Most football fans know Bob Wylie for his amazing appearances on the recent season of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series. He became famous for his epic rant about stretching in football being overrated. Even going so far as to say the soldiers who stormed Normandy in World War II weren’t worried about such pointless stuff. What Chicago Bears fans might forget is Wylie was actually a member of this team’s coaching staff.
From 1999 to 2003, Wylie was the Bears’ offensive line coach. He played a pivotal role in the development of six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz, who’d been drafted a year before his arrival. He also helped James “Big Cat” Williams transform from a decent right tackle into a Pro Bowler by 2001. There’s a reason this guy has been in the league for almost 30 years. Wylie also believes he knows a thing or two about good coaches.
This might explain why he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind about the changes his former team the Cleveland Browns made. Aside from being resentful of how he was fired (he was in the hospital when he got the news), he also believes the Browns’ choice for their new head coach in offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens was less about qualifications and more about placation.
Bob Wylie should’ve stayed with the Chicago Bears
Wylie is of the belief that Kitchens wasn’t chosen because of his qualifications. It was more that he was liked by quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Browns wanted to keep the promising passer happy and so they promoted the guy who likely wouldn’t frustrate him too much from a coaching perspective. Even if that means sacrificing what actually made the offense good last year in quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese. Wylie broke it down on The Zach Gelb Show for CBS Sports Radio.
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“Baker likes Freddie. There’s a good relationship there even though Kenny Zampese did all the coaching there. Baker likes Freddie, so that had to (factor) into the decision.
(But) Freddie didn’t have any coordinator experience or head coaching experience.”
The coach wasn’t done either. He continued by saying Kitchens was also hired for another reason. Lack of a headstrong personality.
“That shocked me because Gregg Williams turned the team around. In the second half of the season, that’s his work that got it to where it is. My own personal feeling is Gregg was too strong a candidate for the seat. I don’t think Dorsey wanted to go head-to-head with Gregg like he had to do with Andy Reid in Kansas City, so he kind of filtered Gregg out of the picture and he kept the search going.”
It’s an interesting point.
Williams did good work with a bad situation when he took over for Hue Jackson. Dorsey left Kansas City following reports of differences with Reid. It would make perfect sense for him to seek out a coach who wouldn’t give him that sort of trouble again. This doesn’t mean the choice will fail, but history shows that coaches willing to play second fiddle don’t always have success.
Time will tell if Wylie was right about Kitchens.
