Browns Fans Will Love Kevin Stefanski's Reaction To Earning A Contract Extension

The Browns head coach downplayed the announcement of extensions for himself and general manager Andrew Berry.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski meets with the media after Day 8 of OTAs to talk about earning a contract extension with the franchise. / Spencer German

Kevin Stafanski has no time to celebrate becoming the first head coach to receive a contract extension from the Cleveland Browns – at least a publicly known one – since 2008.

The always mild-mannered Stefanski downplayed Wednesday's announcement that both he and general manager Andrew Berry had inked extensions. While he's obviously grateful to be sticking around for the foreseeable future alongside Berry, he's only focused on one thing: working harder.

“I think for Andrew (Berry) and I, it’s a partnership where we take our job seriously," said Stefanski. "We really understand the jobs we have in this town. We understand our fans and what they want this team to be. So, we’re just going to focus on working, every waking minute to get this thing where we want it. For the organization to trust Andrew and I speaks to what we’ve been able to do, but we have plenty of work to do. Fortunately for us, we’ve got some great people in this building, coaches, players, staff. So, we’ll just continue to work.”  

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Stefanski's response is as "gets Cleveland" as it gets. The Browns faithful have longed for a coach and general manager combo that could stabilize the organization and produce consistent success. Stefanski and Berry have delivered on that in spades with two playoff appearances in four seasons, including the team's first playoff win in a quarter-century.

To get to a point where Stefanski and Berry are signing extensions are an example of just how far the organization has come. The last coach and GM duo to earn extensions in Cleveland were Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage in 2008.

It may be a milestone for the franchise and the fans, for Stefanski it's nothing to dwell on.

"Nothing changes for us," Stefanski said. "We walk in this building – when you’re talking about Andrew (Berry), myself, and I think every coach, every player, you walk in here and you have a job to do, and we focus on that job.

Until you’ve got that final one checked off, you haven’t done it. For us there’s one goal for every football team, every franchise, and that’s where we will keep our sights. Obviously, in
between, you try to win some ball games and do right by the community and those type of things. But we and every – all 32 clubs, we have one thing in mind.” 

If Stefanski were to bring that one thing to Cleveland he may receive a lifetime contract from team owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

While on that quest, Stefanski did express gratitude to the Browns brass for their support over the years, which paved the way to the extensions.

"Sitting down with Jimmy [and Dee] and with [executive vice president] JW [Johnson] and obviously to entrust myself and Andrew (Berry), that their family has given us that trust to be here is a big deal," Stefanski said. "They’ve been ultra supportive of us in a football way and in a personal way. They’ve been great to our families. So, really excited to continue to partner with Andrew and we have work to do.” 

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