CLEVELAND — Having been officially eliminated from postseason contention, this Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals will mark the end of the Cleveland Browns’ 2019 season.
And if some fans get their wish, it won’t be long after that that Freddie Kitchens’ time as the team’s head coach also reaches its conclusion.
Sitting at 6-9 heading into Sunday’s finale, the Browns have failed to live up to the lofty expectations that were set for them when they entered the 2019 season favored to win their first division title in 30 years. What’s more is that after last season’s 7-8-1 campaign, Cleveland is guaranteed to have a worse record than it did a year ago, despite the offseason addition of Odell Beckham Jr. and what was expected to be another step forward for Baker Mayfield.
Considering the disappointing nature of the Browns’ 2019 campaign, speculation that Kitchens’ 16th game as Cleveland’s head coach could be his last. With that in mind, we took to social media to ask for fans to make their case whether Kitchens should stay or go and it didn’t take long for a consensus to form.
Fire Freddie:
“Yes he just doesn’t know the job it would be different if we would have seen improvement but it went the wrong way and for some reason Baker looks like somebody beat him down,” one Facebook user wrote. “Last year he came out feeling dangerous and a leader I’m hoping he gets that feeling back next year.”
“If he showed improvement I would say yes,” another wrote. “I hate changing coaches all the time. But he is stubborn, his crap doesn’t work and there are too many conflicts with the players.”
“He hasn’t learned from his mistakes!,” wrote one user. “You listen to him at news conferences and he says he’s getting better! With his stupid play calling and terrible game management, he cost the team four or five wins! Seattle, the Rams, Denver, Arizona, Pittsburgh! Nuff said!”
Twitter users also chimed in:
Keep Kitchens
But while the overwhelming majority of commenters wanted the Browns to find a new head coach, a select few think Kitchens deserves more time:
“If the Browns kept Hue Jackson for as long as they did with only what 1 win, Kitchens is 100 times better coach, I’d at LEAST give him 1 more season, come on,” wrote one Facebook user.
“We must stop the Merry go round,” wrote another. “Constant change gets us nowhere. He should have at least another season but needs to give up play-calling and concentrate on game management.”
“Everyone has to start somewhere but it’s pretty obvious he needs help,” wrote a third. “He was a great offensive coordinator, he can be a great coach given time. So it’s a no from me, as hard as its been.”
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