The Cleveland Browns would be foolish to fire Kevin Stefanski and company

The Cleveland Browns can’t fire Kevin Stefanski and company.

The Cleveland Browns are probably going to secure their second losing season in a row, and despite that, the Browns should stay the course with Kevin Stefanski and company. Now, I’m no Stefanski fan, but over the last two years, I’ve seen him be very average and very inconsistent when developing a gameplan.

His methodical offense worked well with Baker Mayfield. It forced Mayfield to slow down and make the most out of his throws, and in doing so, the two achieved great things. With Jacoby Brissett, Stefanski maybe over-used the backup, having him throw far more than he probably should and having him put his body on the line far more often than was reasonable for a quarterback.

Yet, with all that being said, the real test was seeing what Deshaun Watson would do in that offense. As pundits and critics of the game, we’ve been denied that due to Watson being suspended for the first 11 games of the season due to his suspension over sexual assault claims made by dozens of women.

Until we see what Watson looks like fully integrated into the offense, it doesn’t make sense to fire Stefanski and the rest of the coaching staff. Stefanski needs time to not only get Watson up to speed with the offense but to retool it to fit his skillset. Mayfield and Brissett are different quarterbacks than Watson, and he needs an offense that’s more up-tempo and can fit his faster-pace mentality.

Firing Stefanski before he’s given that choice would just cause even more unnecessary upheaval and chaos and that’s not going to do anyone any good.

Yes, keeping Kevin Stefanski means keeping Joe Woods, but…

I don’t think Joe Woods is a bad coordinator. He’s working in congress with Stefanski and the two have a good rapport with one another. Woods can only do so much, it’s Stefanski’s vision he’s executing and it’s Andrew Berry’s talent he’s using. If you want to talk about moving on from Berry, we can have that talk, but moving on from Woods would only further complicate issues on defense.

The issues on defense are clear; get better talent. Guys like Jadeveon Clowney, John Johnson III, and Denzel Ward have all been massive disappointments on the team. Myles Garrett is the team’s best player but he’s utterly useless for half the game. This is a defense that doesn’t have one or two holes, but a gaping hole in the center where the talent is supposed to be.

It really is that bad.

So while I’m advocating for Stefanski and company to stay, one major change needs to happen; Stefanski needs to sign someone to call plays for him. He’s a decent enough play-caller with a Top 10 offensive line. But who is he when he has to actually rely on timing and out-coaching the other team?

What would a Stefanski-crafted defense look like if he were to put the same time and effort into it as he does his offense?

Stefanski has to hire an offensive coordinator to call plays from here on out because Stefanski’s biggest failure isn’t the team’s record, Watson’s shotty play, or the decline of several key offensive guys; it’s the fact he’s a head coach of a football team and doesn’t seem to have enough time to deal with all facets of the team, not just the offense.