The wheels have begun to fall off the 2022 season for the Cleveland Browns as they fall to 2-5, are there coaching changes on the horizon?
Any time a season starts to go south in the first two months, people will start asking what changes must be made. One of the first reactions is to look at the coaching staff and ask if they are the right group to get the job done. With theCleveland Browns at 2-5 let’s look at the most essential and criticized coaches and if they need to be replaced.
Browns special teams coordinator- Mike Priefer
The Browns’ special teams units are again some of the worst in the NFL through the injury to Jakeem Grant in training camp changed the unit’s trajectory. Kicker Cade York and punter Corey Bojorquez have been major upgrades over what the Browns had last year and aren’t the problem.
But just like the past two seasons the coverage units are not good and seem to be getting worse.
There seem to always be a few plays on special teams that negatively impact the Browns each and every week since Mike Priefer has been the coordinator. At this point, it isn’t crazy to question what Priefer has them working on each week when the same issues persist week after week.
There are blow coverage assignments on kickoff and punts as well as awful decisions to run out kickoff from the endzone and constantly be stopped before the 25-yard line. The Browns should fire Mike Priefer during the bye week because there’s no reason to continue doing the same things that aren’t working.
Defensive coordinator- Joe Woods
Joe Woods has been on the hot seat for what seems like his entire tenure as Cleveland’s defensive coordinator — sometimes fair sometimes not. Though he seemed to have called a better game against the Ravens there are still several issues that continue to not be addressed.
You have players that appear to not know assignments, are unable to maintain basic fundamentals, and don’t look interested to be on the field. It isn’t a coach’s fault directly if a player isn’t playing hard but if they continue to do so without correction it begins to fall back on them.
Woods, no matter if his scheme is good enough or not, continues to not be able to get all of his players to buy in. It seems like it is past the point of no return with Woods and the Browns have to make a change sooner rather than later.
Defensive backs coach- Jeff Howard
There isn’t a bigger underperforming group on the team than the defensive backs coach which leads to questions about DB coach Jeff Howard. You have players that have been productive in past seasons (or other teams) that are playing nowhere near as well in 2022.
Constant miscommunications and blown assignments lead to wondering why the same problems continue and what coach Jeff Howard is doing in preparation each week.
There might no be much of a change if Howard were to be fired during the season but the team will likely want to move on prior to 2023.
Head Coach- Kevin Stefanski
Struggles will almost always be placed at the feet of the guy in charge at the top and that comes back on Kevin Stefanski. The questions about why changes aren’t made in-game or during the week will always come back to how Stefanski runs his team.
Though they have shown a lot of great things on offense despite a lack of proven wide receiver talent and a backup quarterback there is no way to spin a 2-5 record into a good thing.
Stefanski the play caller and offensive mind has been good yet again turning a less-than-stellar group of pass catchers (outside Amari Cooper and David Njoku) into one of the most efficient offenses in football. You can see guys open on just about every play and see defenses selling out to stop the run and yet the scheme of the rush attack still works.
On the other side is the growing concern of locker room issues capitalized in reports that there was a shouting match about leadership after Sunday’s game. People begin to wonder if players are held accountable for actions on and off the field. A lack of leadership to keep issues in-house and not air out in their weekly media availability.
Overall Stefanski is a good schematic coach and will be given the chance to show what he can do with a franchise quarterback and winning cures all. But if the noise in the locker room grows louder and Watson doesn’t look comfortable in the offense there might be questions about a fourth season, but Stefanski should be safe for another year.