Kevin Stefanski's Job Not At Stake In Browns Matchup With Steelers

As the Cleveland Browns get ready for a Thursday night showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, there shouldn't reason to believe Kevin Stefanski is coaching for his job

Oct 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski walks to the field against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Kevin Stefanski is no stranger to "hot seat" talk." He grew up listening to well known Philadelphia sports radio station WIP.

In that town, football coaches practically live on the hot seat. And as Stefanski joked several days before a Thursday night showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers, because he spent so much time listening to WIP, he knows better than to let chatter about his job status as head coach of the Cleveland Browns bother him.

That conversation has seemed to ramp up though this week. That will happen when a season that began with championship aspirations has spiraled into a 2-8 record. It'll also happen when the team's biggest rival in the Pittsburgh Steelers is in town for the nation stage of Thursday Night Football.

It wouldn't be some novel concept for a Browns head coach was fired after a loss to the Steelers. In fact, it's happened six times since the team returned to the Lakefront in 1999, including most recently with Hue Jackson midway through the 2018 season.

I wouldn't expect Stefanski to be No. 7 on that list.

It's sure to be an emotional night for fans with the Steelers in town and Nick Chubb facing them for the first time since suffering a serious knee injury last year.

Don't tell him that though. It's just another game for Chubb: https://t.co/1DFFaoy7YW

— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 21, 2024

Naturally, when a season falls woefully short of meeting expectations anyone's job could be on the line. That is undeniably true. Team owner Jimmy Haslam has also proved plenty of times before that he can be reactionary in his decision making. To his credit though, that's been lessened in recent years under the Stefanski, Paul DePodesta, Andrew Berry regime.

Of that trio, Stefanski feels like the least accountable for this team's shortcomings. The flaws with the 2024 Cleveland Browns start with the roster's construction. We may never get the full story on who pushed hardest to pursue Deshaun Watson. As general manager of the team, that move goes on Berry's resumé whether it came from above him or not.

It wasn't entirely illogical to attempt to bring back most of the roster that led Cleveland to an 11-6 season and a playoff berth in 2023. Ultimately though, staying the same hasn't produced even remotely the same results. There's also been a glaring lack of draft pick development from this team since Berry's arrival, with his notable misses including Jedrick Wills Jr., Anthony Schwartz and David Bell.

A coach is never blameless in these things, of course. Stefanski's adamancy to play Watson despite his continued struggles is something he has to wear. People will obviously point to the fact that the quarterback play improved massively since he handed over the play-calling to offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.

That also ignores, however, that Stefanski produced productive seasons from Baker Mayfield, Jacoby Brissett and AARP Joe Flacco in recent years. Stefanski has proven his system works when he's provided the right set of tools for his tool box. He's tried to be maleable to accommodate Watson's skillset, but even with a perfect set of circumstances around him he's struggled. Meanwhile, the whole point of trading three first round picks for Watson was that he wasn't supposed to need a perfect set of circumstances to play well.

If you're into this sort of thing, here's #Browns would be drafting in the first round https://t.co/I5ivr35GM7

— 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 (@Spencito_) November 19, 2024

There's also the culture piece to this, which has undoubtedly changed since Stefanski took over in 2020. It will be tested over the course of these final games, because with a team this bad, keeping your players engaged is harder than ever. In that regard, maybe we can revisit this conversation in January.

Forget the fact that he's a two-time coach of the year for a second, cause I think we use that as a crutch sometimes. This is about stability and results, two things Stefanski has brought this organization, regardless of what the gaggle of emotional fans on Twitter may say.

A grim salary cap situation paints a pretty ominous picture for what the future may hold for this team. It all likely starts with identifying a new quarterback, which has been no easy simple feat for this organization over the last two-and-a-half decades. Think about it, if you're already worried about them doing that, do you really trust them to nail a new quarterback and head coach hire in the same offseason?

Whatever this tumultuous future looks like, Stefanski should be part of it. I wouldn't count on him being unemployed come Friday.