Freddie Kitchens: vaguely employed

[CBBI]

I have always wondered if a truly great offensive coach could be a truly great defensive coach too. I mean if you spend your whole career trying to beat defenses, you will learn what defenses are hard to beat. Belicheck is a great offensive coach, and does it because he was a great defensive coach and works hard on how to fool and beat those defenses. So while we have a ton of experienced defensive coaches.

I wonder what will happen with Freddie's all voices matter style will do to our defense. Will he be in those defensive meetings and throw an offense at them that beats the defense and we change up some based on that? Kind of like preparing a witness for trial with a mock testimony Q and A.

I know a bit off topic from your point, but the more I learn on how Freddie runs things, the more it makes sense how innovative you can be on both sides of the ball with that style.

The only recent example I can think of would be Juan Castillo.

He spent 16 years with the Eagles on the offensive side of the ball as an offensive assistant, tight ends coach and offensive line coach before being randomly promoted to defensive coordinator in 2011.

It didn't go well at all. Castillo was Philly's DC for just 1.5 years and ended up getting fired midway through his second season for poor performance. He subsequently went right back to being an OL coach for Baltimore and now Buffalo.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

If there was only a mathematical system that crunched numbers to see if the strengths of your team match overall league trends for situational football

Still wouldn't solve the problem. You'd have to have shitloads of data for the exact same personnel matchups, conditions, playcallers, etc....

 

[Cavsfan1985]

You know...Arians has a point.

A problem with how analytics are often applied is that something that is true for a group as a whole may not be true for each member of a group in every situation. Maybe league-wide analytics tell you that it makes sense to go for it on 4th and 2 from your own 39. But if your team happens to be a poor running team, you're playing a good run defense, and you've been getting stuffed all day, the "odds" maybe are not what the analytics say they are. Or maybe it's a day where the left side of your OL has been on a roll, the defense lost it's run-stuffing DT in the first quarter, and you think you can get that 2 yards even if the "analytics" tell you the odds are less than 50%. There are any number of variables specific to the teams at issue, the weather, the players, etc., that make what the analytics tell you of little use.

I think what Arians is saying if that you have to look at all those variables when making a decision, and while the analytics may be good for challenging general assumptions that are flawed, they may not be a lot of good in particular situations.

I agree, but also analytics would allow you make those decision or help guide. In theory you could look at how a team performs when X player is not playing. I think there has to be a mix of using your gut as well as numbers. The hard part with analytics is most teams will look at it but don’t truly use it all the time. It seems coaches who are more aggressive tend to make decisions closer to it then not.

One area that is unrelated but always seems weird to me, is on kickoffs. I just don’t see any value in a team not trying to kick it out if the end zone. Is the risk/reward worth it. In college you can make the argument on both sides with the fact you can faircatch a kickoff and get at the 25.

 

[Jordan]

I am totally a pro-analytics and numbers guy. Everyone here knows that.

But @The Human Q-Tip hits on a big problem. Guys like DePodesta and regular “football guys” can be speaking a different language. It takes a great intermediary to explain the other to both sides. Teams that don’t have that generally crash and burn.

I actually think this was a big problem between Sashi and Hue. Dorsey seems like the kind of guy that understands both exceptionally well and can act as that intermediary.

 

[Real Deal]

You have to hear it live, Freddie's reaction is worth it

 

[Los216]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1086345622616186881

 

[NorthCoastBias]

View: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/1086345622616186881

Press release from the Browns also stated DeWayne Walker and Adam Henry are being retained.

View: https://twitter.com/ByNateUlrich/status/1086345368571383808

 

[CBBI]

Interesting that Walker is staying with Whitt seemingly being brought above him with a higher title.

 

[CBBI]

Head Coach: Freddie Kitchens
Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Jody Wright

Offensive Coordinator: Todd Monken
Quarterbacks: Ryan Lindley
Running Backs/Run Game Coordinator: Stump Mitchell
Wide Receivers: Adam Henry
Tight Ends: John Lilly
Offensive Line/Associate Head Coach: James Campen
Assistant Offensive Line: Jeff Blasko
Offensive Quality Control: Tyler Tettelton
Offensive Quality Control: Jim Dray

Defensive Coordinator: Steve Wilks
Defensive Line: Tosh Lupoi
Assistant Defensive Line: John Parrella
Linebackers/Defensive Run Game Coordinator: Al Holcomb
Secondary/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator: Joe Whitt Jr.
Defensive Backs: Dewayne Walker
Senior Defensive Specialist: Chris Jones
Defensive Quality Control: TBD
Defensive Quality Control: TBD

Special Teams Coordinator: Mike Priefer
Assistant Special Teams: TBD

Appears the only spots left to fill are assistant special teams and a couple of defensive quality control coaches.

 

[AZ_]

The lack of NFL experience on the DL staff would be another reason to invest in that position through free agency.

 

[Randolphkeys]

The lack of NFL experience on the DL staff would be another reason to invest in that position through free agency.

I disagree. My first reaction is that the coaching staff is prioritizing coaches who teach fundamentals and younger inexperienced players, therefore they might not be looking to add a veteran.

We will see how it all shakes out.

 

[Ohio]

It will be very interesting to see which holes they fill via FA/trade and which they fill via the draft. Looking forward to seeing how it plays out.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

What I hear Arians saying is, "I don't know what that stuff is, how it works, or how to apply it to my practice."

Maybe I"m misunderstanding his point, but if that's what he's saying, I would view that as a major red flag. Why would you ever want less data available to you whether you regardless of how much of a factor it plays in each individual decision?

Good point -- I think it really matters how you read Arians' statement. I personally focused on the last part of it: "I'm going for it on 4th down whether the chart says it or not." The way I took that -- and I don't think which of us is correct as to his intent really matters for purposes of this discussion -- is that he's not going to be ruled by analytics. That would be different from saying that analytical data is never useful. But I agree his statement could be read differently. Certainly, there are some commentators and fans who will argue that any variation from "the chart" is a prima facie mistake.

It's kind of complicated by the desire on the part of some coaches to not admit to using analytics because either 1) they want to maintain an old school, tough guy image, and/or; 2) they don't want to keep their usage of analytics on the down-low so as to confer some advantage. I think Belicheck does that to some extent.

Arians may just have been trying to protect that "image".

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I am totally a pro-analytics and numbers guy. Everyone here knows that.

But @The Human Q-Tip hits on a big problem. Guys like DePodesta and regular “football guys” can be speaking a different language. It takes a great intermediary to explain the other to both sides. Teams that don’t have that generally crash and burn.

I actually think this was a big problem between Sashi and Hue. Dorsey seems like the kind of guy that understands both exceptionally well and can act as that intermediary.

Analytics should inform, not decide.

 

[MD13]

I am totally a pro-analytics and numbers guy. Everyone here knows that.

But @The Human Q-Tip hits on a big problem. Guys like DePodesta and regular “football guys” can be speaking a different language. It takes a great intermediary to explain the other to both sides. Teams that don’t have that generally crash and burn.

I actually think this was a big problem between Sashi and Hue. Dorsey seems like the kind of guy that understands both exceptionally well and can act as that intermediary.

I agree with the overall point, but I think you're giving Hue too much credit there. Two things Hue consistently showed through his tenure here is that he refuses to ask others for help since he believes that he always knows best (like refusing to learn from Lincoln Riley) and he will always seek to blame others when the team is struggling. I don't think it mattered how well Sashi communicated, Hue was never going to change his mind.