Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens has a realistic job of landing the Browns' head-coaching job, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Kitchens is in a strange spot. He can end up becoming head coach of the Browns or end up looking for a job elsewhere altogether, as you would have to assume a new Cleveland coach would probably want his own coordinators.
The 44-year-old first joined the Browns' coaching staff as a running backs coach and associated head coach in 2018, but after Cleveland fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley in the middle of the season, Kitchens assumed the role as the Browns' offensive play-caller.
Kitchens earned his first NFL job back in 2006 when he served as the tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys. The following year, he made his way to the Arizona Cardinals, where he held a post as tight ends coach from 2007 through 2012 before being promoted to quarterbacks coach in 2013, a position he held through 2016 before becoming the Cardinals' running backs coach in 2017.
Article Continues BelowThis past season represented the first time in Kitchens' coaching career—college or pro—that he served as an offensive coordinator.
Cleveland went 7-8-1 this year, marking their best finish since going 10-6 all the way back in 2007. They fired head coach Hue Jackson midway through the season and proceeded to go 5-3 the rest of the way with Gregg Williams as interim head coach. However, Williams does not appear to be a candidate for head coach in 2019.
Cleveland hasn't made the playoffs since the 2002-03 campaign, representing the longest active playoff drought in the NFL.