Browns' Head Coach Kevin Stefanski Earns Second AP Coach Of The Year At NFL Honors
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski joined some elite company on Thursday night after being selected as the NFL's AP Coach of the Year Recipient at the NFL Honors.
It's Stefanski's second time bringing home the award – something he also accomplished in his first year at the helm in Cleveland – making him just the 13th coach in NFL history receive the honor multiple times. That's a list of coaches that includes some of the best to every do it, including Don Shula, Joe Gibbs, Bill Parcels and Bill Belichick.
The Browns' head man was selected over a number of his deserving contemporaries, including Detoit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, first year head coach DeMeco Ryans of the Houston Texans, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and one of his division counterparts, John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens.
Remarkably, Stefanski won a tightly contested race for the award finishing with the same amount of overall points as Ryans but edging him out by one first place vote.
For Stefanski, the award is a testament to his incredible efforts leading Cleveland this season as the team dealt with and overcame an excessive number of season-ending injuries to eventually finish 11-6 and earn the AFC"s fifth seed in the playoffs. When star quarterback Deshaun Watson went down with a season-ending injury after Week 10, it represented a key inflection point for the Browns but Stefanski didn't waiver, finding ways to win with games with four different QBs throughout the year.
That list includes 16-year veteran Joe Flacco who joined the team in Week 12 from his couch and started five of the last six games to close out the season, becoming the first quarterback in franchise throwing for 300-plus yards in four straight games.
Throughout the year there were countless remarks made by Browns players and coaches about how much the team took on the identity of Stefanski as it embraced a one-week-at-a-time mentality. Stefanski certainly deserves a lot of credit for turning a season that constantly seemed like it was on the brink of disaster into a one of the most memorable in franchise history.
He'd likely be the first to say he doesn't care for validation in the form of awards. Now, he's got it in the form of a second AP Coach of the Year Award, regardless.
Along with Stefanski's Coach of the Year honor, Cleveland took home four total awards. Defensive end Myles Garrett was voted AP Defensive Player of the Year. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, was named AP Assistant Coach of the Year. And Flacco was recognized as the AP Comeback Player of the Year.
