Former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens is joining North Carolina as tight ends coach, multiple outlets reported Monday.
He worked as a senior football analyst for South Carolina in the 2022 season, and he’ll be able to give Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown some insight about the Gamecocks. The two teams are set to open their 2023 seasons on Sept. 2 in Charlotte.
Kitchens spent 15 seasons in the NFL, beginning as tight ends coach with the Dallas Cowboys in 2006. He coached tight ends for the Cardinals for the next six seasons, then spent five more seasons with Arizona in other coaching roles before joining the Browns in 2018, being elevated to offensive coordinator that season.
The Browns named him head coach in 2019 and fired him at the end of a 6-10 season.
He spent the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the New York Giants.
At North Carolina, Kitchens will replace John Lilly, who was named the tight ends coach with the Carolina Panthers.
