The Browns are destined for their second-straight losing season, and it seems like Browns owner Jimmy Haslam may finally be willing to make some leadership changes. Mike Jones of The Athletic wrote about the situation this past weekend, noting that the Browns will consider multiple paths as they look to revive the organization.
[RELATED: Colorado Rockies Hire Browns’ Paul DePodesta]
According to Jones, some believe Haslam is ready to “clean house.” There are other league insiders who believe GM Andrew Berry may be safe while head coach Kevin Stefanski will be the lone scapegoat for another lost season. The duo was added ahead of the 2020 campaign and immediately guided the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. The team hovered around .500 over the next two years before another playoff appearance in 2023. However, the team has bottomed out over the past year-plus, compiling a 6-22 record.
The head coach’s hot seat isn’t overly surprising. While Stefanski has earned a pair of Coach of the Year awards since joining Cleveland, he still has a losing record in five-plus seasons with the organization. While the team’s revolving door at QB hasn’t helped the coach’s cause, the offensive-minded Stefanski has also struggled recently to get that unit on track, leading to him handing over offensive play-calling duties in each of the past two seasons.
Berry’s situation is a bit more unique. As Jones writes, there’s a belief that the general manager may have had more recent success if not for the “meddlesome ways of ownership.” This obviously includes the Deshaun Watson acquisition and the subsequent commitment of $230MM in guaranteed money. Perhaps Haslam will be willing to give his top executive an opportunity to clean up the mess, although that may also require the owner to acknowledge that he played a key role in the team’s recent demise.
The front office is already seeing a bit of a transition, as longtime Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta returned to Major League Baseball as the Colorado Rockies head of baseball operations. Albert Breer of SI.com recently wrote that DePodesta’s Cleveland role was always “mysterious,” although he did work extensively with Berry. Breer adds that the Browns organization isn’t expected to replace DePodesta.
Gasp
Interested to hear from Browns fans as I don’t watch them often. Is it fair to blame Stefanski when they haven’t had a good QB? Is it more that just a new voice is needed at this point?
Whose fault is it. People lying to themselves like he didn’t run off Baker Mayfield and then endorse trading for Watson. Not to mention that he didn’t tailor his offense for him after he got him. It’s all his fault. Even the way he’s handled those two rookies is something a moron would do. Put two rookies in the room with each other with no veteran presence at all when every successful QB will tell you they learned just as much from their peers on the depth chart as they did from the coaches. But we’re just supposed to believe that Baker Mayfield got way better after he left and Watson got worse when he got there, and poor little Kevin was an innocent bystander for it all.
“It’s all his fault”??????? The most important factor in an offense’s success is its offensive line, and the Browns line has played poorly this season and last. Andrew Berry got praise for this year’s draft class, but supporters overlook that he completely ignored the aging and ineffective offensive line. I’ve always blamed Jimmy Haslam for bringing Deshaun Watson to Cleveland, an horrific mistake whether viewed from the issue of cap space, on-field production, or team character. Berry is the guy responsible for the 53 man roster, and routinely has missed on so-called skill position players. Stefanski does not make the draft choices, trades, or final say on the roster. Kevin Stefanski certainly has areas he could improve on, but solely blaming him for team results with the roster he’s been given and calling him a “moron” because he, like any other person with a functioning brain, couldn’t figure out the quarterback morass that was laid at his feet, is short-sighted and invalid.
Whose fault is that too? They had a top five line when he got there. He messed that up too. It’s all his and Berry’s fault.
Also, he did not like Baker Mayfield. He pushed for that trade. Stop buying into the PR that Haslam forced him to take him. All of the year his first year there when they went to the playoffs and especially the next year, there was tension between him and Mayfield. It isn’t as bad as it is now with Sanders, but it was similar.
