Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski the next Andy Reid?

Now that the Cleveland Browns are almost finished with the 2025 NFL season, it is still not a clear picture of whether ownership will retain Kevin Stefanski as the head coach of the franchise going forward. Will this be his last few games? Will he be released from his duties? Could a trade happen?

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Stefanski was installed as the head coach beginning with the 2020 season. He took that team to its first playoff game since 2002 after going 11-5-0. The Browns then defeated their rival Pittsburgh Steelers, 48-37, and then lost a close one to the Kansas City Chiefs, 22-17. He was then awarded NFL Coach of the Year.

After going 8-9-0 and 7-10-0, Cleveland again made the playoffs in 2023, slotted in the highest Wild Card spot with an 11-6-0 record before losing to the Houston Texans in the postseason, 45-14. Stefanski again was voted the NFL Coach of the Year.

Those two awards carry a lot of weight.

It is almost equivalent to when a head coach captures a Super Bowl title or two, then has several dreadful consecutive seasons and doesn’t make the playoffs at all. The fact that the coach won those titles influences the ownership to give him more slack than normal and wait for his ballclubs to become victorious once again.

For the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Stefanski is a combined 6-25-0. The team has back-to-back double-digit loss seasons. Other than DE Myles Garrett’s quest to break the single-season sack record, the overall structure of the ballclub hasn’t improved much from the roster that lost 14 games last year.

So, doesn’t that warrant some changes? A player here and there? Or major changes?

Stefanski is a highly-regarded coach in the NFL. He is well-liked and respected, even though his rosters haven’t won anything. No division crowns, a single playoff game win, no AFC Championship Game participation, and certainly no rings.

And folks around the league don’t even blame him for the Deshaun Watson debacle. They point to Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam and former chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta as the culprits for pulling those strings, and to a lesser extent, with GM Andrew Berry.

Many believe that Jimmy and Dee Haslam and Berry were the ones who pushed QB Baker Mayfield out the door. Again, Stefanski wasn’t viewed as one of the villains in that travesty either. Two quarterback fiascos, and Stefanski appeared with clean hands.

The decision to pursue Watson and show Mayfield the door was a top-down move by the front office and ownership, signaling a desire for a new direction at quarterback after Mayfield regressed quite a bit. But keep in mind, he suffered shoulder damage that was never repaired until the season was over. If he had stopped his season, had surgery, and then came back healthy in the following training camp, the trade for Watson would have never surfaced. Watson has since only played in 19 games for Cleveland.

All those first and second round draft picks would have remained in-house instead of improving the Texans and decimating the Browns.

But despite the two Coach of the Year honors, this team is a mirror image of last year’s 14-loss squad. And now, more losses that end up with double-digit “L’s”. Stefanski hasn’t won two Super Bowls, and the ownership feels compelled to be patient with him. He has won two singular awards, not two team awards.

Get it? There is a difference.

Are the Browns close with the roster they have? Are they a piece here and a morsel there from being a championship roster?

Or are they just a bad team year after year that looks really good on paper?  

Here is the thinking: Stefanski just could be the next Andy Reid.

What does that mean? Does it indicate that Stefanski might also have an infinity for the Fumble-Rooski-Do?

Reid was the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999 through the 2012 seasons and was named NFL Coach of the Year twice (2000, 2002). In just his second year in Philly, the Eagles went from 5-11-0 to 11-5-0 before losing in the playoffs.

In all under his tutelage, the Eagles went to the post-season nine times, won the division six different seasons, played in the NFC Championship Game five times, and lost one Super Bowl. Reid sent 19 players to 44 Pro Bowl appearances, the highest total for any team in the NFL during that period.

Despite all the success, the Eagles went 8-8-0 in 2011 and plummeted to 4-12-0 in 2012. And with a single double-digit loss season, Reid was given the pink slip on Black Monday after the final game loss on December 30.

Several days later, three NFL teams had private jets at the airport for Reid to meet with the owner. He was then named the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013 and has built a dynasty in the AFC. Under Reid, the Chiefs have captured three Super Bowl titles and played in the championship game five times.

This tale demonstrates that good coaches don’t take long to find a new home. However, Reid had a lot of success in Philadelphia and was in the playoff hunt frequently. Stefanski has not.    

But on a list of the hottest candidates for filling a head coaching job going into 2026, if the Browns fire Stefanski, his name would be situated at or near the top. Regardless of what decision the Browns offer with Stefanski, he will be an NFL head coach next year, most likely. Somewhere.

Nobody knows what is going on in the mind of the Haslams regarding whether they want to retain Stefanski for at least one more year. They aren’t saying right now.

But if they decide to make that announcement on Black Monday, you can bet there will be a jet waiting for him at the airport.