Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens is putting together quite the coaching staff for his first head coaching gig.
Here’s what we know so far as of Monday morning
- Offensive coordinator: Todd Monken
- Defensive coordinator: Steve Wilks
- Special Teams coordinator: Mike Priefer
- Associate Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach: James Campen
- Running Backs Coach: Stump Mitchell
- Offensive Quality Control Coach: Tyler Tettleton
- Offensive Quality Control Coach: Jim Dray
- Special Assistant to the Head Coach: Jody Wright
Priefer spent the last eight seasons with Minnesota and decided to join the team he cheered for growing up after reportedly being offered a new contract to stay in Minnesota.
The Vikings had the fourth best special teams unit according to Pro Football Focus and had the best unit during the 2017 season.
Unfortunately, Priefer comes with baggage after using homophobic slurs towards his players including former Vikings punter Chris Kluwe that Kluwe made public in 2014 after being released from the team.
Priefer was suspended three games by the team after an independent investigation about the accusations were made.
I’m sure Priefer will be asked about his past when he addresses the Cleveland media which he should but he has reportedly had take sensitivity training classes and there hasn’t been issues made public since.
People can definitely change and we’ve all made mistakes and said things we’ve regretted at one point in our lives. We all have learned from it and hopefully Priefer has as well.
Campen spent the last twelve seasons with the Packers organization as the offensive line coach and fifteen seasons on the coaching staff in Green Bay, starting as the assistant offensive line/quality control coach under Mike Sherman in 2004.
He has coached six players (Chad Clifton, Scott Wells, Josh Sitton, Jeff Saturday, David Bakhtiari and T.J. Lang) to a Pro Bowl selection during his tenure with the Packers and two players to All-Pro honors (Josh Sitton and David Bakhtiari).
One Browns player that has benefitted from Campen’s coaching already is center JC Tretter who spent his first four seasons with the Packers before signing with the Browns in 2017.
Mitchell has spent seventeen of his twenty-six years in coaching as a running backs coach in the NFL.
From 1999-2007, he was running backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks under Mike Holmgren. During that time he got to coach the likes of Ricky Watters and Shaun Alexander.
Mitchell then went to Washington for two seasons where he coached Clinton Portis to a 1,400+ yard season in 2008.
He returned to the NFL in 2013 with the Arizona Cardinals where he stayed for four seasons under Bruce Arians and where he coached alongside Kitchens who was the quaterbacks coach.
Mitchell spent the last two seasons with the New York Jets.
Tettleton was a personnel staffer with the New York Jets during the 2018 season and was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma during the 2016 and 2017 seasons while Baker Mayfield was the quarterback for the Sooners.
Tettleton also spent four years at the University of Ohio where he was the starting quarterback of the Bobcats.
Dray spent eight seasons in the NFL as a tight end with the Cardinals, Browns, Bills and 49ers.
This is his first coaching position in the NFL.
Bruce Feldman of the Athletic reported on Saturday that Tettleton was “very well-regarded” by the coaches and players at Oklahoma which makes you wonder if he got a recommendation to Kitchens via Mayfield.