Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is undoubtedly on the hot seat, as the Browns are 4-12 entering the final week of the regular season. To Stefanski’s credit, Cleveland is still fighting, defeating the nine-win Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, 13-6, a week after losing to the 11-win Buffalo Bills, 23-20. The fight the team is showing is a good thing for Stefanski, but there’s no guarantee that it will save his job.
There’s also the question of if the head coach even wants his job to be saved.
Throughout the season, there have been reports about Stefanski possibly wanting out of Cleveland. On Monday, he was asked if he wishes to remain the Browns head coach beyond this year.
Stefanski made it clear that his sole focus is on defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18, before expressing, “I’m privileged to have this job.”
"As you can imagine, my sole focus is on this game versus Cincinnati, but I also would tell you I'm privileged to have this job." #Browns HC Kevin Stefanski asked if he wishes to be here as coach beyond this season pic.twitter.com/EEuZrOnYkJ
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) December 29, 2025
Kevin Stefanski doesn’t answer if he wants to remain with Browns
Of course, it was quickly pointed out that the head coach didn’t answer with an unequivocal yes. To be fair, Stefanski typically steers the conversation away from questions about his job security, and this could’ve been his coach-speak attempt to just not answer the question.
Still, many people will take his lack of an answer as an answer in itself. In other words, Stefanski’s refusal to say he wants to remain as the Browns head coach will lead some people to believe Cleveland will have a coaching vacancy this offseason, one way or another.
The ultimate decision will be made by team owner Jimmy Haslam, who must decide if he wants Stefanski, as well as general manager Andrew Berry, to remain in their roles. If the answer is yes, but Stefanski wants out, that’s where things could get interesting. The head coach, and Berry, both signed extensions with the franchise during the 2024 offseason, so Stefanski would still be under contract with the team. That means, unless Haslam is willing to let him go, Stefanski will have to retire to get out of coaching the team.
This is all hypothetical, as no one knows what will take place in Cleveland once the game clock hits zero in Week 18. The only thing that’s clear is there are a lot of decisions that have to be made for the Browns.