Cleveland Browns: Freddie Kitchens provides a great, thorough response to Bob Wylie's comments
Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens took time to address comments made by now former offensive line coach Bob Wylie. Kitchens made a strong statement about the situation while being very smart about it.
It's not clear exactly why Wylie felt the need to make the comments he did. Is it a genuine attempt to give credit to Gregg Williams and Ken Zampese for their impact on the team in the second half of last season? Is it as simple as being bitter that Freddie Kitchens got the job and being in position to complain about everyone else that wasn't retained when he was hired? I can't help but notice he's not fighting for Hue Jackson or Amos Jones.
It may be a combination or something else entirely and it's possible there's a point there to be made about Dorsey having an aversion to a coach who might challenge him for control, but it doesn't really matter. Kitchens was pretty diplomatic in his approach to his comments about Wylie, giving him credit for the job he did with the offensive line in the second half and talking about how he empathized with the injury he suffered, trying to keep him involved as much as possible.
He did drop the hammer on Wylie when he said he could've hired him, but chose not to. And the guy he hired instead, James Campen, is objectively better at the job in addition to being more certain about his future.
But where Kitchens really shined was in giving credit to the players for the team's improvement and turn around. He comes off humble, avoids suggesting he's a self-proclaimed genius and likely endears a locker room already on his side to him that much more. It works on the most cynical, purely political level, but Kitchens appears genuine in that he believes it.
It just seems to be one more situation where someone vastly underestimates the intelligence of Freddie Kitchens, perhaps because of his accent, and he comes up with a great response.
At this point, even if Wylie were to keep talking, Kitchens should not have any further comment on it. If anyone asks, he can have them refer to his previous statement on the situation or simply refuse to comment further.
Not only does it seem like this story won't have much staying power, any additional response would be unproductive and distracting. He's addressed it. His statement is thorough enough to be applicable to most anything else. Now, he and the team should move on. And given Kitchens acumen for this stuff, that's exactly what he's likely to do.
