What UNC’s Freddie Kitchens said about notion that USC offense was tipping plays

UNC run game coordinator and tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens is obviously familiar with the South Carolina football team.

But Kitchens – who spent 2022 as a senior football analyst for the Gamecocks before joining the Tar Heels staff in February 2023 – downplayed any role he had in UNC’s season-opening win over USC in a Wednesday news conference.

Speaking after UNC’s 31-17 win, a game in which the Tar Heels sacked USC quarterback Spencer Rattler nine times, North Carolina defensive end Kaimon Rucker said he could “obviously tell when they were about to go into pass.”

“They didn’t hide it,” Rucker said Saturday. “You could tell when they wanted to pass it, so they showed everything we learned in the film room. Being able to exploit that, being able to expose those weaknesses and focal points of their offense, man, it was a very satisfying feeling.”

The Big Spur added in a Tuesday report, citing sources, that “the feeling is these tendencies were something Tar Heel tight ends coach and former South Carolina analyst Freddie Kitchens was aware of and helped prepare the Tar Heel players and his fellow coaches.”

“It was something they (USC) addressed during the season last year but they unknowingly reverted back to it during the game and North Carolina capitalized on it,” the website’s Tony Morrell reported.

Freddie Kitchens downplays role in game

Kitchens, a 16-year NFL coaching veteran, said Wednesday that any credit for UNC’s excellent defensive performance – the Tar Heels had 17 sacks total last season before picking up nine on Saturday – should go to the players, not him.

Given how frequently college football coaches switch jobs and find themselves in crossover scenarios where they’re playing against a former employer, Kitchens said the situation he found himself in for Saturday’s Duke’s Mayo Classic wasn’t exactly new.

“I would say this: That’s not unique to any other team, you know?” Kitchens said Wednesday. “If we were to get something, it wouldn’t be because I was there … We’re not sitting there stealing signals like they do in baseball and all that kind of stuff. If we get something, it’s because (Rucker) and the rest of the D-line notices something during the game. That’s kind of giving me a little bit too much credit, I think.”

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, 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 primarily worked for the Gamecocks 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, The State previously reported, before joining coach Mack Brown’s UNC staff in February.

First-year South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said Wednesday that USC’s offense frequently works with their defensive staffers to make sure they’re not tipping anything off and that notions of UNC gaining an advantage off that is “a little overblown.”

“I can also tell you that we watched the tape as well and there were a bunch of times when they were pointing to the air saying ‘Hey, it’s pass!’ and it wasn’t,” Loggains said. “Also, I would say every time you’re down 31-14 I would expect to pass as well at that time of the game.”

Loggains said South Carolina’s offensive line issues were more attributable to a lack of execution and newness rather than any potential tip-offs.

“Our offensive line coach is new,” Loggains said. “I’m brand new. We had a bunch of brand new players … We need to play better. That’s what it comes down to.”

South Carolina’s next game

Who: South Carolina (0-1) vs. Furman (1-0)

Where: Williams-Brice Stadium

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 9

Watch: Streaming only, SEC Network Plus and ESPN+