Dawgs By Nature
Everyone who has met former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski likes him. He is personable and well-liked. Stefanski is respected in NFL circles, and it should not take him long to find a coordinator job with another club.
Or, he just might slide into another head coaching position. Numerous media outlets have projected that between four and six head coaches will lose their positions today on “Black Monday.”
Before the end of this season, the New York Football Giants and Tennessee Titans fired their head man, and the Atlanta Falcons did not wait until Black Monday to ax head coach Raheem Morris hours after they won their final game 19-17 over the New Orleans Saints. Today, the Arizona Cardinals let go of head coach Jonathan Gannon, and the Las Vegas Raiders did not wait for head coach Pete Carroll to turn the franchise around.
And the decision to let Stefanski walk probably wasn’t an easy one for owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam. After all, Stefanski was named NFL Coach of the Year twice. And he got the Browns into the playoffs in 2020 after a 17-year drought.
However, the NFL is a results league, and losing 14 games in 2024 and 12 this year were just too much to ignore. Plus, Stefanski was supposed to be an offensive coach and a quarterback whisperer. With Cleveland, these areas were some of the worst situations on the entire roster.
The quarterback situation just never gets solved. It just seems to always be the next new guy.
Yes, the offensive line has been a mess. We all know the offense will only go as far as the offensive line will take them. But nobody can predict – or halt – injuries, and it has been an ongoing battle all season, just like last year. Cleveland has used seven different offensive line groupings so far this year.
And now, with the firing of Stefanski, the Browns must find a new head coach. Keep in mind, when Stefanski was released, this means his entire coaching staff could be unemployed. The new coach can retain any of the former coaches, but usually, he has his own guys to bring in that he is used to working with. Plus, any of these former Browns assistant coaches will be working to gain interviews with other clubs to ensure they have employment in 2026.
The defense has become the one area that has the fewest issues. This is due to DC Jim Schwartz and his schemes. Perhaps the new guy should retain the importance of the defense, and perhaps the Haslams will pick a defensive-minded coach to run this ballclub. Then simply hire a stud offensive coordinator to run that side of the ball.
Some defensive coaches for the Browns to keep in mind in their head coaching search:
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Age: 59
DC Cleveland Browns
Obviously, this would be the easy move, and really, it makes the most sense. Schwartz has taken this defense to new...
