The Kevin Stefanski: Two-Time Coach of the Year Thread

[Cassity14]

THIS is a fan that GETS IT.

@WellYouNeednt

Let’s make this easy on the board.

Remember this word:
HEAT

Hold
Each other
Accountable
Today

See a guy wearing a Browns hat not paying attention to the game? Flip the hat over til he picks his idiot head up.

See a woman giggling at her probable boyfriend at the bar while he’s trying to focus on the game? Ask her who her favorite player on the 1997 AFC Championship team was.

Is it mid-day on Monday and your daughter is asking you to watch her shitty Cocomelon show instead of watching the replay of Sunday’s game? Give her a bag of Flamin Hot Cheetos and tell her to go play in traffic.

Enough of the bullshit guys.

MAN UP

Must
Always
eNjoy Games with friends
Under
Pressure

This is a fucking all timer.

Edit: I came back to read it again and make my wife hear it. I’m still rolling.

This goes on your Mt. Rushmore of posts.

 

[Triplethreat]

@Triplethreat

The offensive efficiency clearly is turning into points, it's just that our defense and special teams aren't helping us as much as they are for other teams.

For the sake of good faith discussion... what's your response to this? Is simply saying, "good point" really too damaging to our egos here?

Dude the defense isn’t going to magically start creating more turnovers

The point is the problem will consist whether or not Watson is on the damn field or not.

Shit isn’t changing that much with him and this current roster.

 

[CBBI]

Dude the defense isn’t going to magically start creating more turnovers

The point is the problem will consist whether or not Watson is on the damn field or not.

Shit isn’t changing that much with him and this current roster.

Keep moving them goalpoints baby boy.

Also these last 6 games mean very little in the grand scheme of things considering Watson's under contract for 4 more years (and a lot longer if the Browns want).

 

[MikeOC33]

THIS is a fan that GETS IT.

@WellYouNeednt

Let’s make this easy on the board.

Remember this word:
HEAT

Hold
Each other
Accountable
Today

See a guy wearing a Browns hat not paying attention to the game? Flip the hat over til he picks his idiot head up.

See a woman giggling at her probable boyfriend at the bar while he’s trying to focus on the game? Ask her who her favorite player on the 1997 AFC Championship team was.

Is it mid-day on Monday and your daughter is asking you to watch her shitty Cocomelon show instead of watching the replay of Sunday’s game? Give her a bag of Flamin Hot Cheetos and tell her to go play in traffic.

Enough of the bullshit guys.

MAN UP

Must
Always
eNjoy Games with friends
Under
Pressure

tl;dr

 

[Triplethreat]

Keep moving them goalpoints baby boy.

Also these last 6 games mean very little in the grand scheme of things considering Watson's under contract for 4 more years (and a lot longer if the Browns want).

It does matter unless we have a clear path to upgrading the defense and coaching of the roster.

 

[CBBI]

It does matter unless we have a clear path to upgrading the defense and coaching of the roster.

So let me ask you a serious question.

Do you expect the Browns defense personnel and defensive coaching to remain the worst in the league for the entire time Watson's here or what?

Like do you not expect them to address it?

If you think this front office is incapable of addressing the roster holes, that's fine. But you don't necessarily come off like that is the case.

 

[Triplethreat]

So let me ask you a serious question.

Do you expect the Browns defense personnel and defensive coaching to remain the worst in the league for the entire time Watson's here or what?

Like do you not expect them to address it?

If you think this front office is incapable of addressing the roster holes, that's fine. But you don't necessarily come off like that is the case.

So now we’re okay with spending the toll over cap and all of our cap space, yet last season everyone was all the fuck over me for wanting to spend.

Watsons contract kicks in next season as well. It’s going to be a massive hit and that ain’t going away.

We have to be shitty somewhere.

 

[Amherstcavsfan]

Watsons contract kicks in next season as well. It’s going to be a massive hit and that ain’t going away.

You absolutely can make his money disappear.

And you can make the majority of Cooper's 20 million disappear too.

 

[CBBI]

So now we’re okay with spending the toll over cap and all of our cap space, yet last season everyone was all the fuck over me for wanting to spend.

Watsons contract kicks in next season as well. It’s going to be a massive hit and that ain’t going away.

We have to be shitty somewhere.

I mean the main difference between spending the cap space this upcoming offseason versus not spending it last offseason or the offseason before is obviously Watson's presence for 17 games. That is a major factor. You don't go "all in" on your spending when you don't truly believe in your QB (which they didn't with Mayfield) or when the QB you do believe in is set to miss 65% of the season.

