What Are Browns Trying To Accomplish With New Coaching Hire?

Tell me really. How much confidence do you have that the Browns won’t screw up this coaching search?

There is an old saying that when you decide to fire someone, a good organization has a plan as to who is going to succeed them. For example, New England knew when they let Jerod Mayo go, that they had a very good chance of hiring Mike Vrabel, a former Patriot player who had a very good coaching resume.

Does anyone think the Browns had a plan?

Of course, we advocated for Cleveland to do what it could to get John Harbaugh, knowing the best asset the Browns had was money. We also felt the next logical person to get the job is defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, and we still feel that way.

Many people in the local media are saying the Browns’ job isn’t as bad as it is viewed nationally, and there is some merit to that. On ESPN Radio’s “Unsportsmanlike”, they viewed the job as the third best among the available openings, behind the Giants and Ravens.

Why do people nationally think the Cleveland head coaching position is toxic? First, it comes from history. While Kevin Stefanski did have six seasons at the helm, prior to that it was musical chairs, with a change seemingly every two years.

That gave the Haslam family a reputation as meddlers. And the thought has occurred here that this search might be more about having control over the head coach and less about winning football games.

The reason is that many of the names being bandied about are very young coaches. Now, we understand some of them may be being brought in to talk about an offensive coordinator post, but if the Browns hire one of these wunderkinds, don’t you think that gives the front office an opportunity to pick some assistants?

It seems at times that it is a classic case of “yes, we want to win, but we want to do it our way”. They have an idea of what they want the organization to look like, but based on that track record, it hasn’t worked. Yet they seem unwilling to make any changes. They are in love with the collaborative effort.

What the Browns need most is a change in culture, leadership, and accountability. That’s a big reason we wanted them to get serious about Harbaugh. He would change the culture. And it’s also why Andrew Berry should have been let go as well.

The job might have been more desirable if the new coach had a chance to bring in his own GM, one that knew how to pick offensive linemen and bigger wide receivers.

Who is the leader in the Browns’ locker room? It might just be rookie Carson Schwesinger, who gutted it out in the penultimate contest against the Steelers.

They need someone who is going to come in and not worry about a “rebuilding plan” and how are they going to get a franchise quarterback. They need someone who is all about winning.

That’s why right now, the best pairing would be to hire Schwartz and pair him with one of the bright offensive minds they have interviewed. Schwartz can pick one of his defensive assistants to handle the coordinator post.

Could it work out for the Browns? Of course. People win the lottery every day too.

Has the ownership looked in the mirror and asked if they need to get a “Lord of Football”? Let’s just say the odds are slim.

Keeping Schwartz In One Way Or Another Should Be A Goal For Browns

It’s coaching search time for the Cleveland Browns and we have already said the best choice for the team would be to get John Harbaugh, although we have our doubts whether or not the Haslams and Andrew Berry will be able to get it done.

The Browns have already interviewed both of their coordinators, Tommy Rees and Jim Schwartz. Schwartz is an interesting candidate in that he, of course, has previous head coaching experience with the Lions from 2009-2013, going 29-51 in his tenure there with one playoff appearance.

It has been reported that the Browns would like to retain Schwartz as the defensive coordinator, if at all possible, to work with whomever is selected as the new head man.

And that makes total sense.

Look, we know there are a lot of coaches who will want to come in and have “their guys” in place. Many of them also want the same thing in players, so they gut the current roster and sometimes that is merited, but at times they are also getting rid of good players whose only problem is they were picked by the previous regime.

We understand that on the coaching side of things. Coaches obviously have connections with other guys who have done that job, and heck, if you are running any kind of organization, you want to work with people who have a similar philosophy.

But Jim Schwartz should be a different story. He is one of the best at what he does in running a defense. The Browns have ranked in the top five in yards allowed in two of his three seasons as the DC, and if he is willing to stay with the franchise in that capacity, it shouldn’t be a negative for a younger, offensive minded coach if they are offered the job.

If the Browns hired a guy with a defensive background, we could understand there could be a clash in philosophies with Schwartz. That brings us to our next point.

We wouldn’t be opposed to giving Schwartz the head coaching job and bringing aboard a new offensive mind. Yes, that would likely mean a revolving door for the OC job, because if the new coordinator has a lot of success here, meaning the Browns suddenly become an offensive juggernaut, that guy is going to be on the short list during the next coaching cycle.

We mentioned Schwartz’ record with the Lions, but we wouldn’t hold that against him. First, it has been more than 10 years since he was last a head coach, and we believe many coaches learn more about the job the longer they do it. We are sure over this time period he had time to reflect on what we would do differently if he got another opportunity.

Right now, we think it is important for the Browns to choose someone who has done the job before. Hiring a head coach and hoping he will grow into the job and have some growing pains isn’t the best plan. And we’ve all seen the “hire the hot coordinator” theory in action and sometimes, those guys show they are not suited to being the head man.

So, while Harbaugh should be the #1 choice, we don’t have a huge issue with Mike McDaniel getting the gig, with the assumption Schwartz stays as DC, or hiring Schwartz with a young offensive coordinator.

Whether the ownership and Andrew Berry think that way is another matter.

Harbaugh Should Be Browns’ First Choice. No Question.

A few years ago, we wrote a piece about NFL head coaches and in our opinion, there are only four or five at any one time who are difference makers.

At the time, we thought those coaches were Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, and John Harbaugh.

Belichick has moved on to college football and Carroll is now in his 70s, and we would replace them with Sean McVey and Mike Vrabel.

What we are looking at are coaches who can win in different ways, different quarterbacks, and has shown they can adapt to the constant changes of professional football.

On Tuesday, the Ravens parted ways with John Harbaugh after 18 seasons and a 180-113 regular season record, 12 playoff appearances and a Super Bowl win in 2012. He had just three losing seasons in that period, including this past season, but none of those seasons came in succession.

He won with two different quarterbacks in Joe Flacco and Lamar Jackson, and in the latter’s case, basically changed the way he ran an offense in order to suit Jackson’s skill set.

We look at Harbaugh a lot like Reid, who coached the Eagles for 14 seasons, making nine playoff appearances, including a loss in the Super Bowl. He was let go after a 4-12 season with the prevailing thought being he wore out his welcome in Philadelphia at 54-years-old.

He went to Kansas City the following season, transformed a 2-14 team into one that went 11-5 and made the playoffs. He’s won three Super Bowl in KC and actually has won more games there (149) than with the Eagles (130).

Yes, we know Harbaugh will be 64 during the early part of the 2026 season. But it appears he still has a passion for the game. We know someone who says he looks like the most beleaguered man on the planet during games, he shows his emotions on his sleeve, especially when something goes wrong for his squad.

We know the Haslams like to spend money. Heck, it took them having to guarantee a contract for them to change Deshaun Watson’s mind. So, offer Harbaugh basically a blank check to come and coach the Browns.

We believe he can be a coach who can change the culture and bring accountability and leadership to an organization that badly needs it. And if Harbaugh can work with Andrew Berry? Great. If he doesn’t want to? Find someone he can work with.

But it won’t likely happen.

We think because Berry somehow survived getting fired, he and the ownership want to continue the “collaborative” process, and that means they want someone who will work with them, that they can control, and Harbaugh might just come in have strong opinions on what needs to be done.

And frankly, we don’t know if the Browns’ hierarchy want to hear about doing things differently. That’s a big weakness in running any kind of business.

Sometimes the logical move is staring you right in the face. John Harbaugh is an excellent coach. He’s available, and the Browns are in dire need of sustained success.

At least have a conversation with him. If he doesn’t want to come here under any circumstances, that’s a different story than not being willing to change in order to get a coach of his caliber.

The Browns need a coach, and a great, proven winner is available.

In Support Of Stefanski

With the Cleveland Browns unexpected struggles this season, many in the media and fans as well have to have a scapegoat for their poor record. The easy target for their angst is head coach Kevin Stefanski.

Look, we aren’t saying Stefanski is a great coach. We also don’t think there are many great coaches in the NFL currently. The only people in charge we would put in that class are Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, and Mike Tomlin.

There are others who could ascend to that level, including Stefanski, but they aren’t there yet. But to be fair, this is the first non-competitive season for the current Cleveland coach, who has won 11 games twice, but his worst season to date was a 7-10 mark in 2022.

Stefanski is among the newer age head coaches. They are younger, didn’t play in the NFL and look more like college professors than “football guys”. Others in that category would be Mike McDaniel in Miami, Matt LaFleur in Green Bay, and Shane Steichen in Indianapolis.

There are others too.

They were hired because teams were looking for their Sean McVay, a young coach, full of energy, and a football savant. He took the league by storm at age 31, going 11-5 in his first year and taking the Rams to the Super Bowl in his second year. He won the title in his fifth season.

We think perhaps these guys don’t get a long rope from the fans because they don’t resemble the coaches they grew up with. Coaches like Vince Lombardi, Mike Ditka, Bill Parcells and Bill Cowher. Emotional men with fire in their eyes and not afraid to confront players.

