Freddie Kitchens hired by Giants to coach tight ends, source confirms
Then-Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens walks off the field after a loss to the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 29, 2019, in Cincinnati. Credit: Getty Images/Bobby Ellis
MIAMI — Joe Judge may never have been a head coach, but his Giants staff is brimming with people who have. Two were in charge of NFL teams as recently as last month and there could be a total of four who have run programs in the past.
The latest addition is former Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens, who has been hired to coach tight ends, a source confirmed. Fox Sports was the first to report the agreement. Kitchens’ name was linked to the Giants’ staff last week, but it wasn’t until Monday that his role was made official.
Kitchens coached tight ends at Mississippi State (where Judge was a graduate assistant) as well as with the Cowboys and Cardinals.
He joins new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett as the second member of the staff who was an NFL head coach in 2019. Garrett spent 9 1⁄2 seasons as head coach of the Cowboys.
The Giants have yet to announce their staff hires, but they also are expected to hire Bret Bielema as outside linebackers coach/senior assistant and Derek Dooley for a yet-unspecified role. Both have been head coaches in college, Bielema at Arkansas and Wisconsin and Dooley at Louisiana Tech and Tennessee.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
