Kevin Stefanski out as Browns Coach

I can't say I'm surprised. But it always feels like a gut punch to me when we fire a head coach. The Cleveland Browns are a frequent team in the spotlight on NFL's Black Monday, and here we are again. Kevin Stefanski has been relieved of his duties after six seasons leading the Browns. He went 45-56 in the regular season, and 1-2 in the Playoffs. He also was named the NFL's Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023. But he's gone.

I can understand why many fans wanted him gone after these last two years, and I genuinely empathize with them. I'm one of them. When you go 8-26 over the last two seasons after seeing the Playoffs twice in the four years before that, I can understand the hunger to stay there, or get back there. I get it! Once you experience January football, even if it's just a taste, you desperately want more of it!

But personally, I think Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry pulled the plug a little too soon. I would've done all the offseason work of shoring up the line, drafting some offensive weapons and working with Shedeur and any other quarterbacks. If Stefanski struggled hard midseason next year, then I could see justifying his firing. But not here. Not at this point. Why? Read on.

Continuity matters

This is where I'm most bothered by the firing. Fans can discuss or debate our struggles on offense, playcalling issues, or anything else related to the X's and O's of this game. That has its place and the fans worried about the team from this standpoint have a valid point. I'm not arguing with them on that. But I look straight beyond that. Here's a statistic that bugs me:

The Browns have had 12 coaches now including Stefanski since 1999. 12 head coaches in 27 seasons. Before Stefanski, Romeo Crennel was the longest tenured Cleveland head coach with four seasons from 2005-2008.

Yes, Stefanski did get six seasons from 2020-2025 and a lot of it was up and down. But he never really got the chance to work with a healthy quarterback, or a stable quarterback situation.

His only season where he had a healthy quarterback? The Browns went 11-5 and made the Playoffs. They knocked the Steelers out too!

When it came to the quarterback situation in Cleveland, Stefanski worked with this over the last five seasons and still did better than expected:

2021: Baker was banged up.

2022: Watson was well... Watson.

2023: Miraculously made the Playoffs with five starting quarterbacks.

2024: Watson/Winston split. Who's winning consistently with that?

2025: Pickett? Flacco? Gabriel? Sanders? Make up your mind!

Nobody wins consistently with that mess at quarterback. No one. Not Paul Brown, not Vince Lombardi, not peak Bill Belichick. No one. And now the Browns will be expecting another head coach to come in and bring them out of this eternally revolving door/rotating dumpster fire. Good luck to whoever takes the job from this standpoint.

A telling sign

Usually when teams fire coaches, they often clean house and start fresh. Meaning they fire the GM as well. The fact that Andrew Berry, the Haslam yes man behind the nuclear disaster that was the Deshaun Watson trade stays, and Stefanski goes, tells me all I need to know. I'm going to spell it out plainly for you guys too and in all caps. Ready?

JIMMY HASLAM RUNS EVERY ASPECT OF THIS TEAM, AND IS TOO MUCH OF AN IMPATIENT CONTROL FREAK TO LET HIS GM AND HEAD COACH GENUINELY DO THEIR JOBS.

Maybe it's my own bias. If it is, I'm sorry. But I still can't get over the fact that Andrew Berry went along with the Watson trade. Once he went along with what is arguably the worst trade in NFL history after being a genuinely smart GM before that, I couldn't trust him as a GM going forward. Still don't. Instead of getting excited about the moves he's making, I have asked myself on more than one occasion whether or not Jimmy Haslam is pulling the strings behind closed doors. That's the sign of a toxic leadership culture that goes right to the top.

There's also an interesting piece of information out there from CBS Sports' Pete Prisco saying that Kevin Stefanski was against the Watson trade. That says a lot to me. It sheds a lot of light.

One man in the front office went along with the worst trade in Browns and likely NFL history. The other had his hands tied on how much he could do because of a $230 Million mistake. The one who went along with it keeps his job. The other is a scapegoat of sorts after the team reaps what they sowed over two awful seasons. It makes too much sense.

Where do the Browns go from here?

I hate asking this question. I'm tired of it. I am disgusted by it. When is our main question going to be, "Who are we hosting in Cleveland for the Playoffs after winning our fourth AFC North title in five years?"

I hate being in this position. But since we're here again, I'll just say this: I'll stay out of the head coaching speculation for now. I'm more focused on personnel moves the new coach has to make.

I'd sign solid offensive linemen in free agency or take the best rookie lineman in the Draft. Same goes with wideouts. But don't trade that 6th pick. Use it on your biggest need to find the best guy available. The Ozzie Newsome approach.

As for Shedeur Sanders, I'm not sold on him, but I'm also not ready to pull the plug on him either. He hasn't gotten a legitimate chance to work with a solid line and steady or talented receivers.

If he has a full season with all those things and still struggles? We'll be having a different discussion. It's clear the kid has talent. I've seen glimpses of it. But it's not easy being the starting quarterback in a place where careers have always gone to die.

Right now, I am in "wait and see mode." I just think the Browns made a move that worsened the team at its core by firing Stefanski. But I hope I'm wrong.

Sources

clevelandbrowns.com

CBS Sports

ESPN

Picture Credit

Fox 8