In his weekly appearance on the Pat McAfee show yesterday, UNC head coach, Bill Belichick said that his first staff at North Carolina would start to come together this week, and next, as he’s waiting for the regular season of the NFL to conclude, to add assistants to his staff. He was still looking for his offensive coordinator, and it appears he has found him, in the form of Freddie Kitchens, who was Carolina’s tight ends coach the last couple of seasons, and served as the interim in the bowl game. This was reported by Matt Zenits, of 247Sports, and it ultimately shouldn’t come as a surprise. When Belichick was introduced as Carolina’s head coach earlier this month, he made it known that Kitchens would be back on the staff next season but didn’t clarify his role, but it’s apparent he’ll be the play-caller for the 2025 season.
The first initial name to pop up as a potential candidate for the job, is current interim OC for the Las Vegas Raiders, Scott Turner, the son of former offensive guru, Norv Turner. Belichick has made it known that his staff will be full of guys that have NFL experience, but both of his coordinator hires, have been in college football the last season, or in the case of Freddie Kitchens, the previous two.
Despite a lengthy coaching career in the NFL, Kitchens only called plays for one full season, and half of another. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in the middle of the 2018 season while coaching for the Browns after full-blown staff changes were made during the season. After helping the Browns finish the 2018 season with a 5-3 record, he was promoted to head coach for the 2019 season, where he would call plays. That would last just one season, as he was fired after going 6-10.
In addition to this time in Cleveland, Kitchens spent over a decade with the Arizona Cardinals, along with stints with the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants, before finding his way to the college game in 2022, when he was hired as an analyst for Shane Beamer at South Carolina.
It’s unknown what style of offense Kitchens will deploy, but given his time in the college game, you would imagine it would be the modern spread offense you see throughout the sport today. He’ll be tasked with coordinating an offense that is set to lose Omariona Hampton out of the backfield, and veteran wide receiver JJ Jones, who has exhausted his college eligibility. The task doesn’t get easier given how unclear the QB spot is right now for the Tar Heels, with the future of Jacolby Criswell unknown. Carolina did add Ryan Browne, a transfer out of Purdue, and landed four-star prospect Bryce Baker earlier this recruiting cycle.
Heel Tough Blog Podcast: