With an exciting combination of promising rookies and returning talent, expectations for the Browns' 2025 season are sky high. There’s little doubt that the players have what it takes to pull off a respectable season. The question is, does their coach?
If things go south again for the Browns this season, as they so often do, will head coach Kevin Stefanski be the one to blame and find himself out of a job?
Stefanski began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the Vikings from 2006 to 2019. During his final two seasons in Minnesota, he served as their offensive coordinator. His success in this role garnered him considerable attention and paved the way for head coaching jobs.
Seizing the opportunity, Stefanski took the Browns’ head coaching gig in 2020 and led the team to their first playoff appearance in 18 years, earning himself NFL Coach of the Year honors. He would win the award again in 2023 when, with the well-timed help of Joe Flacco, the Browns made it back to the playoffs and ended their season at a respectable 11-6.
It came as no surprise then when, on June 5, 2024, the Browns signed Stefanski to a contract extension, although the exact details of this agreement still remain unknown. Since inking this extension, though, things haven’t been easy for Stefanski.
Last season, the Browns were light years away from the previous playoff teams, which earned Stefanski so much praise in years past. The team went an embarrassing 3-14, which has led many fans to wonder if keeping Stefanski around was really the right choice.
That might sound crazy given the fact that Stefanski is a two-time coach of the year, but in a league dominated by a “win-now” mindset, memories can be brutally short. Just look at how Jerry Jones showed Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson the door immediately after winning their second Super Bowl in a row. Even Bill Belichick, considered by many to be the greatest coach of all time, parted ways with the Patriots after a rough stretch and is now coaching college football.
Even with all this pressure and historical precedent working against Stefanski, there’s an equal amount of evidence that his job is safe…for now.
HC Kevin Stefanski Is Safe...For Now
Now going into his sixth season as the Browns’ head coach, Stefanski has built numerous positive relationships within the organization. Aside from his players, who unanimously seem to respect him, Stefanski has connected well with General Manager Andrew Berry as well as owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam. This closeness is crucial for any coach looking for a little benefit of the doubt when it comes to bouncing back after a disappointing season.
Additionally, it's important to keep in mind that some of the Browns’ biggest missteps that torpedoed last season are not Stefanski’s fault alone. The disastrous decision to bring aboard Deshaun Watson is a mistake shared by the entire organization. Jimmy Haslam has accepted the brunt of the responsibility for this and publicly admitted that it was “a big swing and miss,”. It seems, at least publicly, that he is not holding the cap space destroying blunder against Stefanski.
Right now, Stefanski’s record with the Browns is a humble 40-44, a statistic that he is going to need to drastically improve this year. If he can rekindle some of the old 2020 and 2023 magic, this could be a much-needed bounce-back year for him and the organization. If Stefanski can get the Browns back to the playoffs, or even just cobble together a winning record this year, 2023 will look in hindsight like an anomaly in an otherwise successful career.
However, if he goes 3-14 again or, knock on wood, completely crashes out in something akin to the notorious 2017 winless season, the Browns will have no choice but to look elsewhere for a new coach.