The Kevin Stefanski era of Cleveland Browns football has officially come to an end, as he was fired by the team on Monday morning after back-to-back disappointing seasons.
Stefanski might have experienced success early on during his time with the Browns but, eventually, losing catches up to you and the Browns lost enough games these past two years that owner Jimmy Haslam felt it was time to move on.
Now that Stefanski is out, who will the Browns be looking at to bring in as his successor? Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com floated possibly the worst-case scenario for the fan base, linking now former Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon to the Browns' vacant head coaching job.
Cleveland native Jonathan Gannon would be an excellent head coach candidate for the #Browns.
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 5, 2026
Jonathan Gannon being linked to Browns HC job feels like a nightmare
This would not be something Browns fans would be in favor of. Sure, Gannon is from Cleveland, but his head coaching record in Arizona speaks for itself as a reason to avoid him like the plague (at least as a head coach).
Gannon took over as the Cardinals head coach in 2023 and never had a winning season in any of his three years on the job. He finished with just 15 wins during that time.
After going 3-14 in 2025, which was the worst record of any of his three seasons in the desert, Gannon was fired on Black Monday and now will be searching for another job. It's worth noting that Gannon did an excellent job when he was the defensive coordinator in Philadelphia in 2021 and 2022, which is what got him that head coaching gig in the first place. If the Browns need a new defensive coordinator, that hire wouldn't be a bad one at all.
As a head coach, however, no thank you. Sometimes retread candidates make sense (as Kevin Stefanski will for another team), but Gannon should not be one of those retread guys getting a second chance this quickly. He did not do well in the role in Arizona, so why would the Browns bank on him to fix that in Cleveland?
I see what Cabot was floating out but, no, the Browns should not consider hiring Jonathan Gannon as their next head coach. If they do, they'll be searching for another head coach again not long after.