It was reported on Monday that the New York Giants will add former Cleveland Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens to their staff as a tight ends coach, but the hire almost didn’t happen.
Since rumors popped up about Kitchens potentially joining the Giants, separate reports had indicated that he was mulling other job opportunities. However, as it turns out, that was not exactly the case.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport reports that Kitchens was strongly leaning towards taking a year off from the NFL, but was lured to Giants head coach Joe Judge, who “was adamant” he come to East Rutherford and join Big Blue.
“From what I understand, Kitchens was strongly leaning towards taking a year off, taking a breath and rebooting his career after everything that happened in Cleveland this year — but he and Joe Judge are very good friends. Joe was adamant that Kitchens join him on his staff,” Rapoport said.
Judge and Kitchens have a history dating back to Mississippi State. In fact, Judge once shared a story about how he helped build a swing set for Kitchens’ kids, although the entire process did not exactly go according to plan.
Ultimately, Judge got his man and Kitchens will be right back in the thick of things, although coaching tight ends is a bit of a step down from serving as a head coach.
