Second thoughts: Why Jimmy Haslam hasn’t made an interim coaching move

Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns and NFL analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.

Second thoughts on Bears 31, Browns 3 … 

1. If Jimmy Haslam were 100 percent convinced he was going to make a coaching change after the season, he would have done so by now. He let two checkpoints pass without turning over Kevin Stefanski’s team to an interim coach, most likely defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. The first time to do it would have been at the team’s bye week following a 32-13 non-competitive defeat to Mike Vrabel’s New England Patriots. That loss left the Browns’ record at 2-6 and 5-20 over two seasons. That was the fourth start under first-up rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who matched veteran Game 1 starter Joe Flacco with a 1-3 record at that point. The second opportunity would have been following the 31-29 loss to the previously 1-11 Tennessee Titans. But fan-favorite Shedeur Sanders had his breakout performance in that game. Sanders' 364 passing yards and four touchdowns (three via the air) overshadowed the fact the Browns fell to 3-10. The feeling in Browns HQ might have been that Sanders could rescue some excitement and positivity from this dismal season and a Stefanski firing would hinder that. But Sanders followed with a predictable setback against the playoff-bound Bears, throwing three interceptions, taking five sacks, and failing to put a touchdown on the board in a 31-3 embarrassment. With three games left, ownership no doubt doesn’t now want to be the Grinch that stole Christmas from the Stefanski household.

2. So Stefanski will be the coach for the three remaining games. But if Haslam were begging for Stefanski to give him some reason to not make a change, the coach is virtually out of time. Three wins in the last three games would equal six overall – double last year’s win total. Considering all that’s gone down – GM Andrew Berry trading both veteran quarterbacks on whom Stefanski wasted 90 percent of the first-team reps in training camp – a 6-11 season could justify status quo. The development of the fine rookie class, quarterbacks included, would be a decent argument to keep Stefanski and his staff on board. But anything less than 6-11 demands a leap of faith that Haslam’s angry, long-suffering customers simply will not buy. If Stefanski returns for a seventh year, he would surely start the season as the coach on the hottest seat in 2026. Haslam would only be delaying the inevitable. With remaining games against Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, a coaching change feels imminent.

3. Haslam has never given in-season votes of confidence, so his silence on the future of his coach and GM is not unusual. The owner also has been pre-occupied with his Brook Park stadium and mixed-use development project and fulfilling his obligation to Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb to lobby GOP-controlled federal agencies about closing Burke Lakefront Airport and funding improvements to Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. But the time is close for Haslam to turn his focus to a dispirited football season that is rapidly transforming fan passion into fan apathy and disgust. Haslam can’t rely on Paul DePodesta, the departed chief strategy officer who partnered Stefanski and Berry in 2020, to lead another coach and GM search. With his other interests, Haslam doesn’t figure to conduct a search by himself. Alternatives are to assign it to a retired NFL executive-turned-consultant or enlist a corporate leadership search firm such as Korn Ferry, which he has used before. Haslam very well could have initiated that process already. He wouldn’t announce it out of respect to the team and coaching staff.

4. Recent national “insider” reports have furthered the narrative that Stefanski is so respected in NFL circles that he would immediately attract head coach interviews in the upcoming hiring cycle. I don’t doubt it. Those same “insiders” previously reported Stefanski “was safe” to return. So the winds are definitely shifting. Don’t expect Stefanski to publicly campaign for his job or comment on speculation about his future. That’s not his style. “Yeah, I’m not going to get in those type of things,” he said on his regular Monday Zoom conference. “Not my focus.”

5. It’s not hard to argue that the Browns played their worst quarter of football of the year – if not in Stefanski’s six seasons – to set forth an icy debacle in Soldier Field. They allowed a 52-yard return on the opening kickoff, committed two penalties on their first offensive possession, yielded an 18-yard punt return leading to the first of two Chicago touchdowns, and were penalized for delay-of-game when Sanders’ lost a cheat play-sheet on his over-sized wristband beginning the second series. The official game summary noted the game-time temperature in Soldier Field at 8 degrees and the wind chill at minus-2. It certainly looked as if the Browns weren’t prepared for the Bears and the Arctic conditions. Considering the latter, it was noted by me that the Browns practiced indoors on Wednesday and Thursday during the portion open to media. But a Browns official informed me that it is Stefanski’s routine to allow his players to loosen up indoors in inclement weather, and then he moved the full practice outdoors both days after the media were escorted out.

6. The Browns have one more week to decide quarterback Deshaun Watson’s roster fate for the remainder of 2025. The 21-day window on Watson opened when he was cleared to practice on December 3. So a decision must be made by December 24 on whether he finishes the season on an injury list or is activated to the 53 roster. Any roster decision rests with Berry -- not Stefanski. Stefanski said, “I would say not my focus. For right now, I’m very pleased with the progress that Deshaun’s making on the field, in the classroom. He’s doing a really good job.” One possible scenario is the Browns activating Watson but keeping him inactive on the remaining two game days. Such a move would enable Watson to continue to practice at his own pace and further his rehab from two Achilles surgeries, setting him up for a rehab-free offseason. If he is put on an injury list, Watson would not be able to practice with the team.