The Browns, whether they want to be or not, are going to have to be "all in" in 2023 because there's a legitimate chance the coaches and front office staff all get fired (Stefanski is more likely than DePodesta and Berry, but it's possible they all go) if they were to miss the playoffs next year.

And they're going to convert Watson's 2023 base salary into a bonus the first day they're eligible to do so in the offseason. So you can go ahead and write that one down in pen because it's for sure happening. They'll also likely be adding at least one and maybe two void years onto the tail end of the deal in the process.

Watson's $ situation is gonna get hairy in few years, but that's a few years away (think 2025). In the meantime, Browns are clearly expecting a cap explosion over the next few seasons and they'll also be looking to give Watson a new contract extension before the 2025 season anyway.

 

[buzzdog]

I think Stefanski is a solid offensive mind. For the record and as I've stated many times I don't want him fired.

But for me the jury is 100% out on him as a head coach. As a head coach he has proven absolutely nothing. In my opinion he's done a shitty job of managing games, and it has cost us winnable games this season. He sucks at clock management, situational awareness, and a number of other things head coaches need to master to be successful. He'd rather go for a splashy low percentage deep shot to catch a defense off guard than just use strengths he has at his disposal.

I think he's smart and maybe he can learn, but does he want to? Does he see himself in need of improvement? I know he says he needs to get better every week but is that just lip service?

I see him with his nose buried in the play menu and I have to question just how aware he is, in real time, of every facet of the game outside the offense. And on offense he'd rather stick to his particular dogma and try "gotcha" plays when sometimes it's just best to grind and trust your strengths. He has seemed to lack awareness and feel for players and he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to inspire or get the most out of players on any kind of emotional level. The best head coaches have those skills.

I don't want an offensive guru for head coach, I want more of a Bellicheck who sees and understands every aspect of the game and who knows how and when to attack and exploit, when to run clock, when to be aggressive and when to be conservative. Someone who knows how to get the best out of his talent on all sides of the ball. Right now Kevin Stefanski is NOT that guy. Will he ever be? Does he want to be that kind of head coach?

I'm willing to give him a chance. But he needs to fire his best buddy Woods, he needs to fire Priefer. He needs to be more than an offensive coordinator. He needs to control games and not just be totally reactive as he is now. He needs to actually inspire and build cohesion if he ever wants to be more than an offensive coordinator who is in over his head.

 

[CBBI]

I think Stefanski is a solid offensive mind. For the record and as I've stated many times I don't want him fired.

But for me the jury is 100% out on him as a head coach. As a head coach he has proven absolutely nothing. In my opinion he's done a shitty job of managing games, and it has cost us winnable games this season. He sucks at clock management, situational awareness, and a number of other things head coaches need to master to be successful. He'd rather go for a splashy low percentage deep shot to catch a defense off guard than just use strengths he has at his disposal.

I think he's smart and maybe he can learn, but does he want to? Does he see himself in need of improvement? I know he says he needs to get better every week but is that just lip service?

I see him with his nose buried in the play menu and I have to question just how aware he is, in real time, of every facet of the game outside the offense. And on offense he'd rather stick to his particular dogma and try "gotcha" plays when sometimes it's just best to grind and trust your strengths. He has seemed to lack awareness and feel for players and he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to inspire or get the most out of players on any kind of emotional level. The best head coaches have those skills.

I don't want an offensive guru for head coach, I want more of a Bellicheck who sees and understands every aspect of the game and who knows how and when to attack and exploit, when to run clock, when to be aggressive and when to be conservative. Someone who knows how to get the best out of his talent on all sides of the ball. Right now Kevin Stefanski is NOT that guy. Will he ever be? Does he want to be that kind of head coach?

I'm willing to give him a chance. But he needs to fire his best buddy Woods, he needs to fire Priefer. He needs to be more than an offensive coordinator. He needs to control games and not just be totally reactive as he is now. He needs to actually inspire and build cohesion if he ever wants to be more than an offensive coordinator who is in over his head.

Just curious if you were aware of this fact. And maybe you're completely aware and simply don't care, which is fine too.

The percentage of NFL coaches who call plays (either offensive or defensive) is higher than the percentage that do not.

19 head coaches currently call plays. 13 do not.

 

[Dr. Claw]

Stefanski is kind of an Andy Reid type head coach, and like Andy, he has maximized the talent of the QBs that have played under him. Even his press conferences remind me of Andy.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I give up - there's no good faith discussion with certain people.

I think Stefanski is a solid offensive mind. For the record and as I've stated many times I don't want him fired.

But for me the jury is 100% out on him as a head coach. As a head coach he has proven absolutely nothing. In my opinion he's done a shitty job of managing games, and it has cost us winnable games this season. He sucks at clock management, situational awareness, and a number of other things head coaches need to master to be successful. He'd rather go for a splashy low percentage deep shot to catch a defense off guard than just use strengths he has at his disposal.

