HOW MUCH JOB SECURITY DOES FREDDIE KITCHENS HAVE?

By STEVE KING

The Browns obviously have a lot of issues right now, but the biggest one, without a doubt, is the job security of head coach Freddie Kitchens.

As much as – or probably more than – the Browns being the most disappointing team in the NFL thus fa in 2019r, there are the questions about Kitchens. That is, will he get fired? Will he make it through the season?

Browns General Manager John Dorsey came out in full support of Kitchens while talking to the media several weeks ago. That’s all well and good, but is that what Dorsey really thinks about Kitchens behind closed doors, especially with the fact the questions concerning Kitchens have increased dramatically since them? The 24-19 loss on Sunday to the lowly Denver Broncos, who had a quarterback making his NFL debut, may have been Kitchens’ low point. And that’s saying something, because, at least from the outside looking in, there have been some real stinkers.

Dorsey came under scrutiny himself in hiring someone in Kitchens who had never been a head coach at any level. Was the job too big for Kitchens? Can Kitchens call the offensive plays and also do his head-coaching duties?

The 2-6 record, which includes four losses in a row, and Kitchens making questionable on-field decisions, including with his play-calling, have not quelled any of those concerns. In fact, they have exacerbated them.

But in the same vein, Kitchens is Dorsey’s hand-picked guy. Just as Dorsey’s success is tied to that of Baker Mayfield, the franchise quarterback he selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the GM’s success is also intertwined with that of Kitchens. All three men are joined at the hip.

As such, then, by firing Kitchens, especially so quickly, whether it is sometime soon or at the end of the year, Dorsey would be admitting an embarrassing error in judgement with his signature hire. It would hurt his own credibility in front of Browns owner Jimmy Haslam.

Yes, as you can see, it’s a complicated, sticky situation.

And it’s the situation about which everybody in the league – and, more importantly, the media, not just locally but nationally — is talking.