Freddie Kitchens leaving Gamecocks for ACC job, report says

The South Carolina football team is losing an offensive staffer to an opponent on the 2023 schedule.

North Carolina is hiring former Gamecocks senior football analyst Freddie Kitchens to its staff as tight ends coach, Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports reported Monday morning.

Coach Shane Beamer hired Kitchens into an off-field role last May, describing him at the time as “a fantastic coach with head coaching experience and coordinator experience.” Kitchens had worked in the NFL from 2006 to 2021.

Kitchens primarily served South Carolina in an off-field role, but the Gamecocks leaned on his experience amid a late-season staff change.

When offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield took the same job at Nebraska in December, Kitchens moved into a temporary role and helped call plays in South Carolina’s Dec. 30 Gator Bowl loss to Notre Dame. Kitchens left USC’s staff in January 2023, an athletics spokesman confirmed to The State on Monday.

UNC coach Mack Brown had an opening at tight ends coach after former position coach John Lilly accepted the same role with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, where he’ll work with new coach Frank Reich.

Kitchens, the former coach of the Cleveland Browns, had most recently worked as the New York Giants’ senior offensive assistant and interim offensive coordinator in 2021 before joining South Carolina.

He’s coached tight ends at five previous stops with Glenville State (W.Va.) in 1999, Mississippi State (2004), the Dallas Cowboys (2006), the Arizona Cardinals (2007-12) and the Giants (2020).

Kitchens will become the second coach with South Carolina ties on UNC’s staff. Bryson Allen-Williams, a defensive graduate assistant, was a four-year linebacker at USC from 2014 to 2018.

Kitchens will also get an early reunion with his former staff, as North Carolina and South Carolina are scheduled to play each other Saturday, Sept. 2 in the Duke’s Mayo Classic in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium. The neutral-site game at the home of the Panthers is the season opener for both teams.