What former Browns coach has some things in common with Kevin Stefanski? – Terry Pluto
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Is Kevin Stefanski the next Marty Schottenheimer?
Probably not, given Schottenheimer’s long and successful coaching career. Or the fact Schottenheimer took the Browns to the playoffs in all four of his full seasons as head coach in Cleveland.
But Stefanski is the first Browns coach to have two winning seasons since Schottenheimer
Think about that.
Schottenheimer departed following a feud with owner Art Modell. He had a 10-6 record. That was the Don Strock year when they went through four different QBs. Actually, only three of them won games: Bernie Kosar, Mike Pagel and Strock. Gary Danielson lost his only start.
Schottenheimer should have been in line for a contract extension. Instead, a frustrated Modell pushed for Scottenheimer to make some changes to his coaching staff. In some cases, that wasn’t a bad idea.
But more of an issue was the Browns’ inability to reach the Super Bowl. I wrote a lot about this breakup in my book, Vintage Browns. It’s a long story about a clash of egos and a lack of appreciation for Schottenheimer from ownership and some of the fan base
The end of Schottenheimer’s tenure was much like what we see today with Stefanski. When the Browns won, the perception – at least in a sizable part of the fan base — was they did it despite the head
The Browns have been through 15 head coaches from Schottenheimer to Stefanski. Fourteen of them failed to have more than one winning season.
In fact, only Bud Carson (1989), Bill Belichick (1994), Butch Davis (2002), Romeo Crennel (2007) and Gregg Williams (2018) even had one winning season.
Stefanski was 10-6 in 2020, his rookie season as a head coach. Then came records of 8-9 and 7-10. GM Andrew Berry and ownership stuck with Stefanski for 2023.
