Kevin Stefanski, NFL Coach of the year in 2023 for guiding the Browns to an 11-6 record and a wild-card berth in the playoffs, could be on the coaching hot seat if things don’t turn quickly for his 2-8 football team — that is if he isn’t on the hot seat already.
The Browns have lost seven of their eight most recent games, and in a span of 18 days face the Steelers at Huntington Bank Field on Nov. 21, the Broncos in Denver on Dec. 2 in a Monday night game and the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Dec. 8. Those teams are not usually slump-busters for the Browns.
“I’m smart enough to not worry about outside noise,” Stefanski said during his news conference Nov. 19. “I get that’s part of this gig. That’s life in the big city. My sole focus is getting this team ready to get a win on Thursday night. That’s it.”
Most of the chatter calling for Stefanski’s head is coming from sports talk radio. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas foresee eight other coaches as more likely to be canned, leading with Bears coach Matt Eberflus at minus 150, according to BetOnline.ag. That means a bettor would have to wager $150 on Eberflus being fired just to win $100 if he is canned.
BetOnLine.ag has set the chances of Stefanski being fired at 22-1. Doug Pederson of the Jaguars (6-5), Brian Daboll of the Giants (3-1), Mike McCarthy of the Cowboys (9-1), Jared Mayo of the Patriots and Shane Steichen of the Colts (both 14-1), Zac Taylor of the Bengals (16-1) and Todd Bowles of the Buccaneers (20-1) have hotter seats than the one that might be making Stefanski uncomfortable, according to BetOnLine website.
Stefanski has had to navigate through a season in which his original starting quarterback, Deshaun Watson, did not play well and was then injured in the seventh game. Nick Chubb missed the first six games recovering from the knee injury he suffered in the second game of 2023.
Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry were hired in January 2020. The Browns were 11-5 in 2020 and made the playoffs as a wild-card team, 8-9 in 2021 and 7-10 in 2022 before righting the ship last season. Stefanski was named Coach of the Year in 2020 and 2023. He and Berry were rewarded with contract extensions in June with their original contracts set to expire after 2024.
If Sefanski is on the hot seat, Berry would be on it, too, because he built the current roster. Like Stefanski, Berry is blocking out the noise.
“Neither of us really think of it that way,” Berry said Nov. 6. “I’d say No. 1, to myself, I always view myself as a steward of the organization in this role and really my focus is on doing the things that are in my control, short-term and long-term, to make sure it’s in the best interest of the franchise.
“I would say, to Kevin specifically, I think there are 13 coaches in the history of the sport to win a Coach of the Year award multiple times. Ten of them went to a Super Bowl or an NFL championship, six of them won one and seven are in the Hall of Fame and he’s the second-fastest to do it. Kevin’s an outstanding coach, and he’s absolutely part of the solution with everything.”
Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam have not been available to comment on the team’s current situation. The Haslams have been known to fire coaches and GM’s with years remaining on their contracts, but until the collapse this season they were content with the stability Berry and Stefanski brought to the team.
“They’re just really great men, first of all, and really good leaders,” Dee Haslam told reporters July 27 at the opening of training camp in Greenbrier, W.Va. “I think the players really respect them, and the entire staff works really well with them. They know how to get everybody to come together with the same goals. So it really does make a difference.”
Effort is an indication of whether a team is still playing hard for its coach. Stefanski was asked about the effort of the Browns, particularly on defense, when the Saints scored 21 points in the fourth quarter to break open a 14-14 tie on Nov. 17.
“I thought we didn’t play well enough to win is really what I saw,” Stefanski said. “We got out-executed a couple times where we just didn’t do our job in some moments.”
Mike Vrabel, former head coach of the Titans, is on the Browns’ current staff. He will likely be a leading candidate to fill a vacancy when coaches are fired at the end of the season. If the Haslams fired Stefanski and replaced him with Vrabel, Vrabel would be an interim coach. There is no guarantee the Haslams would be able to keep him beyond the balance of this season.