We forget about people like Tom Landry, Paul Brown, and the last Browns’ coach to win a title, Blanton Collier, who were quieter and more refined on the sidelines.

Both types have had success winning in the NFL.

Another thing that irritates the hard-core football folks is Stefanski’s press conferences after games. At this point, we don’t know why anyone is surprised the coach says nothing in these settings. Our guess is he has told his players he will not do that. He will take the blame when things go bad.

To go along with this, we have no doubt errors are addressed and handled in the locker room. We don’t think players get to do whatever they want.

Usually, there is a one-year grace period for a coach after a successful season, and even though they didn’t win the Super Bowl, last year was a great season for the Browns. That would indicate Stefanski is safe this year, but a slow start in 2025 puts him firmly on a hot seat.

It does become a different story if Stefanski loses the locker room, and the players are no longer putting out an effort to win games. And that could occur if moves are made to play younger players who aren’t ready to compete.

Remember, the players don’t care about next year, nor do they care about draft picks. And that’s not just players who feel they won’t be back with the Browns next season.

Would people like Stefanski more if he got in players’ faces on the sidelines and ranted and raved at the officials? Probably, but that’s not him.

Stefanski deserves to come back next year and reverse what happened this year. Even if the losing continues unless he loses the players.

In Evaluating Stefanski, Look At All Head Coaches

The Cleveland Browns seemed to have pushed all chips to the center of the table. Over the weekend, GM Andrew Berry traded for three-time Pro Bowl DE Za’Darius Smith from the Minnesota Vikings for some mid-level draft picks.

Smith has accumulated ten or more sacks in three of the last four years, and in the one year he didn’t, he played just one game due to injury. We would seem to be a perfect complement to Myles Garrett, and also is another defensive lineman, which new defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz loves to collect.

However, the thing that most of the local media comes back to in evaluating the Browns is Kevin Stefanski, and is he a good enough coach to lead the Browns deep into the post-season.

Our opinion on coaching in the NFL is that in no other sport can coaching make as much of a difference as it does in pro football. It happens all the time. Heck, it happened to Stefanski. Don’t forget he took over a 6-10 team and went 11-5 and made the playoffs.

But we also believe there aren’t many difference makers among the head coaches in the NFL. We believe there might be five coaches who are special.

Of course, Bill Belichick is on that list. And unfortunately for the Browns, two of the other ones play in the AFC North, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Baltimore’s John Harbaugh.

That duo has put together a “culture” that winning must be attained, and they will do everything they can, including playing non-traditional football in order to win.

Certainly, Andy Reid is one of the sport’s top coaches. His success in two different places, two Super Bowl wins, three championship game appearances, and his consistent style of staying ahead of opposing defenses put him on the list.

And that last comment about Reid is key. A lot of the coaches who make an early difference do so because they do something so one has seen before, but when opposing coaches figure out a way to combat that, and they usually do, they have nothing.

As a result, the winning ends, and they are looking for a new gig in three to four years.

So, being able to adapt is what makes a good coach in our opinion. We don’t like “system coaches”, ones who have a certain style of play and can only coach that style. We think the epitome of coaching is looking at your talent and designing a plan that gets the most out of those players.

Putting players in positions where they cannot succeed is bad coaching.

Can Stefanski someday be in the class with Reid, Tomlin, and Harbaugh? Probably not, but our point is those guys are rare finds. If the Browns make the playoffs this season, he will no doubt return for a fifth year as head coach, and likely go into his sixth season.

He has two new coordinators this season, and of course, adding Schwartz is a huge move. As for why he didn’t change defensive coordinators sooner. It’s tough to fire people you work with every day, especially for a long time.

We understand the fans and media want to be cold blooded, it’s football after all, but remember than coaches look at the games differently than fans do. They have to.

Stefanski was part of the reason the Cleveland Browns didn’t succeed last season, after all, he’s the head coach. But it is also true the players weren’t good enough, there wasn’t enough depth, and the defense wasn’t up to par.

And if they don’t make the playoffs this season, he will likely be fired and a new coach will be brought in. Unless you are in the upper echelon of head men, that’s the way the NFL works.

Cool Down On Criticism Of Stefanski

A lot of people around town, including folks who cover the team are upset with the Cleveland Browns’ choice of former Minnesota offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as the new head coach.

Look, regardless of who you wanted to be the coach, it isn’t fair to condemn the pick until Stefanski coaches a few games that count this fall.

Successful head coaches come from all different backgrounds. John Harbaugh was a special teams coach, Andy Reid was an offensive coordinator, Bill Belichick, of course, a defensive coordinator.

Some were hot candidates at the time, others weren’t. The point is you don’t know what you have in a head coach until he’s thrown into the fire and he actually does it.

