Cleveland Browns: 3 reasons Kevin Stefanski should lead the Coach of the Year race

1. Overcoming 2020

Let’s see. You finally get hired as head coach of an NFL team and a pandemic hits. Not only does a pandemic hit, but social injustices across the country create civil unrest in America. People thought the fact you became the head coach of the hapless Cleveland Browns was hard. Now you have to do it in masks over Zoom while navigating a diverse group of people for the first time.

If that wasn’t tough enough, practices get limited, and there is no preseason. You have to wonder if at the time Stefanski was wondering what the heck did I get myself into. Not only do I have to take on the 20 years of blunders before me, but I also have to do it in the most limited offseason in NFL history. If he had any doubts, no one would have ever known it.

In any other year bringing accountability and discipline would be number one. The Browns have spent 20 years as a joke for late-night TV with a fan base begging for a coach that could do half of what Stefanski has accomplished in just ten games. Not just a 7-3 record but one with merit built on the right principles. Stefanski never wavered in his expectations as he and his staff built a plan for one of the most unique offseasons ever seen. They used Zoom to work on player’s footwork, meet with players to explain what was expected, and get them ready for a training camp that would be like nothing they had seen before.

As we have seen in Cleveland, camp can be hard enough just learning a new coaching staff and system. Stefanski and his staff had to deal with masks, beeping bracelets making sure they were six feet away, and workouts in shifts. They got to camp and had to wait to actually get on the field and actually practice the system for the first time. They did a lot of positional and team meetings via electronic devices initially. Building camaraderie is hard enough for a whole new group, but doing it all on screens added a new level of difficulty. Through it all, we would get a calm and collected rookie head coach that refused to use any of it as a reason for a mulligan. If there were ever one, this would have been it.

Kevin Stefanski has taken the worst franchise of the last two decades in a pandemic filled crazy season to a record of 7-3. He has built one of the best running attacks in the NFL and protected his young growing quarterback. The defense has kept the run game in check most of the year and been ready when the big moments arrive. He has kept everyone focused on the team and football. The players are disciplined on and off the field.

In the end, he has done something for this franchise that no one has since 2007, provide hope for a bright future of Browns football. All of this should have him easily out in front of every conversation regarding the coach of the year.