Tag: Kevin Stefanski

Kevin Stefanski of Browns earns AP Coach of the Year honors

Kevin Stefanski of Browns wins AP Coach of the Year

The Cleveland Browns came away with three awards at NFL Honors on Thursday.

The AP Defensive Player of the Year went to Myles Garrett. The star defensive lineman’s head coach, Kevin Stefanski, earned AP Coach of the Year. Joe Flacco was named Comeback Player of the Year.

Stefanski led the Browns to an 11-6 record after a 7-10 campaign in 2023.

He did so despite having to go through a series of quarterbacks, finally winding up with Joe Flacco, who ignited the Cleveland offense.

Stefanski is 37-30 in four seasons with Cleveland.

Browns HC Kevin Stefanski wins second NFL Coach of the Year Award in four years

Congrats, Coach!

After crossing numerous milestones for the Cleveland Browns, head coach Kevin Stefanski has won NFL Coach of the Year for the second time in four years.

Going up against the likes of Houston Texans’ head coach Demeco Ryans and Detriot Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell, Stefanski takes home the hardware despite losing the PFWA vote to Ryans last month.

Leading the Browns through a great deal of adversity in 2023, Stefanski kept the team focused despite the loss of key players like running back Nick Chubb, right tackle Jack Conklin, and quarterback Deshaun Watson for the majority of the season.

Most notably, the Browns saw 26 percent of their salary wind up on Injured Reserve, starting five different quarterbacks (and winning with four of them) en route to clinching an 11-win season and a playoff berth.

Stefanski also won the award in 2020, leading the Browns to their first playoff berth since the 2002 season. For the first time since their return in 1999, the Browns have a beacon of consistency and continuity within the building.

Congratulations, Coach!

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Kevin Stefanski explains why Browns let Bill Callahan leave for Titans

Browns coach Kevin Stefanski explained why the team let Bill Callahan out of his contract to join the Titans.

Before the Tennessee Titans could hire Bill Callahan as their next offensive line coach, the Cleveland Browns had to let him out of his contract since he was making a lateral move.

Ultimately, the Browns decided to do that. On Monday, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski explained why.

“Bill Callahan, very unique situation there, to go work for Brian not with Brian — he’s going to go work for Brian,” he said, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “I can’t wait for Brian to boss him around. The dream of every kid is to boss your parents around. So, happy for those guys.

“I think organizationally, we realized that’s a unique situation and did not want to stand in the way of that. So, excited for, certainly, Brian and Bill down there.”

Considering how good of a coach Callahan is, letting him go isn’t an easy thing to do, so classy move by Stefanski and the Browns to do that.

No team in the NFL needed Callahan as badly as the Titans, a team that has had one of the worst offensive lines in the sport for the past three seasons.

If Tennessee can’t get this thing straightened out with Callahan at the helm, there will really be no hope.

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Kevin Stefanski releases statements on all new Browns hires

The Browns have filled out their offensive staff with Ken Dorsey, Duce Staley, and more. Here is what Kevin Stefanski had to say…

After hiring Ken Dorsey as his new offensive coordinator, Duce Staley has his new running backs coach, and more, Kevin Stefanski provided quotes to each of the new members of his staff with the Cleveland Browns.

Overhauling his offensive staff, former offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt was dismissed and has now landed with the New England Patriots. Staley has replaced Stump Mitchell as running backs coach, and T.C. McCartney was replaced with Tommy Rees as the tight ends coach (who was also given the passing game specialist title).

They made one change on the defensive side of the ball as well, bringing in Jacques Cesaire as their new defensive line coach.

The Browns have officially announced those hires now, and the head coach provided quotes on each of the new members of his staff. Here is what Stefanski had to say about his new offensive coordinator and the other three hires made to his staff.

One big question still needs to be answered as Browns hire OC Ken Dorsey

There is still one large question looming …

After the Cleveland Browns have named Ken Dorsey their new offensive coordinator, just one question still needs to be answered by head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Who will call plays?

Through his first four seasons in Cleveland, Stefanski has opted to call plays. Will that change now that an experienced play-caller, and a pretty good one at that, is under his wing? During his season-and-a-half in Buffalo before he was scapegoated by the Bills, Dorsey had the Buffalo offense and quarterback Josh Allen in the top five of every major statistical offensive metric.

Just a year ago, Stefanski had to say this about calling plays: “It’s fun, maybe in the moment, it’s exhausting. When it gets to game day, you try to get out of the way as much as possible. In terms of the play-calling, it’s exhausting. You’re spent after a game, you really are.”

Could this be the year that Stefanski steps back and completely falls into CEO mode for the Browns the way that Zac Taylor, Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh all do?

