Cleveland Browns fire Freddie Kitchens after one season

Browns finished 6-10 with loss to Bengals on Sunday

The Cleveland Browns fired head coach Freddie Kitchens on Sunday night. They announced the decision at 8 p.m.

Kitchens lost his job hours after a 33-23 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium in the final game of the regular season.

“I would like to thank Freddie for his dedication and efforts this past season,” Browns General Manager John Dorsey said in a statement. “We are disappointed in our results and feel a change is necessary. Freddie is a good man and good football coach. We wish he and his family nothing but success.”

The Browns finished 6-10 in Kitchens’ one season as head coach. It was the franchise’s 12th straight losing season. He was their eighth head coach in that span, counting Gregg Williams, the interim head coach in 2018 after Hue Jackson was fired.

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Kitchens joined the Browns as a running backs/associate head coach on Jan. 24, 2018. They promoted to offensive coordinator on Oct. 29, 2018. He was named head coach on Jan. 9, 2019.

“We thank Freddie for his hard work and commitment to this organization but did not see the success or opportunities for improvement to move forward with him as our head coach,” Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “Our focus is on hiring an exceptional leader for this football team and we will take a comprehensive approach to this process. We are excited about the core players we have to build around and develop and we look forward to bringing in a strong head coach that will put this group of players in the best position to succeed.”

Last week, Kitchens was asked about his future and said, "I'm focused on doing my job right now and I think that's where they want my focus. I have not gotten anything but total support from those guys, and they want me to do my job and that's what I'm trying to do on an everyday basis."

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