CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina has hired former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens as its run-game coordinator and tight ends coach. Kitchens spent the 2022 season as a senior offensive analyst on Shane Beamer's staff at South Carolina.
As an analyst, Kitchens was not an on-the-field position coach but still played a role in the day-to-day preparations for the Gamecocks. But his new job will be that of a full-time assistant coach who will be in charge of the Tar Heel tight ends.
Kitchens spent 16 seasons in the NFL ranks, leading the Browns to a 6-10 record as head coach in 2019. He also worked as an offensive coordinator with the Browns and took over as play-caller for the New York Giants in 2021.
Kitchens also spent 11 years on the staff of the Arizona Cardinals, including for their Super Bowl appearance in the 2008 season. He has had college coaching stints at North Texas and Mississippi and South Carolina.
He replaces John Lilly after Lilly joined Frank Reich’s staff with the NFL's Carolina Panthers.
In an interesting note, South Carolina and North Carolina will open the 2023 season in Charlotte.
