Kevin Stefanski made his first public appearance as Browns coach at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. (USA Today)
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
More takeaways from Kevin Stefanski’s appearance at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards …
It takes a village: Because of his busy list of things to do – meeting with Odell Beckham Jr., sitting in on GM interviews, assembling his first coaching staff – new Browns coach Kevin Stefanski did not attend Senior Bowl workouts this week in Mobile, AL.
The Senior Bowl is the last of three opportunities to personally view draft-eligible players in uniform prior to the draft. The others were the East-West Shrine Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL, and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl in Pasadena, CA. Both had practices in the week leading up to the games on Jan. 18. And Stefanski had to miss those, too.
Of the three, the Senior Bowl serves as the traditional kick-off to the draft season. Missing it with their coach and GM has become an unwelcome tradition for the Browns because they are seemingly always in transition.
That’s one of the unintended consequences of hitting the blow-up button every one or two years.
The Browns were represented at the Senior Bowl by John Dorsey holdover appointees Eliot Wolf, assistant GM, and Alonzo Highsmith, vice president of player personnel, plus the bulk of their scouting staff.
“I think we have a lot of qualified individuals right now, a bunch of people down there at the Senior Bowl that are working hard,” Stefanski said. “Many hands make light work, and the guys are working right now.”
Stefanski said he attended the Senior Bowl on occasion as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Vikings.
He doesn’t believe the Browns are falling behind draft preparations by not having their coach and GM in Mobile.
“They do tape those practices, so I will watch all those practices,” he said. “And we do have scouts down there interviewing those guys as we speak.”
The interviews, which are a key part of character assessment, are also taped. Interviews at the Senior Bowl give an organization a jumpstart on that part of the process before the crash of interviews at the NFL Combine.
The Senior Bowl interviews may loom more important this year because of rampant scheduling changes at the Combine to make it more of a live event for the NFL Network.
In the past, teams were allowed 60 player interviews (lasting 15 minutes) at the Combine. That has been reduced to 45 (lasting 18 minutes).
Most teams would agree that the cost of 15 player interviews greatly outweighs the benefit of three extra minutes to talk to them.
Staying alive: It’s no surprise that Stefanski elected to retain running backs coach Stump Mitchell and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and assistant specials teams coach Doug Colman.
The Browns special teams improved greatly under Priefer and Colman. They went from 30th in the Rick Gosselin Rankings in 2018 to 14th in 2019.
And Mitchell, of course, guided the improvement of Nick Chubb to Pro Bowl rusher in his second season and the assimilation of Kareem Hunt into the mix after he returned from NFL suspension for the ninth game.
Stefanski and Priefer were together as assistant coaches with the Vikings from 2011 through 2018. Stefanski and Mitchell never worked on the same staff.
“In this business, you get to know so many different coaches and you get to know people that have worked with Stump,” Stefanski said. “We have mutual colleagues. So I kind of know what he’s about. I really like the way he coaches, I love the toughness that he brings to our staff room, to our field. And I think the proof is in the pudding. He had two really good players playing this year, so I think he’s an excellent coach and I’m excited for our future.”