GM John Dorsey may lose authority at the very least in a new reorganization contemplated by owner Jimmy Haslam. (SI.com)
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for 850 ESPN Cleveland.
Freddie Kitchens left Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday night thinking he would not be fired as Browns head coach.
But when the Browns returned to their facility following another season-ending loss in Cincinnati, 33-23 to the 2-14 Bengals, Kitchens learned that all the speculation he kept denying was true.
Kitchens was fired after one season on the job in a short meeting with owner Jimmy Haslam and GM John Dorsey.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported Kitchens was “incredibly emotional” in a telephone conversation shortly after receiving the news. Rapoport said Kitchens felt he had “organizational support” to continue.
But that evaporated in the three hours it took the Browns to lose in typically inept fashion to the Bengals, the NFL’s worst team, to finish Kitchens’ tumultuous tenure with a 6-10 record.
Like most of the four other coaches fired by Haslam in his eight seasons as owner, Kitchens was blind-sided by the news.
Haslam fired Pat Shurmur, whom he inherited from the Lerner Family Trust ownership, after two seasons; Rob Chudzinski after one season; Mike Pettine after two seasons; and Hue Jackson in the middle of his third season.
Each of the coaching dismissals was followed by a major shake-up of the football operations department. And that is the next thing to watch as Haslam figures out what to do next.
Haslam had entrusted Dorsey for the rapid ascension of Kitchens from running backs coach to interim offensive coordinator to head coach. When Kitchens was formally introduced as coach, Haslam ceded the day to Dorsey and Kitchens and refrained from joining them on the dais. That was unusual and significant.
Haslam also realigned his organization and had his coach report directly to Dorsey rather than to the owner, which was a departure from the structure with Jackson.
But now there are indications that Haslam may be realigning his chain of command once again.
It appears that Haslam may restore some juice to the role of Paul DePodesta, chief strategy officer, whose influence was reduced when Dorsey was named GM in December of 2017. If DePodesta leads the next coaching search, it could result in Dorsey losing significant authority and even lead to his departure.
It is well known that DePodesta, who sat on the organization coaching search committee a year ago, presented Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Kevin Stefanski as a finalist candidate. Haslam sided with Dorsey’s choice of Kitchens – and the results were disastrous.
Sources say Dorsey has become increasingly irritated with interference from DePodesta over undisclosed football matters.
TheLandOnDemand has learned that Alonzo Highsmith, vice president of player personnel and one of Dorsey’s top advisers, has planned on leaving the club for a job with a college athletic department. It was further indication that Dorsey’s authority was waning.
In their statement on Kitchens’ firing, Dee and Jimmy Haslam did not elaborate on the process to find their next head coach.
“We thank Freddie for his hard work and commitment to this organization but did not see the success or opportunities for improvement to move forward with him as our head coach,” the Haslams’ statement said. “Our focus is on hiring an exceptional leader for this football team and we will take a comprehensive approach to this process. We are excited about the core players we have to build around and develop and we look forward to bringing in a strong head coach that will put this group of players in the best position to succeed.”
The early favorite to replace Kitchens is former Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy.
McCarthy expected to receive an interview from the Browns a year ago, but kept being put off by Dorsey and eventually decided to take the year off.
During that time, McCarthy sought to modernize and reinvent himself as an analytics-friendly coach, ostensibly to make himself a more attractive candidate to owners such as Haslam.
McCarthy also could be attractive to Haslam because he is unattached and could be hired quickly. Haslam has been loathe to wait for candidates from Super Bowl teams to become available in previous searches.
Before McCarthy could be hired, Haslam would have to first comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule and interview a minority candidate.