That’s ridiculous to say it’s Stefanski’s fault for the line getting old and injured without adequate replacements. That’s on Andrew Berry. Baker Mayfield has limitations and is not a great quarterback; his best quality is that he’s a pretty accurate passer. Stop acting like we lost Patrick Mahomes. The decision to get rid of Mayfield came from someone above Berry, most likely Haslam (matters such as what to do with investing in a guy as they would have with Mayfield are certainly cleared at the owner’s level), and it was Berry’s responsibility to carry out; or, it was Berry’s decision to dump Mayfield, himself. In either case Stefanski doesn’t have the authority to get rid of Mayfield, as the Browns have structured their organization. Perhaps that organizational structure is what you don’t understand. Stefanski can only work with what’s been given to him.
He had the same QB that took him to the playoffs two years ago. He didnt coach up the weapons to help him. With the Bengals, Flacco is averaging 28 points per game.
I heard an interesting theory on some radio show that the crazy way Stafanski has handled the QB situation this season is because he’s trying to get himself canned… and I couldn’t completely dismiss the idea. He’s far from perfect, but he’s also not an idiot. He might very well be sick to death of Haslam’s meddling and Berry’s frequent lap-dog incompetence.
The problem here is that Haslam is very unlikely to admit fault here. And cleaning house is admitting fault.
He just signed an extension last year. Maybe he’s just anidiot. The easiest answer is usually the right one.
Fair comment.
Should have been years ago. It’s a buffoonish regime.
Notice when that “hot seat” story was published? Last Friday, two days before a feel-good win for Cleveland.
Browns have 4 of their next 5 at home and if they can’t carry the good vibes from that Vegas win over …
The owner should get thrown out with the coaches. Sorry for all the faithful Browns fans friends who are suffering through this inept regime
The Whole Cleveland Brown organization should be on the Hot Seat!!
Browns let Stefanski go, Giants should jump all over him
I bet Stefanski would be a great OC for a contender with talent.
Stefanski is a good coach who’s made some bad decisions (or gone along with them, which is how it seems to me). It’s for that reason that he deserve blame for this current situation; however, of the two mentioned above, he definitely deserves less of it than Berry. Berry has had Haslam’s ear for some time now, and he’s the one who made the decisions to waste picks that he diligently acquired for mind boggingly catastrophic results (mostly referring to Watson, of course, but the lack of clear draft strategy after in general also factors in).
Berry isn’t totally inept, but he’s has had a lot of chances in size plus years to use some of his draft acquisition treasure trove to add quality m, long term players-and yet, most of the Browns’ stars were added by John Dorsey’s regime, instead. Dorsey is in Detroit now, who has had great success in the draft (just as Kansas City did with Dorsey prior to his Browns turn). Berry is the one who proposed the Watson deal that buried Cleveland, he provided Stefanski with a replacement for Mayfield since the Watson failure,
I definitely think that Stefanski deserves blame for being a yes man and going along with the plans, for not adequately preparing Sanders (probably where this friction stems from this year), and for endorsing the Watson deal, but he’s also shown value as a coach. He’ll probably have more opportunities to redeem his reputation elsewhere should he be fired. Podesta leaving for Colorado probably bodes ill for this operation, but I hold him as Chief Strategy Officer and Berry as General Manager much more responsible for the bad roster aexercises in futility that Stefanski has had to try and coach his way out of.
It’s funny how people would blame the capologist GM over the head coach who was an alleged QB guru being responsible for who was going to play QB for him. Even when Hue Jackson was there, the HC had say-so on personnel (reason they drafted Garrett over Trubiski), but people have invented this scenario where everyone pushed for Watson except the HC. Some people believe in Santa Claus too. I just want people to use critical thinking skills, especially when all this stuff is still out there from when he was being passive aggressive with Baker Mayfield their two years together.
I never said that, nor did I come close to saying that. Berry came up with the plan, Stefanski endorsed it, and Haslam, according to at least one source I read, came up with the thought to guarantee the contract after Watson was almost certainly joining the Falcons so the Browns could reel him back in.
Like I said, Stefanski deserves blame. Berry deserves more. Podesta is gone before being served his share. For Stefanski’s part, we’ve seen success from him in the past at times, and it’s greater success compared to Berry’s, comparatively.
