Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Freddie Kitchens Should Be a Fine Head Coach. I think.

I'm good with making Freddie Kitchens the new Browns Head Coach, especially after the inexplicable reports that a guy with similar experience and inferior results was getting a second interview.

In re that, spastic presumptive reports about a "power struggle" spewed forth immediately -sigh- as usual.

Listen: It doesn't matter that DePodesta reports to Haslam, and this isn't "moneyball" vs Old School.  

Sorry to pop your bubble, but John Dorsey believes in and uses analytics himself.  If you'd listen to the words coming out of his mouth, this would dawn on you.

DePodesta is the Chief Strategy Officer.  He's mainly concerned with long-term planning.

While he has a voice in personnel matters, he has no authority, and would never presume to piss in John Dorsey's Wheaties anyway.

Some clown decided that Stefanski had to be DePodesta's idea for...some...reason, and Dorsey rode in on his white horse and saved the day.

That's crap, ok?  Dorsey has freinds in Minnesota.  It got kind of silly and irrational, but the most likely scenario was DePodesta asking Dorsey what the hell he was thinking.

Power struggles.  Cliques.  "Sides" oh just please shut tf up with that garbage!  Jerry Spinger fans!

Anyway, as DePodesta would explain to you, Gregg Williams is 60.  Freddie is 45.  Freddie would have left to become somebody else's Head Coach this year or next.  Retaining him as the Offensive Coordinator would last a maximum of one season.

Losing that exceptional offensive mind would hurt.  A LOT.  And you might get another Todd Haley -shudder- to replace him.

Concerns that Freddie might not be as great a Head Coach as he is a coordinator are legitimate, but he does have the right interpersonal skills, and obviously the brains.

This was a gutsy move by John Dorsey, but the right one.  It preserves continuity on offense, and Freddie can keep calling plays, as well.

Yes he can.  Assistant Coaches have actual jobs to do.  The Head Coach doesn't have to run around micromanaging everything on game day.  He can call the plays.

Based on what I know of Freddie's personality, he is not insecure or egotistical, nor a micromanager.  One of his earliest influences was Bill Parcells.

Obviously, the first thing he did was ask Baker Mayfield what he wanted as he built his first game-plan.  Then he gave Baker discretion.

A guy like that will delegate authority to assistants he trusts, and not waste his time or effort trying to run everything.

He'll probably have to find his new Defensive Coordinator from the pool of NFL assistants, or from college.

John Dorsey can certainly help Kitchens with that, if Freddie doesn't already have people in mind.  John Dorsey seems to know just about everybody.

A new Special Teams coach!  Hot damn!  Couldn't be worse, right?  The Browns are already better than they were yesterday (at least on Special Teams!)

Back to defense:

Stop with the "Oh no not a 3-4" crap.  This team is a nose tackle away from a 3-4 (if that's what the new DC wants to run).

Ogbah actually played 3-4 DE for Mike Pettine.  Ogunjobi would be great there, and Smith and company are all DT/DE hybrids too.

Garrett can do everything Suggs does, and Avery everything James Harrison did.  Schobert, Kirksey, etc would be just fine as inside linebackers.

The best defensive coordinators run whatever system best suits their personnel at first anyway, until they can get ahold of others better-suited to their preferred systems.

I can't wait to see who Kitchens hires.

GOOD LUCK COACH KITCHENS.

The AFC North's Nightmare on Elm Street begins in 2019.  (I'm sorry.  I couldn't help myself).

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