Editor's note: Tony Grossi covers the Cleveland Browns for ESPN 850 WKNR.
Takeaways from Freddie Kitchens’ introductory press conference …
Why did Freddie Kitchens and Baker Mayfield hit it off so well when paired as offensive coordinator and quarterback?
Maybe it’s because they both lug giant chips on their shoulders.
Mayfield is motivated by questions about size and immaturity. He parlayed the trauma of having to walk-on to two college teams to winning the Heisman Trophy and ascending to the No. 1 pick in the draft.
Kitchens seems to have the same mindset. He showed some defensiveness in his introductory press conference that revealed how motivated he is to be the Browns head coach.
Addressing the Haslam family sitting in the front row in a FirstEnergy Stadium lounge area, Kitchens said, “It takes some, uh, guts to do what they did. And I appreciate that. I won’t let them down. Because I know I’m not a popular choice. I understand that, and I don’t care.”
I asked Kitchens why he thinks he was not a popular choice for the job.
“Well, all I’ve heard and read on the Internet is [he’s risen from] running back coach to head coach in the course of a year,” Kitchens responded. “Well, that’s not the case. I’ve been a quarterback coach more than a running back coach. Everything I’ve done is to continue to try to get better. I will reiterate, I’m not a finished product.”
Kitchens’ authenticity had to appeal to Mayfield. Remember, Mayfield saw through Hue Jackson as “fake” – an opinion which may have been formed observing the coach’s behavior in front of the Hard Knocks cameras.
A few times during his introduction, Kitchens admitted he didn’t know the answers to questions thrown at him.
“Am I ready or not? I do not know,” he said. “I know this, they had confidence enough in me that I would figure it out and I would get the job done. I promise you this, I will not let them down.”
Asked why he never received the opportunity to be an offensive coordinator before this year, Kitchens said, “I don’t know why. Maybe my [southern] dialect. It could be something as simple as that.”
He got the job for who he is and he is not going to repeat the mistakes of others before him and change his demeanor now that he has the title of head coach.
“They [the Browns] are not expecting anything different than what they have had,” Kitchens said. “I can be myself. I don’t have to put on a show. It kills me with some guys that they think they have to be more head coach-ish, or whatever you call it. I won’t be that. I will be who I am.”
It sounded similar to Mayfield explaining earlier this year that he was not “a cookie-cutter quarterback” and would not conform to the position’s stereotype.
When discussing the connection he immediately forged with Mayfield, Kitchens spoke of earning trust and respect.
“You earn respect by them knowing you know what to do,” he said. “You earn trust by talking and figuring out who the person is. You have to tear away the façade and see what the kid needs and then you can get him better. And then, relationship forms.”
In Kitchens, the Browns hired a head coach with no ego, someone who is willing to let GM John Dorsey recommend staff additions and empower players to have a say-so in game plans and play-calling. He embodies the Browns’ corporate mantra of “collaborative thinking.”
“There are a lot of things about this job that are going to come up [that] I have no idea,” Kitchens said. “But I have a great support staff. Hell, I didn’t have it figured out as an offensive coordinator, but I had a supporting cast around me to get the answers and if I can’t get the answers in this building, then we have problems.
“Sometimes as a coach, you are self-centered and you don’t want to ask for help because that admits weakness. I am a curious person and by being curious, you have to have the guts to raise your hand and ask a question. And I will ask questions because it benefits us all.”
More than Baker: Dorsey admitted that Kitchens was not on his radar before the search began. But his eight-game stint as coordinator thrust Kitchens into the conversation and his interview put him over the top.
“His vision of the future for the organization,” Dorsey said. “His belief in trust and the team effort. The ability to be collaborative in your thinking. How he galvanized a group of young men and taught the ‘we’ mindsets of a young group. You can just feel his passion and his depth of knowledge for this game. And again, his ability to call the game of football. I think that is really important. But it is the unification of bringing us all together.”
Calling plays: Despite the addition of accomplished Tampa Bay Buccaneers play-caller Todd Monken as his offensive coordinator, Kitchens said he would continue to be the team’s game-day play-caller and the offense would be the same.
“I told Todd that I did not want to hire someone and just give them the title of offensive coordinator,” Kitchens said. “I wanted an offensive coordinator that just was not going to call plays.”
The fact that Monken agreed to come without play-calling responsibilities speaks to the respect he has for what the Browns are putting together.
This set-up makes sense in another respect, too. If the Browns have a successful season, surely Monken would be at the forefront of head coaching openings next season. He interviewed with a few teams this year. So if he lands a head coach gig, the continuity of the offense would be maintained with Kitchens in charge.
One other thing on this subject: Expect Monken to be the play-caller in the fourth preseason game. Kitchens was given that opportunity last year and it proved to be his breakthrough. I would expect him to pay it forward.
High hopes: Dorsey has let it known that expectations will be much higher in 2019, and Kitchens agrees.
“I think it’s crazy that people are happy with 7-8-1. It drives me literally crazy,” he said. “That is not acceptable. Nobody here wants that. We all understand that it was an improvement, but under no circumstances is that ever going to be acceptable. We only have one goal here and that is to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.”
The last Browns coach to unabashedly talk about the Super Bowl when hired was Marty Schottenheimer in the 1980s.
“Yeah, I want that expectation,” Kitchens said. “Everything we do, every decision we make is going to be based on getting there. If you’re happy with making the playoffs, hell, that’s not my goal. I’ve been to the playoffs. And I’ve been to the Super Bowl and I lost the Super Bowl and it was the most gut-wrenching thing I ever dealt with in my life. And that’s what drives me every day, to get back there and win it.”
Loose ends: Though it was Kitchens’ big day, it was conspicuous that interim coach Gregg Williams’ name was not mentioned until Dorsey was asked why he wasn’t retained. “I think Gregg is a heck of a coach. What we were looking for is the future of the organization. We though Freddie was the best possible fit for this organization moving forward.” … Variations of those comments were used to explain why Bruce Arians, Mike McCarthy and Josh McDaniels were not given interviews for the job … Dorsey confirmed that Minnesota Vikings interim coordinator Kevin Stefanski was the only other candidate given a second interview. “He was organized, he was detailed, he was collaborative, he had a really nice broad vision. He was a young guy. At the end of the day, we just thought his presentation was worthy enough to come back for a second interview.” … For the first time in four head coaching hires, owner Jimmy Haslam did not speak at the podium. Perhaps it was symbolic that Haslam deferred to Dorsey and the search committee throughout the whole process. Dorsey said the search committee – which Dorsey said included Alonzo Highsmith, vice president of player personnel, and Chris Cooper, vice president of football administration – unanimously recommended Kitchens as head coach and ownership “embraced it … We cannot thank them enough.”