Kevin Stefanski's Firing is Reminiscent of Baker Mayfield's Exit From Browns

Early on Black Monday, the Cleveland Browns parted ways with head coach Kevin Stefanski. Despite having an up-and-down time in Cleveland, Stefanski departs the Browns as the longest-tenured coach since Sam Rutigliano’s seven-year stint from 1978 to 1984. He also leaves Cleveland as the third-winningest coach in the franchise’s history.

Not many coaches could have succeeded with the roster Stefanski was dealt this season, but over the last few years, it never felt like he had much control over the locker room. Myles Garrett’s recent comments to the media generally summarize how the players felt about him.

In the NFL, once you lose the players, it's hard ever to regain their respect. My only concern with moving on from Stefanski is the same feeling I had when the Browns moved on from Baker Mayfield. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

There aren’t a ton of two-time coaches of the year, so I’d be shocked to see Stefanski without a job for very long. If a coach is fired and then becomes the best candidate on the market, maybe it’s not the wisest decision to move on from them. Similar to how Mayfield’s time ended in Cleveland, it is probably the right decision to move on from them, but what’s your plan once you make that change?

At the time, from an on-the-field perspective, most saw the Browns as having upgraded at quarterback, moving from Mayfield to Deshaun Watson. With the benefit of hindsight, that was obviously the wrong move, as Mayfield has found himself a second home down in Tampa. However, I still believe the process of moving on from Mayfield was correct; the Browns just horrifically mismanaged the replacement.

That mistake is my biggest fear when searching for their next head coach. Of course, if Cleveland can land a guy like Klint Kubiak, most will feel a lot better about moving on from Stefanski, but why would any of the top guys on the market even want to go to Cleveland?

The Browns might be the worst situation in the NFL. Jimmy Haslem is a terrible owner who meddles with decisions that he should have no say in. Any coach is going to have to be subject to a clueless owner who has proven to make the wrong decisions time and time again.

Also, the current Browns team is far from being a contender. The defense is elite, which makes half of your job easy, but the offense needs a complete overhaul. By all metrics, Dillon Gabriel and Sheduer Sanders were the two worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Maybe they could be better if they weren’t playing behind the worst offensive line and throwing to the worst receiving core in the league, but I wouldn’t hang my hat on either one of them developing into a franchise quarterback.

General Manager Andrew Berry managed to save his job by finally landing a decent draft class, but does anyone expect him to crush this draft or bring in any talent in free agency? He’s a huge reason why the current roster looks as bad as it does, so if I were a coach, I wouldn’t bet my career on that guy to build me a championship-contending roster.

I believe Stefanski’s time had run its course in Cleveland, but will they be able to find a replacement to take the next step, or will they find another Freddie Kitchens? Since it’s the Cleveland Browns, I’d probably go with the latter.