Despite the franchise floundering through a current 6-26 slump since the start of the 2024 season, the Cleveland Browns have a few big-name players who command respect, both inside their locker room and beyond.
Myles Garrett, Denzel Ward and Joel Bitonio alone have accumulated a combined 11 first- or second-team All-Pro nods and 19 Pro Bowls. That the Browns have rostered some of the game’s best at their respective positions and still haven’t build a winning program is an indictment of head coach Kevin Stefanski, and a big reason why his job status remains a major question mark entering these final two games of the 2025 regular season.
There’s no longer any gray area on this subject for Browns fans. They’re ready for a fresh start after struggling franchises like the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots made regime changes this past offseason that immediately flipped their fortunes; all three of those teams went from picking in the top 10 of the 2025 NFL Draft, to clinching playoff berths before Christmas.
Stefanski’s definitely on the hot seat entering Cleveland’s final home game of the season against Pittsburgh on Sunday. But his young, banged-up team hasn’t quit — and it almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season in a 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills last week.
On the heels of his latest Pro Bowl nod, Ward urged fans to stick with the team, subtly throwing support behind Stefanski without calling the coach out by name.
Bitonio, on the other hand, spoke openly about calls for Stefanski’s job this week, and his comments didn’t exactly put fans in the holiday spirit.
Joel Bitonio’s comments on Kevin Stefanski may not sit well with Browns fans this holiday season
Bitonio has been anchoring the left side of Cleveland’s offensive line for the past 12 years, the last six of them with Stefanski as head coach. The 34-year-old may not be back in 2026 as he continues to contemplate retirement, but if he does return for a 13th year, he clearly thinks Stefanski still deserves to be the head coach.
"I think he's a good football coach. We have not won, and he will tell you first-hand winning matters in this league and we haven't done that. But as a coach goes, I have the highest respect for him, what he's done here. And I know it is what you've done now, but we've been to two playoff games, we've had winning records, we've been competitive. Is it where we're at right now? We don't want to be there. But I think if we get the right pieces and we keep improving, I think that's a guy you can build around. Two-time Coach of the Year. He has the respect of his peers. I think you saw it this last week — the team is motivated to play. We're trying to win games. I think he has respect in the locker room."
More Bitonio: "I think there's also a history. Some of the other coaches that I've played for, they had three wins. They didn't have 11 wins. They didn't have playoff wins. They didn't have playoff appearances. They didn't have a six-year sample size. And we are not where we want… https://t.co/H9EgfsgfTq
— Daniel Oyefusi (@DanielOyefusi) December 24, 2025
Locker room support should certainly help Stefanski’s cause this offseason, as well as a shaky candidate pool where he himself, according to NFL insider chatter, would vault up the list of best candidates available were he to be fired by the Browns on Black Monday. Stefanski also can’t help the owner’s decision to go all-in on Deshaun Watson, and GM Andrew Berry’s obvious lack of a succession plan as the Watson situation spiraled out of control in recent seasons.
But it’s extremely rare for a coach with 26 losses in a span of 32 games (and counting) to stick around the following year.
Cleveland has a fine mix of youth and veteran talent on the roster, and some hope for the future with 10 selections in the 2026 draft, including two first-round picks. Nothing would crush that hope faster, though, than the team standing pat with a regime that stepped into a good situation back in 2020 and, now in Year 6, has nothing to show for it but one playoff win and a bunch of top-five draft picks.
With all due respect to Bitonio, who’s been the consummate pro both on and off the field and obviously has his coach’s back, it’s painfully obvious that change is in order.