It may be true that Mayfield and Stefanski had friction and Stefanski didn’t want a long term partnership with Mayfield at QB. But don’t forget the problems in organization predominately stem from the front office. I’m assuming you are a fellow Browns fan, so you may remember this:
When Watson requested a trade from the Texans, the reports strongly indicated it was Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta who approached Haslam about an initial deal for Watson. DePodesta ran his analytics on Watson’s underlying statistics and Berry asked Stefanski if he could work with Watson in the offense (at that time) or develop an offense for Watson that would make the Browns a contender for the next few seasons. Stefanski supposedly said yes (did he really have a choice, who knows, but it seems like Stefanksi operates as a yes man at times). Then it was Berry and DePodesta who talked with Haslam about acquiring Watson and they were given a green light to negotiate a deal. When the trade negotiations were underway, Haslam approved, if not at least, came up with the idea to give a fully guaranteed contract to Watson.
The front office essentially confirmed that they explored a trade for Watson when he requested a trade out of Houston. That was January 2021. The Browns had just been to the playoffs and lost in the divisional round to the Chiefs. That was 4 months after Watson signed a 4 year $156 million contract extension (September 2020). According to the Houston sources, Watson was angry that the Texans didn’t consult with him about the coaching changes or front office changes (new GM I think) for what he claimed was stated in his contract (Houston of course denied this). Watson also threatened to sit out if the Texans didn’t trade him. Not too long after, the off-field controversies became public.
Meanwhile, in his last season in Cleveland (2021) Mayfield played with a torn labrum. In fact, he insisted on playing even when it was clear to the naked eye that injury hindered his performance. Mayfield’s personality and constant fights with the media here plus the inconsistent play from 2018-2020 didn’t help his case. So maybe there was fricition with Stefanski and that is why the front office decided in ’21 to pursue Watson. But that doesn’t explain Mayfield’s poor play in 2019, since Stefanski wasn’t even here.
Bottomline – Browns traded for Watson in March 2022. Berry and DePodesta came up with the trade idea, Stefanski endorsed it and Haslam approved it. They all bear degrees of responsibility but the front office bears the most blame.
Stefanski still isn’t that great of a coach. There are signficant team issues over multiple seasons. He was unable to develop DTR as a QB, and from the looks of it has completely messed up Dillon Gabriel’s and Sheduer Sanders’ development as well. The Browns have been in the top 10 in committed penalties every year but one since he became head coach. Fired OC Alex Van Pelt after the Browns made the playoffs in 2023. He has given up play calling two years in a row because the offense has been so bad. Multiple examples of games in multiple seasons where he mismanged the clock or called bizzare plays that had the announcing crew openly question the decision making.
Stefanski isn’t perfect as no coach is and he deserves his share of blame. He has though, had success in getting teams with passable QB play to postseason. But the front office, led by Jimmy Haslam, is the main source of the problems. He bears the most responsibility. Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta were heavy contributors. It is quite telling that there are players selected by John Dorsey still on the roster, while Andrew Berry’s best picks didn’t occur until the 2025 draft which was stacked with talent.
I’m not a Browns fan, but I agree with you on all points. I’m a little higher on Stefanski’s abilities (his “yes man” tendencies hurt that, in my mind), but other than that, I agree completely. Of the tribunal of decision makers in Cleveland, he seems to be the least active and the least influential-perhaps how he’s lasted so long.
They sure deserve to be fired. This organization is one of the worst in professional sports.
You could probably fit all the GMs and coaches that want to work for Jimmy Haslam into a phone booth 🙂
He had John Dorsey there. There are plenty who would work for him. The problem is he wants his own guys, which is why Berry was brought back from the previous regime after Dorsey had gotten them some great players in his year and a half on the job. It’s not the Raiders or anything.
I liked him until I saw how he handled the Sanders deal. Sanders clearly has more potential than Gabriel yet he had to take time to think about whether Sanders should be ahead of Bailey Zappe for backup qb? It was so obvious to me it seemed like sabotage. Like they preferred he fail than succeed.