BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns are back from their bye week, a time for them to refocus and to get right after starting the season 2-6. That came with plenty of self-reflection, corrections, and, in the case of play-calling, outright changes as head coach Kevin Stefanski has handed those duties over to offensive coordinator Tommy Rees.
Stefanski made the announcement Monday in his first media availability after the bye week.
"I’m going to have Tommy call the plays on offense. These are things that I’m always looking at, what can we do better? I have a ton of trust and faith in Tommy. He’s more than capable, so excited for him, but bottom line is we have to just get better, collectively – so that’s offense, that’s defense, that’s special teams, that’s players, that’s coaches. So, that’s our charge and that’s what we’re working hard to do," Stefanski said in his opening statement.
The move comes amid another disappointing season for the Browns. Entering the year, the team set realistic expectations that there would likely be some bumps in the road after a 3-14 season in 2024. However, a 2-6 start with just one game seeing the team score more than 20 points has been more than underwhelming.
Both turnovers and drops have plagued the offense and aside from rookie production from running back Quinshon Judkins and tight end Harold Fannin Jr., there has been few positives on that side of the ball.
Stefanski said he made the decision on his own volition, coming to the conclusion to make the change during the bye week. It's the second straight season Stefanski has handed over playcalling, relinquishing duties last season to then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey heading into Week 8 as the team started that season 1-6.
“Yeah, I look at everything every week. Certainly, the bye week gives you an opportunity to look at everything and bottom line is we have to better – we have to better in a lot of facets on the offensive side, and I just felt like Tommy is somebody that I believe in. Obviously hired him here a couple years back because I really believe in Tommy as a coach, and he’s done everything that we’ve asked and I just feel like this is the right time for this," Stefanski said.
Rees was named the offensive coordinator in January a short time after the team fired Dorsey. Last year, Rees served as the team's tight ends coach and pass-game specialist.
Now, Rees takes over the responsibility of calling plays in-game.
Stefanski said Monday that the team is still working through the plan for whether Rees will be calling plays from on the field or in the booth. Wherever he is on game day, the hope is that Rees can help along the process of cleaning up the offense and turning things around in the second half of the season.
"I think Tommy’s going to be himself, and that’s what I’m asking him to do. And I’ll be there every step of the way to help him in any way I can, like you should with any play-caller. But, bottom line is he understands what we need to do, which is stay on the field and score some points," Stefanski said. "We’ve identified a lot of things that we want to do better, a lot of areas where we feel like we can improve, areas where we feel like we can adapt and that’s where having this after eight games is important, where you can learn a lot from yourself and then get ready for a nine-game season, obviously with the first one coming up versus the Jets."
Rees' first game as the Browns' playcaller will be on Sunday Cleveland faces the 1-7 Jets on the road.
