30 best moves made during the 2019 NFL offseason

28. Cleveland Browns hire Freddie Kitchens

After firing head coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd Haley midseason, the Cleveland Browns were able to turn things around and went 5-3 down the stretch. One of the biggest reasons for their strong finish was the play of the offense under interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens.

The former running backs coach had never called plays in the NFL before but excelled in this role while building a great rapport with quarterback Baker Mayfield. For that reason, he was given an opportunity to interview for the coaching vacancy. Originally a dark horse candidate, Kitchens wound up winning the job, despite there being other options with more experience and bigger names.

Kitchens’ appointment to head coach isn’t universally loved. Some think he’s in over his head and won’t be able to control the big egos on the team, such as Mayfield and wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. Those who feel this way aren’t realizing one important thing — Kitchens has already won over the star quarterback.

The relationship between Kitchens and Mayfield is great, which will help the rookie head coach tremendously. Others will see the respect between the two as proof they can also trust their new head coach.

Hiring Kitchens also kept the Browns from having to start Mayfield all over with another offense. Mayfield already knows the system and can simply get to work without learning new terminology, plays, etc. In the end, this looks like it was probably the only way this team should have gone when it came to making their coaching hire.