Freddie Kitchens Fires Back At Bob Wylie’s Shade, While Adding He’ll Fire Any Browns Coach Who Leaks Insider Info

Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens fires back at criticism from former OL coach Bob Wylie

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Freddie Kitchens isn’t one to back down from speaking his mind. Similar to his quarterback, Baker Mayfield, the barrel-chested head coach of the Cleveland Browns has very little filter, is brash, confident and seems to do things his way, which is part of the reason why he was hired this offseason to help lead the revamped roster and, hopefully, compete for Super Bowls in the not-so-distant future. Who knows if Kitchens’ style will work or not, but he seems to have the support of the franchise.

While Freddie Kitchens has moved on from last season and is preparing his team for the upcoming one, a former assistant with him on the Browns, offensive line coach Bob Wylie, has been taking shots at the guy. During a recent interview, Wylie questioned Kitchens’ coaching credentials, claiming last year’s offensive turnaround for the Browns came from quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese, who, like Wylie, was let go by Freddie Kitchens once he became head coach. To recap, here’s what Wylie said on The Zach Gelb Show on CBS Sports Radio.

“Baker (Mayfield) likes Freddie. There’s a good relationship there even though (former Browns QB coach) Kenny Zampese did all the coaching there. Baker likes Freddie, so that had to (factor) into the decision.

“(But) Freddie didn’t have any coordinator experience or head coaching experience.”

Wylie indicated that the Browns offensive assistants that got fired after Kitchens got the job felt he left them out in the cold after they helped him go 5-3 the second half of the season and produce one of the most prolific offenses in the NFL.

“(It was like) ‘thank you guys, you guys did a great job. Thanks for helping me get the interview, okay? but I’m going to take this job and you guys are going to become collateral damage, that’s what will happen,”’ Wylie said.

Obviously, Bob Wylie felt like Freddie Kitchens dogged him once he was top dog, letting go of the people who helped him get the opportunity to even interview for the head coaching gig. Naturally, Kitchens was asked about the comments from Wylie, and, in true Freddie fashion, replied as only he could.

“I know Bob Wylie to be a good person,” said Kitchens, who worked alongside Wylie throughout the 2018 season. “And out of respect for his family, I won’t get into any of that. Because he’s a father, he’s a husband, he’s a granddad. [But] Bob knows what happened. Bob knows what was going on. And when he was here, he knew everything about it. So, that was last year.

“Listen, Bob wasn’t under contract,” Kitchens continued. “He forgot to tell everybody that. He wasn’t under contract. He had talked about retiring forever, alright? So, sometimes when a person says something, they have to be made to feel relevant, OK? Bob’s a good person, and I don’t wanna lose sight of that. I have too much respect for him as a person.”

Not necessarily the traditional route one would think a guy would go after being called out by another man, but, as mentioned earlier, Freddie Kitchens does things his way, and he kept it classy rather than getting into a back and forth.

While Kitchens’ comments were respectful of Wylie, they did prompt an interesting and harsher tone later during his Q&A session, with the Browns head coach proclaiming he’s done with unnamed sources providing information, even going as far as saying he’ll fire any coach who leaks insider info to the media.

“The days of inside information and the days of unnamed sources and stuff like that have ended,” he said. “So you’re not going to get any information like that, ever. Anybody. And I ever see it, they’re fired, immediately. And that’s how we’re running this organization. I can take it. [Cleveland GM] John Dorsey can take it. We won’t crack, I promise you.”

With the Browns one of the most intriguing teams in the league given the strong personalities on the roster, it’s on Freddie Kitchens to not only control emotions, but to make sure everyone’s on the same page. Quite the tall task for a first-time head coach, but, seeing as how he’s earned the respect of Baker Mayfield, general manager John Dorsey and, presumably, other players in the locker room, everyone within the organization better be ready to follow Kitchens’ lead.

(H/T Total Pro Sports)

Nick Dimengo avatar
Nick's a Sr. Editor for BroBible, mainly relying on his Sports Encyclopedia-like mind to write about things. He's also the co-host of the BroBible podcast "We Run This," and can be seen sweating his ass off while frequently running 10+ miles around Seattle.