season. That winter he was looking at job openings,
weighing possibilities, and found himself thinking back
to his career as a QB at Alabama, an iconic team with
a historic past. And in his mind the Browns were pro
football’s version of the Crimson Tide, helmet immedi-
ately recognizable. “I liked what this franchise repre-
sents,” he says. “In theory it represents the NFL.”
Kitchens had always wondered why the Browns strug-
gled since returning to the league. In this business, he
too thought, you can’t be scared of a challenge. So when
Cleveland offered him a job to work with their running
backs, he accepted. And what unfolded next is already
regarded on the southern shores of Lake Erie as historic:
Dorsey’s stopgap QB, Tyrod Taylor, getting knocked out
in the first half of a Week 3 game against the Jets; May-
field entering down 14–0; the stadium erupting; the
team rallying to win 21–17. Dorsey drove home after
the victory, the team’s first in more than 600 days, with
his windows rolled down, watching the fans dance and
sing. “You could feel the frustration come out,” he says.
The GM made his next big move five weeks later, firing
both coach Hue Jackson and offensive coordinator Todd
Haley, who had been feuding, then sliding Kitchens into
Haley’s role. Dorsey watched as his new coordinator
added zone reads and options to cater to Mayfield, who
then shattered the NFL rookie record for touchdown
passes (27). Running back Nick Chubb, another class
of ’18 draftee, who hadn’t had more than three carries
in the first six games, would set the team’s rookie rush-
ing mark by year’s end, and the Browns would claim
more victories in November and December than in the
previous three full seasons combined.
Entering the winter in search of a new coach, Dorsey
put together a committee to find a “leader of men” and
whittled an initial list of 20-plus candidates to eight.
Even Kitchens, the folksy assistant who’d always be-
lieved he deserved an opportunity but was never deemed
worthy, didn’t think he’d get the job. After he made the
first cut, he went into his inter-
view with one objective: “I was
going to present myself as me.”
After two months of looking,
the committee came to what
Dorsey says was a unanimous
decision. “I think Cleveland fits
me pretty well,” says Kitchens,
44, who was officially promoted
on Jan. 12. “I had to fight for
NIC
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POUND IT OUT
Landry (right) and
the Browns went
5–3 down the
stretch, treating
the Dawgs to a trio
of home wins.
