Kevin Stefanski is trying to buck the trend of Browns expansion coaches failing to succeed as head coach and offensive play-caller. (Cleveland Browns)
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.
Chris Palmer, Pat Shurmur, Rob Chudzinski, Hue Jackson, Freddie Kitchens …
… and now Kevin Stefanski?
Indeed, the list of expansion-era Browns head coaches who chose to double as their own play-caller is fraught with dismal failure.
But Stefanski, undaunted by the unique challenges he already has encountered as Browns coach during a pandemic, has decided to add play-calling duties to his Sunday chores.
Stefanski didn’t arrive at the decision on Friday. He just held off announcing it to keep the Baltimore Ravens guessing as late as he could.
Stefanski’s original plan was to audition offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt as a play-caller during the preseason. But the audition fell victim to the pandemic, which caused the cancellation of all preseason games.
Van Pelt, a former NFL quarterback from 1993 to 2003, called plays only one season in his 13 years as an NFL assistant coach. That came in 2009 with the Buffalo Bills when head coach Dick Jauron fired coordinator Turk Schonert just before the start of the regular season.
The Bills fired Jauron and his staff after a 6-10 season and Van Pelt proceeded to find his niche as a quarterbacks coach with the Buccaneers, Packers and Bengals.
Stefanski is no polished veteran as a play-caller, either.
He worked his way up the coaching ladder with the Minnesota Vikings from gopher to quarterbacks coach. Then in his 13th season with the franchise, he was given play-calling duties when head coach Mike Zimmer fired coordinator John DeFilippo with three games to go.
After that 2018 season, Stefanski received a head coach interview with the Browns and was the preferred choice of Paul DePodesta, chief strategy officer. When Kitchens got the job instead, Stefanski stayed with the Vikings and was named offensive coordinator.
Zimmer, though, coaxed former Broncos Super Bowl-winning coach Gary Kubiak out of semi-retirement to oversee the installation of Kubiak’s offense. Stefanski learned the system under Kubiak and called the plays for the 2019 season, including two playoff games, before landing the Browns’ head coach job this year.
So Stefanski has only had 21 games of play-calling experience at the NFL level.
“With everything we do, I just try to be mindful and take in all the information,” Stefanski said Friday. “I haven’t called 1,000 games, but I will tell you, when I have called it, we’re very collaborative. We have a lot of people who will have a hand in this, and I’m really lucky because I’m surrounded by a bunch of really good coaches on the offensive and defensive side. Feel good about our staff.”
Receivers coach Chad O’Shea and offensive line coach Bill Callahan also have play-calling experience at the NFL level.
So Stefanski will try to buck the trend, at least as a Browns coach, by doubling his duties on game days.
The best-performing Browns’ offenses in their expansion era all have had an offensive play-caller serving a defensive-minded head coach.
In 2002, the Browns made the playoffs with Butch Davis as head coach and Bruce Arians calling the offensive plays.
In 2007, the Browns produced their best offense of the expansion era with Romeo Crennel as head coach and Chudzinski calling plays. Chudzinski returned as head coach in 2013 and was fired after one season trying to do double duty.
In 2014, the Browns were 6-3 at one point before finishing 7-9 with Mike Pettine as head coach and Kyle Shanahan calling the plays. Shanahan ran the Kubiak offense in Cleveland that year. After the year, Shanahan asked out of his contract. Pettine replaced him with DeFilippo, and was fired after the 2015 season.
And in 2018, the Browns finished 5-3 after Jackson was replaced by Gregg Williams as interim coach and Kitchens called the plays. When Kitchens was promoted to head coach the following year and doubled as the play-caller, the team crashed to 6-10 and Kitchens was fired.
When first speaking about his preseason plan, Stefanski said he wanted to make sure he was comfortable with Van Pelt calling the plays. It’s possible that Stefanski’s trust in Van Pelt will develop during the season as the two coaches share game-day experiences with their players.
It would be much easier for Stefanski to hand off play-calling duties as a positive development rather than take them away as a result of unsatisfactory results.
“With any discussion, we talk about what’s best for the team, and that’s where we landed,” Stefanski said.