BEREA, Ohio — Over the past six seasons, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski has achieved numerous accomplishments. He helped the Browns snap an 18-year playoff appearance drought in 2021, he was named the NFL Coach of the Year twice, and he has provided continuity to a team that had seen nine full-time head coaches and two interim head coaches since 1999.
However, with the Browns going 5-12 this season with an often-floundering offense, the organization felt a change was needed, and Stefanski has been fired, according to the Browns.
During a Monday morning press conference, owner Jimmy Haslam said that Andrew Berry will spearhead the search for the next head coach, a search that is expected to begin Monday afternoon.
When asked if he would consider defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the head coaching job, Haslam did not specify whether he would be considered or not.
Haslam acknowledged that the Browns' ownership is responsible for the team's current position. "To win eight games in two years is horrible, it's totally unacceptable, and it's not going to continue," said Haslam. " I want the fans to know we are as frustrated as you are."
When asked what he is looking for in the next head coach, Haslam said, "They have to be a good leader, I think they have got to be smart in terms of IQ, EQ, and football acumen, and obviously, they are going to bring expertise on one side of the ball. We do not have bias on whether they should be on offense or defense."
#Browns Jimmy Haslam, asked if he felt the roster was good enough to win more games this year than they did, said:"You know, it's easy for me to say yes, so yeah, I think it was good enough to win more games."
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) January 5, 2026
When asked about who will quarterback the team in the future, and whether it will be Shedeur Sanders, Haslam was noncommittal.
"I am not going to get into specifics. We have a lot of work to do on the roster, particularly on the offensive side of the roster," he said.
Watch the whole news conference:
Stefanski's firing was announced in a statement sent out by the team on social media:
"We have tremendous gratitude for Kevin's leadership of the Cleveland Browns over the last six seasons. He is a good football coach and an even better person. We appreciate all his hard work and dedication to our organization, but our results over the last two seasons have not been satisfactory."
Watch how fans reacted to Stefanski being fired:
The Browns released a social media message on Stefanski's behalf a few minutes later, stating the coach was grateful for the opportunity.
News 5's Camryn Justice was in Berea this morning for the announcement:
Rough season
This season, the offense has been hard-pressed not only to score touchdowns but also to execute basic fundamentals, such as pass-catching and blocking. Drops have plagued the receivers’ room, and turnovers have cost them wins on more than one occasion.
The team started three quarterbacks throughout the season, beginning with veteran Joe Flacco. Flacco became a turnover machine, sometimes in part due to receivers dropping passes, but, nonetheless, he threw six interceptions in four games, leading to the Browns handing the reins to rookie Dillon Gabriel. Whether Stefanski was on board with it or not, the Browns then traded Flacco to the Bengals, leaving Gabriel the starter and fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders QB2.
While Gabriel wasn’t as prone to turnovers, he wasn’t able to create any explosives, getting one win over the Miami Dolphins but keeping the offense stagnant through Week 11, before he sustained a concussion, and Sanders got the opportunity under center. Sanders got his first start the next week against the Raiders and led the Browns to their third win of the season with some deep downfield passes, breathing a little life into the offense.
However, the rookie showed both progression and regression, as expected for any young player, recording seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Special teams blunders cost the Browns more than one game, with the unit struggling on both returns and on coverage execution. As fans looked for change and accountability, the same mistakes kept surfacing week after week.
Those recurring mistakes also included penalties that stacked against the Browns. From presnap to postsnap, the Browns showed undisciplined tendencies.
Watch players talk about the state of the team following Stefanski's firing:
Ups and downs
Stefanski’s time with Cleveland may have had its recent lows, but it was also filled with some of the Browns’ most successful moments since returning in 1999. Under Stefanski, the Browns clinched playoff berths twice, in 2021 and in 2023. Stefanski was able to do that in 2023 amid a carousel of quarterbacks following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury, a rotation of Dorian Thompson-Robinson and PJ Walker, and eventually the stunning emergence of Joe Flacco, who joined the team and led them to that playoff game.
Stefanski was the Browns' longest-tenured head coach since Sam Rutigliano, who coached the team from 1978 to 1984.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was seen in the building on Monday morning before the announcement was made:
The Browns hired Stefanski as their head coach in January of 2020, coming to the team off his first season as the Vikings’ full-time offensive coordinator after 14 years working up Minnesota’s coaching ladder. Cleveland was in need of a new head coach after firing Freddie Kitchens after his first season in the role, and in need of a new general manager after parting ways with John Dorsey that season as well. Stefanski was tasked with helping team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam find a new GM, which soon became Andrew Berry.
Stefanski’s efforts to try and turn things around for the Browns also came with two different Coach of the Year honors, once in 2020 and again in 2023.
The Browns saw their second straight losing season, and while they beat their three-win 2024 season, they still struggled to find success throughout the year. The organization hopes to generate more success in 2026 with a fresh start at head coach.