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Report: Browns expected to hire Alabama OC Tommy Rees as TE coach

The re-shaping of the Browns offensive staff has begun

The Cleveland Browns and head coach Kevin Stefanski are looking for their offensive scheme to evolve in 2024. And it appears that is starting with the poaching of Tommy Rees from the Alabama Crimson Tide

To do that the team let go of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, running backs coach Stump Mitchell, and tight ends coach T.C. McCartney.

They are looking for fresh ideas and perspectives on how to maximize the talent of quarterback Deshaun Watson and the rest of the offensive roster. The first addition on the staff seems to be close as reports say the Browns will hire former Alabama offensive coordinator Tommy Rees as the new tight ends coach.

Reports also say that Rees’ role with the team may be more than just the tight ends coach as he will help with the passing offense. The most intriguing aspect of this hire is the work he did with a mobile quarterback Jalen Milroe with Alabama this year.

Stefanski has shown the willingness to grow and make changes to his coaching staff even when that’s admitting he got it wrong the first time. He is looking for coaches who can help him make over his offense to fully capitalize on the mobility of Watson and this is a good start.

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Browns TE David Njoku raves about his relationship with Kevin Stefanski

The relationship between Njoku and Stefanski has grown

While appearing on the Up and Adams Show with Kay Adams, Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku talked about his relationship with head coach Kevin Stefanski.

He discussed how that relationship is compared to how it was when he arrived. Njoku talked about how he wanted to be traded in 2020 when Stefanski came in and that since that moment his relationship with the head coach is a complete 180.

He talked about how during their exit interview earlier this week the two joked about the trade request. Njoku continued saying the trade request wasn’t necessary but since that moment he and Stefanski have grown close the past couple of seasons.

During the interview, he also talked about how hungry the team is and that falling short makes them want success even more. Njoku broke out this season and was the king of yards after catch, if the Browns want to reach their ultimate goal the veteran tight end will need to play a big role in 2024.

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Joel Bitonio is a believer in the Browns under Kevin Stefanski, Andrew Berry

Things are changing in Cleveland

Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry have the support from the longest-tenured member of the Cleveland Browns in offensive guard Joel Bitonio.

The 2023 season was not like previous ones in Cleveland as the team had every reason to give up several times and that just didn’t happen. Though the ending was tough to watch this team overcame ridiculous amounts of adversity this year and found a way to win 11 games and go to the playoffs.

All-Pro left guard Joel Bitonio on Sunday talked about how he too believes that this isn’t the same old Browns.

“I think Coach Stefanski’s built a culture here. I think Andrew Berry’s built that with the guys he’s brought in. I do think we built something and I hope it’s the star of ‘hey, this is what we do.'”

Bitonio has been around a lot of false hope in Cleveland and has seen plenty of bad cultures so this is high praise from one of the league’s best. There are still roster holes to fix and improvements to be made but the future in Cleveland is very bright despite how this year ended.

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Browns Studs and Duds: 5 duds from the season-ending loss to Texans

The Cleveland Browns duds in their season finale vs. the Houston Texans

The Cleveland Browns, led by Kevin Stefanski and Jim Schwartz, concluded a remarkable season with a humiliating playoff loss to the Houston Texans. The magical carriage finally turned back into the big, orange pumpkin that we all learned to love.

The clock didn’t strike midnight until the second half when Joe Flacco threw two pick-sixes on back-to-back drives. The first interception was a misfire when he attempted to whip the ball out of bounds before his legs, and the power they generated, were taken out. The second interception was a forced error on fourth and two.

The Browns’ offense couldn’t overcome spotting the Texans 14 points and slid further behind as they tried to catch up. Flacco had been playing very well up to that point. The team’s failures happened as a collective. There’s no singular player to blame; even the players who performed well had costly mistakes.

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah played every snap on defense for the first time in his career. He made many plays around the ball. However, he failed to contain the edge on Devin Singletary’s 19-yard touchdown run that iced the game.

The team had a meltdown. In the final studs and duds, there are only “duds,” starting with the coaching staff who failed to put the players in positions to succeed.

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These are not the Same Old Browns

Not the same old Browns.

These Cleveland Browns, led by head coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, are not the “Same Old Browns.”

Ending the season on a low note, the Houston Texans defeated the Browns in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. It is not how anyone envisioned this 2023 squad ending their season after finishing the year 11-5 and as one of the hottest teams in football.

However, this team, led by this regime, showed nothing but fight, determination, and resiliency this season. Despite losing Nick Chubb, Deshaun Watson, both starting offensive tackles (then the backup right tackle who was playing well), all three of their starting safeties for a large chunk of the season, and more, this Cleveland football team fought until the end of the line week in and week out.

While the sunset on their 2023 season after a loss to the Texans, the dawn is just rising on the long-term future of this organization.