Ex-NFL head coach Kitchens joins South Carolina as analyst

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens has joined South Carolina as a senior analyst.

The school announced the addition of Kitchens on Wednesday.

Kitchens has worked in the NFL since 2006, most recently with the New York Giants. Kitchens became the Browns' head coach in 2019 and went 6-10 in his lone season in charge.

South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said he and Kitchens worked together on Mississippi State's staff and the two have know each other for almost 20 years.

“He's a fantastic coach with head coaching experience and coordinator experience,” Beamer said in a statement. “He's a longtime NFL coach who will be a great asset and resource for our program and will help us in so many ways.”

South Carolina did not specify which side of the ball Kitchens might work on, although he'd always been an offensive assistant.

Kitchens has plenty of college experience in the Southeastern Conference as a player and coach. He was a three-year starter at quarterback for Alabama where he threw for 4,668 yards and 30 touchdowns.

He started his coaching career at at Glenville State in West Virginia before becoming a grad assistant coach for Nick Saban at LSU in 2000. He also was an assistant at North Texas and Mississippi State in 2004-05, where he coached alongside Beamer on Sylvester Croom's staff.

Kitchens went to the NFL in 2006 as a tight ends coach with the Dallas Cowboys under Bill Parcells.

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