Something magical happened with the Cleveland Browns right after Halloween — they started to win games. The Browns became one of the most exciting and interesting teams in the league and all it took was removing the one thing that had kept them from winning over the previous two and a half seasons; Hue Jackson.
For Jackson’s part, he landed on his feet with the Cincinnati Bengals. Head coach Marvin Lewis hired Jackson as his “special assistant” and, wouldn’t you know it, the Bengals started to lose games. Lewis was eventually fired too.
The Browns finished 7-8-1 with interim head coach Gregg Williams in charge of the team and Freddie Kitchens taking over for the fired Todd Haley as the play-caller. Will Williams get to keep the gig after his late-season success? Will they look outside and actually bring in a guy that can win on purpose and not on accident? How long will the restraining order that keeps Hue Jackson away from the facility be in effect? BetDSI has odds on at least two of those things. Here, take a gander.
Cleveland Browns head coach in Week 1 of 2019 regular season
Gregg Williams +300
Freddie Kitchens +400
Mike McCarthy +500
Dan Campbell +750
Kevin Stefanski +1000
Nick Sirianni +1000
Matt Eberflus +1500
Jim Caldwell +1500
Mike Munchak +2000
This list is interesting because there’s real money to be made. Gregg Williams got handed the keys to a decent team and actually did a yeoman’s job as its head coach. I would have never believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.
Related: NFL Betting Guide
Williams has a chance to keep this job, but I think that’s a disaster in the making. I don’t even like him as a defensive coordinator and I’ll be sad for the long-suffering Browns if he retains any position with the team. Yes, that’s in spite of his record as interim head coach.
Kitchens isn’t going anywhere, but I don’t see the team elevating him to head coach (though I’d much rather see that happen than Williams remain employed). Cleveland has refused to let any team interview Kitchens for their open offensive coordinator positions and unless something insane happens, the new head coach will inherit him as a playcaller. They’d be stupid not to be excited about that with what he got out of Baker Mayfield in the second half of the season.
A month ago, Mike McCarthy looked like a slam dunk for this job. Maybe he still is, but it seems the league has sobered up a little since Christmas and the McCarthy excitement has subsided. Just like with McCarthy’s former team the Packers, I really like Dan Campbell out of this list and there’s a nice little fire burning under him right now. He was one of the first contenders Cleveland interviewed and there’s no question a guy that’s been mentored by Sean Payton for the last three seasons should impact the offense. And, just like the Packers’ odds, he’s a nice healthy payoff here too at +750.
I think he is bookending his interviews w/ Williams and Kitchens. Started w/ Gregg, then going interview all outside candidates and finish with Freddie. I give Williams a 5% chance to be retained and Kitchens a 15% chance to be promoted. Dan Campbell is the Darkhorse candidate.
— Casey Kinnamon (@Casey_Kinnamon) January 3, 2019