I think he's smart and maybe he can learn, but does he want to? Does he see himself in need of improvement? I know he says he needs to get better every week but is that just lip service?

I see him with his nose buried in the play menu and I have to question just how aware he is, in real time, of every facet of the game outside the offense. And on offense he'd rather stick to his particular dogma and try "gotcha" plays when sometimes it's just best to grind and trust your strengths. He has seemed to lack awareness and feel for players and he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to inspire or get the most out of players on any kind of emotional level. The best head coaches have those skills.

I don't want an offensive guru for head coach, I want more of a Bellicheck who sees and understands every aspect of the game and who knows how and when to attack and exploit, when to run clock, when to be aggressive and when to be conservative. Someone who knows how to get the best out of his talent on all sides of the ball. Right now Kevin Stefanski is NOT that guy. Will he ever be? Does he want to be that kind of head coach?

I'm willing to give him a chance. But he needs to fire his best buddy Woods, he needs to fire Priefer. He needs to be more than an offensive coordinator. He needs to control games and not just be totally reactive as he is now. He needs to actually inspire and build cohesion if he ever wants to be more than an offensive coordinator who is in over his head.

I understand where you're coming from but I disagree with some aspects.

Minimally he does need to fire Woods during the offseason. I would have fired him after the Patriots game but that's me.

Other than that, we're not inside the locker room with these guys. We don't know how much impact he has in terms of inspiration. You're drawing an assumption because he's not the "rah-rah" yelling at people's faces guy on sidelines. I'm not sure that would make much of a difference with the defense being historically bad against the run and giving up wide open completions on a regular basis. If anything, that could backfire and cause problems.

At the end of the day, Stefanski just isn't the meathead on the sidelines that people want. Maybe Freddie Kitchens is, I don't know. The criticisms about not throwing tantrums on the sidelines are just goofy to me, because if he were that guy and we're still losing, the same people would start criticizing him for it. It wasn't a big deal when we went 11-5, right? The fact is we're losing and people who can't cope need to find any little "blemish" or thing they disagree with and harp on it endlessly.

 

[Vee-Rex]

I also don't get so hung up on the media responses.

The team has lost 6 of the last 7 games. What response are we looking for here? If Stefanski doesn't blame himself he'll get torn apart for not being accountable. If he blames himself he gets torn apart or mocked for using the same response. If he blows up he'll be in headlines across the nation. If he calls out players or coaches he'll get torn apart for throwing them under the bus.

If I were him (and unwilling to fire Woods immediately) I'd play it the same way. Keep calm and level-headed, offer measured/calculated responses, and don't sabotage your chances of bringing in a well-respected DC next year.

 

[Out of the Rafters at the Q]

I think Stefanski is a solid offensive mind. For the record and as I've stated many times I don't want him fired.

But for me the jury is 100% out on him as a head coach. As a head coach he has proven absolutely nothing. In my opinion he's done a shitty job of managing games, and it has cost us winnable games this season. He sucks at clock management, situational awareness, and a number of other things head coaches need to master to be successful. He'd rather go for a splashy low percentage deep shot to catch a defense off guard than just use strengths he has at his disposal.

I think he's smart and maybe he can learn, but does he want to? Does he see himself in need of improvement? I know he says he needs to get better every week but is that just lip service?

I see him with his nose buried in the play menu and I have to question just how aware he is, in real time, of every facet of the game outside the offense. And on offense he'd rather stick to his particular dogma and try "gotcha" plays when sometimes it's just best to grind and trust your strengths. He has seemed to lack awareness and feel for players and he doesn't seem to have a clue as to how to inspire or get the most out of players on any kind of emotional level. The best head coaches have those skills.

I don't want an offensive guru for head coach, I want more of a Bellicheck who sees and understands every aspect of the game and who knows how and when to attack and exploit, when to run clock, when to be aggressive and when to be conservative. Someone who knows how to get the best out of his talent on all sides of the ball. Right now Kevin Stefanski is NOT that guy. Will he ever be? Does he want to be that kind of head coach?

I'm willing to give him a chance. But he needs to fire his best buddy Woods, he needs to fire Priefer. He needs to be more than an offensive coordinator. He needs to control games and not just be totally reactive as he is now. He needs to actually inspire and build cohesion if he ever wants to be more than an offensive coordinator who is in over his head.

When I see fans rant about things like "Stefanski sucks at clock management" I read that as code for "Hey, this is an emotional rant that has little basis in reality."

There have been head coaches in the NFL that suck at utilizing time outs and managing the clock towards the end of a game. Stefanski is not one of them.