Kevin Stefanski Is The NFL's Coach Of The Year And It's Not Even Up For Debate
Admittedly, what defines a "Coach of the Year," is subjective. However, in the NFL that yearly honor has generally been bestowed on coaches from two different categories.
2022 recipient, Brian Daboll is a perfect example of one. The upstart head coach that takes over a dilapidated organization and has instant success, often in the form of a playoff berth. That was very much the story of the 2022 New York Giants.
The other route is usually a more obvious one. Just find the team that had the best record and you'll have your answer. Think Bill Belichick in 2007 and 2010. Ron Rivera his second time winning it in 2015. Even John Harbaugh in 2019.
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski knows what it's like to win the award with the former criteria. He was voted the league's Coach of the Year in 2020, his first year at the helm, after leading Cleveland to its first playoff berth in nearly two decades with an 11-5 season. Three years later, he's back in the conversation. Not as the unproven, rookie head coach bursting onto the scene, but as the seasoned veteran, who seems to have pulled off what was once considered impossible by changing the culture of the Cleveland Browns.
That's been on full display during a season marred by an unprecedented list of injuries that seems to grow longer by the day. Heading into Week 18, the Browns have placed more than 10 players on the IR during the season, with several others having been lost for the year during the preseason or prior to it. That list includes All-Pro running back Nick Chubb. Franchise QB Deshaun Watson. Starting tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills, as well as top backup, rookie Dawand Jones.
In more recent weeks, defensive depth pieces like defensive tackle Maurice Hurst and safety Rodney McLeod have joined that list. So too has starting safety Grant Delpit, although the team has kept the door cracked on the 25-year-old returning for the postseason.
That's not even mentioning extended absences of lockdown cornerback Denzel Ward a handful of weeks back. He never went to the IR but missed three weeks with a shoulder injury. In Thursday's playoff clinching win over the Jets, Cleveland was missing No. 1 wide receiver Amari Cooper along with its top specialists in kicker Dustin Hopkins and punter Corey Bojorquez.
Even just a percentage of those absences would be enough to make any team mortal and spoil a promising season. Not the 2023 Browns. They've continued finding ways to win all the way to 11-5 on the year and a playoff berth in hand.
Stefanski's fingerprints are all over this thing.
Cleveland became the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs despite starting four different quarterbacks under center this year. Injuries to Watson's shoulder twice threatened the 2023 campaign. Stefanski found ways to win games with former XFLer, P.J. Walker, a rookie, Dorian Thompson-Robinson -- also on the IR now -- and a 38-year-old Joe Flacco. Although, describing it as "finding ways to win" in regards to Flacco is disingenuous.
He's turned back the clock in Stefanski's offense by playing some of the best football of his career. With 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns, Flacco is the first QB in franchise history to throw for 300-plus yards in four straight games. What a story he's been.
That's another thing Stefanski deserves a boatload of credit for, unlocking something in Flacco that appeared to be long gone since he left division rival Baltimore five years ago.
The Browns head man has been a shrewd play-caller. A tactful motivator. A resilient leader. That last one may be most important of all.
As easily as the 2023 Cleveland Browns could have been defined by injury, they've instead been defined by an unwavering sense of belief that no matter who is on the field, they'll find a way to win. That's a powerful thing.
Where would this team be without Stefanski? That's the question that needs to be asked in the Coach of the Year discussion -- if it's even much of one at this point.
All due respect to the Texans, DeMeco Ryans, who has Houston ahead of schedule in their rebuild and still in the mix for the playoffs down the stretch here. Same goes for Dan Campbell and the job he's done in Detroit as the Lions will head to the playoffs as division champs for the first time in 30 years. The coach of the year resides in Cleveland.
There's no more debating it. Come, Thursday, Feb. 8 Stefanski should become the 11th coach to take home the honor multiple times.
