The Cleveland Browns passed on Kevin Stefanski a season ago in favor of Freddie Kitchens, who lasted just one season before getting fired after the regular season finale. You don't get too many opportunities in life to re-do a choice you made and go a different direction, but the Browns are attempting to do that now. The team announced on Sunday that they are expected to hire Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Stefanski as their new head man, one year after passing him up. The 37-year-old replaces Kitchens, who was fired on December 29th after a 6-10 record, despite high expectations for a team with Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Nick Chubb.
The news comes less than 24 hours after the Vikings were eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers with a 27-10 loss in the Divisional Round on Saturday afternoon. Stefanski gets the job over eight overall candidates, which included Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Mike McCarthy, Greg Roman, Jim Schwartz, Josh McDaniels, and more. It was not the prettiest of finishes for Stefanski at Minnesota, as his offense totaled just 147 total yards and allowed quarterback Kirk Cousins to get sacked six times on Saturday.
The team fired general manager John Dorsey on December 31st, and let it be known that they wanted to hire a coach before a general manager this off-season. They got their man in Stefanski, who is their 18th head coach in franchise history, and 12th for the Browns since 1999. He is also already the fifth head coach under owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, which only dates back to 2012. The new Browns coach took over the Vikings OC position on the interim in 2018, before landing the job full time this past season. He will now hope to break plenty of droughts in Cleveland, which includes a 13-year winning season drought, 18-year playoff drought, and 31-year division title drought.
The news comes less than 24 hours after the Vikings were eliminated by the San Francisco 49ers with a 27-10 loss in the Divisional Round on Saturday afternoon. Stefanski gets the job over eight overall candidates, which included Niners defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Mike McCarthy, Greg Roman, Jim Schwartz, Josh McDaniels, and more. It was not the prettiest of finishes for Stefanski at Minnesota, as his offense totaled just 147 total yards and allowed quarterback Kirk Cousins to get sacked six times on Saturday.
The team fired general manager John Dorsey on December 31st, and let it be known that they wanted to hire a coach before a general manager this off-season. They got their man in Stefanski, who is their 18th head coach in franchise history, and 12th for the Browns since 1999. He is also already the fifth head coach under owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam, which only dates back to 2012. The new Browns coach took over the Vikings OC position on the interim in 2018, before landing the job full time this past season. He will now hope to break plenty of droughts in Cleveland, which includes a 13-year winning season drought, 18-year playoff drought, and 31-year division title drought.
