking a man helpless to defend himself.
“It’s not my call,” said Mayfield, whose relationship with Kitchens was a major reason Kitchens got the job. “I know how I’m going to handle the offseason with whatever pieces we have coming back, and get those guys ready, and attack it. It’s going to be a long ride, but a fun one. I can’t wait to get after it.”
“I don’t know,” Landry said of Kitchens’ future. “It’s not my job and not my call. We’ll see what ownership does. Six-and-10 is definitely not acceptable.”
“He coached as best as he could,” said defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson.
“There’s not much more to say,” added Landry.
Actually, there is a lot more to say. And Haslam has to be the one to say it. By the time he returned to Cleveland early Sunday evening, Haslam knew he could not stand pat. Something will go down on Monday.