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Well, that's that on Freddie Kitchens' tenure as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. If you're keeping track at home, the first-year coach didn't even make it a year in Cleveland after a disappointing season where the Browns went 6-10. As a Browns fan, I liked Kitchens' personality, but it was pretty obvious that he was in over his head as a head coach and a change needed to be made. There were many tweets from my account about how this Browns season would be different under Freddie. Boy, was I wrong. We all were.
Baker Mayfield regressed, Odell Beckham Jr. had a down season and the Browns were continually a laughing stock of the entire league. You need to give guys time to grow into a job, but in this case, ya just knew that it wasn't going to work. So, goodnight sweet Freddie, I wish you luck on your next adventure.
As for the Browns, they're still a talented team and should be in good position to bounce back next season if they can get the right guy to lead the ship. Sadly, they've rarely been able to make the right hire at head coach, but hey, let's try again! With another coaching search underway, we put together a list of five candidates who could be potential fits for the Browns job going forward. And yes, we will also do this for the Giants and Cowboys when they fire Jason Garrett and Pat Shurmur. Everyone gets some love around here.
Josh McDaniels
It seems like forever since Josh McDaniels was the head coach of the Denver Broncos with Tim Tebow as his QB. McDaniels has obviously done very well for himself since going back to New England with Tom Brady, but each and every year his name pops up in coaching rumors. He almost took the Colts job two years ago before back out of it at the last minute. Could he actually jump this time and return home to Ohio?
Urban Meyer
Urban Meyer's name has been a hot ticket around the NFL for the past few months, with plenty of rumors swirling that he might be open to jumping to the league after leaving the Ohio State Buckeyes last season. While Meyer has mostly been linked with the Dallas Cowboys, he is from Ohio and was recently rumored to be interested in the Browns job. It's unclear if that interest is actually real, but Meyer might be the right guy to fix Baker Mayfield.
Mike McCarthy
You don't often find Super Bowl winning coaches on the open market, but Mike McCarthy is out there and he might make a lot of sense for the Browns. The Browns front office has deep ties to the Packers organization when McCarthy was the head coach in Green Bay and that could lead to a reunion of sorts in Cleveland. McCarthy was criticized for his offensive schemes while in Green Bay, but is said to have worked on his coaching style during his year away from football. It would make a lot of sense for the Browns to go for an experienced coach like McCarthy, rather than another first-year guy.
Jim Harbaugh
Jim Harbaugh has struggled during his time in Michigan, which could mean it's time to head back to the NFL. Could the Browns be a potential fit for the former 49ers head coach? We're going on six years since Hargaugh has coached in the league, but would anyone blame him for going back to the NFL, where he was more successful than he's been in college?
Robert Saleh
While it would almost shock me for the Browns to go with another first-year head coach this time around, an interesting name out there is 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. Not only has Saleh turned the 49ers defense into one of the best in the NFL, but he's a coach that brings toughness and discipline, which the Browns were sorely lacking this season. You'd have to imagine it won't take long for Saleh to get a head coaching look in the NFL.