We understand that’s not what people want to hear, but it’s the truth.

There is no correlation between Super Bowl rings as an assistant to being a successful head coach, nor does success as a coordinator.

We do know than in Stefanski’s only year (2019) as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator, Minnesota ranked 4th in rushing attempts, and 30th in passing attempts. Since the Browns’ best offensive player is Nick Chubb, that seems to be a good fit.

We would also think it means the Browns will try to keep Kareem Hunt too, giving them the best tandem at the position in the NFL.

It sounds simple and trite, but if Stefanski runs an offense suited to the strengths of Baker Mayfield, and hires a defensive coordinator who can design a scheme to stop the run, it says here the Cleveland Browns will have success next season.

Yes, they could use a couple offensive linemen, a linebacker or two, and some safeties, but it isn’t like the team is devoid of talent, and that differs from past coaching hires.

The front office wants “alignment”, meaning everyone is on the same page, so hopefully, the new offensive coordinator is someone who has the same principles as Stefanski, which would be completely different from the 2019 edition of the team.

That doesn’t mean we think all is warm and fuzzy with the hiring process.

It was reported that the coach will be expected to run game plans through the analytic department, which is not troublesome.

We understand the word “analytics” scares some football people, but it is simply checking tendencies and tracking success. Perhaps if Freddie Kitchens listened this past season, he would have used more one running back, two tight end sets, which the Browns were successful with.

However, we cringe at the weekly meetings the day after the game with the owner. A smart man knows what he doesn’t know, and we would bet it won’t be long before Stefanski will tire of this process.

A better solution would be to have Paul DePodesta, whoever is the new general manager, and the coach sit down to discuss any points of importance and have DePodesta explain things to the ownership.

That keeps the alignment intact. No chance for Jimmy Haslam to get friendly with Stefanski and decide the coach is the “guy” and then get rid of the other two.

The pre-1999 owner would do the same thing. Fall in love with a coach. That’s why Ernie Accorsi left the organization.

Let’s give Kevin Stefanski a chance. Don’t let preconceived notions get in the way of evaluating him. Doing so as a fan is no difference than the impetuousness of the man who owns the team.

Does Kitchens Have The Right Experience? Let’s Wait And See

Without a doubt, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the Cleveland Browns this season, for the first time in a long time.

While some point to the last seven games of the 2018 season, where the brown and orange went 5-2, others point out those wins didn’t come against anyone with a winning record.

And although some people like the hire of Freddie Kitchens as head coach, citing what he did with the offense last year when he took over as offensive coordinator, other feel having a half season under his belt in that job make him ill-equipped to handle his new gig.

The truth is no one knows what kind of head coach Kitchens will be, although he impressed GM John Dorsey enough to give him the job, which should count for something.

We also feel having a structure where the head coach reports to the general manager, so that makes them work together, and there is no sniping to the owner about the other person, is a breath of fresh air in Berea, and that also bodes well for the franchise.

But unlike some in the media, who hold Kitchens’ lack of experience against him and therefore are waiting for him to make mistakes to prove their point, we take an opposite tact.

We always take an optimistic view of new coaches, preferring to wait for them to show us they can’t handle the job before being critical.

Let’s face it, the great coaches in the NFL come from all different backgrounds, so there is really no way to judge any of them until the games start for real.

Heck, Hue Jackson was considered a “hot” coordinator when Jimmy Haslam hired him prior to the 2016 season, and no one can debate he was an abject failure in his tenure in Cleveland.

The coach everyone is trying to duplicate, Sean McVay, was in charge of the offense in Washington, and in his last season, the team had the third ranked offense in the NFL.

The other two years he was in charge? They ranked 13th and 17th.

John Harbaugh, who does a magnificent job getting the most out of his talent with the Baltimore Ravens (it pains us to say it), was a special teams coordinator for nine years with the Eagles and spent another year as a defensive backs coach before landing the job in Baltimore.

On the other hand, the coordinators for winning teams, squads that have made deep runs in the playoffs have failed as much, if not more, than they have succeeded.

Gus Bradley is a recent example. He was the defensive coordinator of the “Legion of Boom” in Seattle, but went 14-48 with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He’s back in the coordinator pool with the Chargers.

Being a lead assistant is a lot different than having all of the responsibility on your head. Some guys are cut out for the job as head coach, others are better suited to be assistants. There’s nothing wrong with that.

As for Freddie Kitchens? We won’t know until the games kick off for real on September 8th. We understand every Browns’ fan is excited about this season, but reserve judgment on the head coach until a few games have been actually played.