Bottoming out after Kevin Stefanski's second Coach of the Year award, the Browns axed their six-year head coach. They then watched him become a coveted candidate around the league. The Deshaun Watson fiasco has defined this Browns decade. Although Stefanski is now in Atlanta, the two power brokers chiefly responsible for the trade -- Jimmy Haslam and GM Andrew Berry -- are tasked with leading a recovery effort.
Cleveland's coaching pursuit featured a few withdrawals, and an unlikely candidate agreed to come back. Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator during a disappointing and disorganized Browns 2019 season, landed the task of elevating the team post-Stefanski. This led to a separation from DC Jim Schwartz, who campaigned hard for the job. There is nowhere to go but up in Cleveland, but the Watson elephant in the room remains as Monken begins his tenure.
Coaching/front office:
- Fired head coach Kevin Stefanski, retained GM Andrew Berry
- Hired Todd Monken as HC replacement
- Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter, Grant Udinski withdrew from HC search
- Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz resigned post
- Hired Travis Switzer as offensive coordinator
- Added Mike Rutenberg as defensive coordinator
- Hired Byron Storer as special teams coordinator
- Added Mike Bajakian as QBs coach, George Warhop as O-line coach
- Tight ends coach Christian Jones moving to WRs coach
- Danny Breyer named pass-game coordinator
- Safeties coach Ephraim Banda interviewed for Cowboys, Jets' DC jobs
Not much drama came with the Stefanski firing; it had been expected as a 5-12 season wound down. The two-time NFL Coach of the Year was held responsible for the Browns' mess. A much easier argument can be made the Haslam-Berry duo hamstrung Stefanski with the worst transaction in NFL history, but the Browns' offense struggled over the past two seasons. Seeing as Stefanski ran that side of the ball -- twice giving up play-calling duties over the past two seasons -- Cleveland's 32nd- (2024) and 31st-ranked offenses proved too much to withstand.
I will never understand why he was so highly sought after this offseason. I have seen absolutely zero evidence that players like or believe in him as evidenced by the viral video of Garrett’s face after Stefanski claims he never lied to the players. The Baker Mayfield debacle should have ended his viability as an NFL head coaching candidate but the NFL has a fetish for recycling mediocre coaches so here we are
They could have just used one word for this article and saved a bunch of ink. Browns outlook- Bleak.