Dawgs By Nature
Cleveland head coach focusing on blocking out the nonsense in a season of disappointment.
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is in an unfavorable position - at least to some - as he prepares the Browns for Thursday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Browns enter the game having lost seven of their last eight games. During the streak, the offense has only scored more than 16 points once - in their surprising Week 8 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. And that is even after turning the offense over to quarterback Jameis Winston and his “inspirational” brand of football, which is heavy on garbage-time stats and low on actually doing things that help win a game.
Then there is the fact this week’s opponent is the Steelers, a team that has been the proverbial final nail in the coffin for Browns coaches over the years. Since 2008, the Browns have fired six head coaches following a loss to the Steelers:
The only full-time head coach during that time frame to avoid a similar fate was Freddie Kitchens, but that is only because the Browns faced the Bengals in Kitchens’ last game as head coach, a 33-23 loss to end the 2019 season.
But wait! There’s more!
Keen - or so they thought - observers spotted former head coach and current consultant Mike Vrabel with an earpiece on the sidelines during Sunday’s debacle against the Saints. Never mind that Vrabel has been in the same position for all of Cleveland’s home games this season, his presence must surely mean something is up in Berea!
So with the pressure of a lost season, never-ending chatter on local radio and social media, and the always present “trigger finger” of owner Jimmy Haslam just itching to dispatch another head coach (ignore that it has been several years since Haslam actually acted in haste) and surely Stefanski must be losing sleep.
Well, not according to the man himself, as Stefanski remains focused on the task at head rather than the outside noise (quote via a team-provided transcript):
“I think probably because I grew up listening to (Philadelphia sports talk), I’m smart enough to not worry about outside noise. I get that’s part of this gig. That’s life in the big city. My sole focus is getting this team ready to get a win on Thursday night. That’s it.”
Has this season been anything other than a disappointment? No, it has not. Are the numerous injuries, especially along the offensive line the fault of the...
