We’re now approaching the final weeks of the NFL regular season, and insider chatter is heating up ahead of the 2026 head coach hiring cycle.
At least two teams — the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants — will be in the market after firing their head coaches midseason. Others, like the Las Vegas Raiders and 74-year-old coach Pete Carroll, could be joining the party as soon as Week 18 concludes.
As for Kevin Stefanski and the Cleveland Browns? NFL insider Ian Rapoport reported Saturday that, as of Week 16, owner Jimmy Haslam hasn’t yet made a decision on the two-time NFL Coach of the Year.
For Browns fans, no news is bad news on that front as their team slumps to the finish line in the midst of another three-win season.
Browns fans are eager for a change at head coach, but will they get their wish?
While Rapoport didn’t have much to report on the Browns’ situation, he did drop some significant hints. With chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta heading back to Major League Baseball, Rapoport said Browns general manager Andrew Berry will be “very involved” in the decision-making process at the end of the season.
It appears rumblings that the Browns could break up Berry and Stefanski this offseason are already picking up some steam.
“He really has been hampered by quarterback issues,” Rapoport said of Stefanski’s future Saturday on NFL Game Day. “This is also someone who has been a two-time Coach of the Year, and if he was available would no doubt get plenty of interviews and would be among the top candidates out there. That said, the record is what it is — 6-25 over the last two years … and they’re still trying to find a franchise quarterback for the next, not just next year, but for the next 10 years. They have two first-round picks (in 2026) to do it. So, obviously, a lot of eyes are going to be on the quarterback position.
Our understanding is that no decision has been made with Kevin Stefanski. Now, Paul DePodesta, who has run football for the last decade or so, he’s going to do baseball for the Colorado Rockies. So Andrew Berry is obviously going to be very involved in this decision on where the Cleveland Browns go from here. Again, no word on where, but some change would make sense given how tough a season it has been.”
From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: Breaking down the latest coaching intel, focusing on the #Commanders, #Raiders, #Browns, #Jets and #Saints. pic.twitter.com/awaFZksVOl
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 20, 2025
This is the last thing Browns fans wanted to hear — especially the parroted line of Stefanski immediately becoming one of the best candidates available if he is let go on Black Monday. The team has played in three playoff games over his six-year tenure, and the overall win-loss record is now 44-57. Fans don’t just want a change, they’re demanding it at this point.
“Some change,” as Rapoport put it, should definitely get the antennas up. He definitely made it seem like Berry’s job is safe, on the heels of his excellent 2025 draft class. Still, his moves at quarterback following Deshaun Watson’s re-ruptured Achilles tendon were almost comical, and his roster’s also in brutal shape at just about every offensive line position, as well as wide receiver.
The most obvious change (aside from Stefanski) would be special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone, whose unit has been among the NFL’s worst in recent memory. The Browns reportedly want to retain young offensive coordinator Tommy Rees, and the defense has been in good hands under Jim Schwartz.
When you add it all up, it sure seems like Stefanski’s going to be sticking around. That’s really the only way to enact “some change,” unless Berry and team ownership are in favor of promoting Schwartz to head coach, and retaining some of the current staff.
For now, Browns fans are stuck with the status quo, along with the uneasy feeling that ownership might not be as fed up with the current situation as they are.