The Cleveland Browns have reportedly denied other teams around the NFL from interviewing current offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens.

Cleveland has officially started its search for a new head coach after Hue Jackson was fired earlier in the season, and there figures to be a solid group of candidates interested in the job.

Of course, one of the rumored candidates is Kitchens, who has earned a ton of praise for helping the Browns revamp their offense with rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield under center.

So, with Cleveland hoping to keep Kitchens with the franchise in some form of fashion, the organization has decided to prevent other teams from taking a run at their current offensive coordinator.

From Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com:

The Browns have denied several NFL teams permission to interview Freddie Kitchens for their vacant coordinator positions, a league source confirmed for cleveland.com

NFL Network’s Ian Rapaport first reported it, saying the Browns denied permission to because “they want the new head coach to have an opportunity to hire him.’’

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It makes sense that the Browns would want the new coach to have a chance to keep Kitchens on staff, but what if he's the one that is the new coach?

Cabot speculated on that possibility as well:

But could it be more than that? Browns GM John Dorsey said Monday that he’ll interview Kitchens for head coach, and Rapoport says that interview will take place early next week.

Are the Browns seriously considering Kitchens as their ninth full-time head coach? It’s entirely possible. Kitchens, 44, brought the offense to life in his eight games as coordinator, and turned Baker Mayfield into the one of the NFL’s hottest quarterbacks in that span.

No matter who the Browns hire, it's clear that this job is way more attractive than it has been in a while.

And with a franchise quarterback in place to go along with a talented defense, Cleveland could be preparing to take a big step forward.