What Are Kevin Stefanski’s Odds To Win Coach Of The Year?

Stefanski has the Browns a step away from a playoff berth despite his team navigating through four different QBs this season. How big of a case does he have to win his second Coach of the Year award?

Browns fans aren’t used to witnessing the type of season head coach Kevin Stefanski has orchestrated this year in Cleveland.

If someone with a crystal ball predicted in August the Browns would start four quarterbacks, most fans might’ve guessed their team would miss the playoffs by a wide margin. The all-too-familiar vibes of meaningless December football in Cleveland would’ve felt imminent again for 2023, and a fanbase that has long been convinced their franchise is cursed would be preparing to add another chapter to their book of examples of how the football gods just never seem to be in favor of the Browns.

Yet Christmas is a week away, and everyone in Cleveland can smell the playoffs approaching instead.

Stefanski has saved the Browns from their usual December downfall with some of his finest work since becoming their head coach in 2020. After keeping his team afloat for a playoff run with an inconsistent QB in Deshaun Watson, a lifelong backup in P.J. Walker and an inexperienced rookie in Dorian Thompson-Robinson, he’s found some of the best QB play the Browns have ever seen in Joe Flacco — while also maintaining one of the best defenses in the NFL.

The 9-5 Browns are one more win away from basically guaranteeing a playoff spot, and Stefanski should be near the top of the conversation for NFL Coach of the Year because of it.

Stefanski still faces long odds, however, at winning the award. He’s tied for the seventh-best odds at +1500 with Bengals coach Zac Taylor to win the award for the second time in his career, according to DraftKings Sportsbook. That gives him just a 6.3 percent chance to win.

Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski watches his team warm up before the game between the Browns and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Cleveland Browns Stadium / Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Stefanski is behind Lions coach Dan Campbell (+200), Colts coach Shane Steichen (+350), Texans coach Demeco Ryans (+350), Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel (+600), 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan (+600) and Ravens coach John Harbaugh (+1200).

Sure, all of those coaches have built impressive resumes this year, but none of them have worked through the same level of QB adversity as Stefanski, who has led the Browns to wins over the Bengals (with a healthy Joe Burrow), 49ers, Ravens and Jaguars. Walker was the QB when they defeated the then-undefeated 49ers, and Flacco — who had barely been on the team for three weeks — was the QB who piloted them to a win over the Jaguars.

The Browns are just the seventh team in the Super Bowl era to win a game with four different starting QBs this season. None of the six other teams even made the playoffs, but the 9-5 Browns are just one win away from almost guaranteeing their spot in the postseason.

And Cleveland would be poised to step into the playoffs with their best QB play of the year — if not ever in the history of the franchise.

Flacco’s seven passing touchdowns are tied with Vinny Testaverde for the most ever by a Browns thrower through their first three games. His 939 passing yards are the most ever for a Browns QB in that time frame, too, and his 374-yard day Sunday to lift the Browns over the Bears was the highest passing total by a Browns QB since Baker Mayfield totaled 376 in Week 17 in 2018.

The planner behind it all, though, has been Stefanski, who’s been willing to tinker the playbook to fit the strengths and preferences of everyone who’s been under center this year. He’s done most of it without his starting running back and his top three offensive tackles, too.

That job is no easy task, but you couldn’t tell by looking at the Browns’ record with three weeks left to play.

If the Browns continue to win, however, his odds at winning coach of the year should only increase — and provide a greater look into how improbable of a year it’s been for Cleveland.