Cleveland Browns News 11/18: Replacing Coaches, Play-Calling, and Taking Chances on Others
As we relayed yesterday, the Browns now have to fill some significant vacancies on their offensive coaching staff. Before they can really set about doing that, however, head coach Kevin Stefanski has a key decision he has to make…
Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has a decision to make. Well, he may have already made it – we simply don’t know yet. That decision is whether he will continue to put a “stake in the ground” that he will be the play-caller for the Cleveland Browns offense.
Calling the plays has been Stefanski’s modus operandi since he came to Cleveland back in 2020 from Minnesota, where he was the Offensive Coordinator. He hasn’t shown any inclination to give up the responsibility.
Play-calling tends to be a lightning rod among fans. When a play doesn’t work, it’s easy to speculate that a different play would have worked against the defense. Fallacious metrics like “if you run Nick Chubb more than X times, the Browns are undefeated” are relied upon by fans who don’t know causality well to justify criticizing the head coach’s approach. Play-callers always get criticized unless their offenses romp. It comes with the territory.
That being said, I’m of the opinion that Stefanski is a darn good play-caller. He reached into his bag of tricks at times in the 2023 season and really came up with some amazingly smart play calls. Other times, he made the right call, but it was executed imperfectly. Other times, well, he may not have selected wisely. But, overall, in my not-all-that-educated opinion, Stefanski’s play-calling is far from the team’s biggest issue.
At the point Stefanski is at now, though, his decision about whether to continue as the team’s play-caller is significantly larger and has to do as much with leadership and management style as the nuts and bolts of executing the offense.
I’ve always believed that leaders are most successful by surrounding themselves with the smartest possible people, challenging them, and letting them grow. Their success and job enjoyment will lift the team and the executive, and everyone will prosper. Sure, their success means they may get other opportunities at some point, but that’s a risk you take.
