Don’t let the win-loss record fool you, we’re about to embark on a fascinating two months of Cleveland Browns football.
OK, there won’t be any football left for the 3-9 Browns when the regular season ends on Jan. 4, but after fans watch Myles Garrett obliterate the NFL’s single-season sack record, and how the drama plays out between quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders, Dillon Gabriel, and a now healthy Deshaun Watson over these final five games, the fireworks should only get bigger and brighter come the first Monday of 2026.
With the roster in rough shape, and the Browns on the verge of another bottom-five finish in the NFL standings, head coach Kevin Stefanski’s future is in serious doubt, as insider Jeremy Fowler wrote for ESPN on Wednesday.
This won’t be an easy axe to swing for owner Jimmy Haslam, as Stefanski is a two-time NFL Coach of the Year who just led Cleveland to the playoffs in 2023; he then signed a contract extension, along with GM Andrew Berry, in the summer of 2024, which only further complicates the process.
But whatever vision the team laid out that year has not produced the desired results. The Browns are 6-23 over the past two seasons, and after Sunday’s road game against the one-win Tennessee Titans, they’ll be long-shots the rest of the way against the Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cincinnati Bengals.
At this point, the only thing Browns fans aren’t mentally prepared for come January is Stefanski remaining with the team. But Fowler had a lot more to say about the situation, and it’s definitely not the kind of news that Browns fans will want to hear.
It sure sounds like Kevin Stefanski could be a head coach in 2026, even if it’s not in Cleveland
According to Fowler, Stefanski’s name has come up often around the league — as one of the top potential candidates in the 2026 hiring cycle for teams like the Giants and Titans, who both fired their previous head coaches midseason.
That’s obviously not a great sign for the Dawg Pound faithful. While change is clearly needed, when the coach you’re firing might be among the best available for the job, the whole process feels a little too counterproductive to get excited about.
“This year's candidate pool is considered weaker than in previous years, which benefits a coach with Stefanski's credentials,” Fowler wrote for ESPN. “If let go, Stefanski would have the option to pursue a head-coaching job right away or take a year off, which worked brilliantly for Mike Vrabel after his Tennessee departure. That typically depends on what might be open a year from now, the viability of the candidate and whether that coach is simply burned out and needs a year. But the two jobs currently open (Giants and Titans) could use a mix of offensive acumen and experience, a mold that Stefanski fits.”
Here’s the good news for fans hoping for a fresh start next year: The Browns could benefit from bringing in a defensive-minded coach, seeing how their best player and leader plays on that side of the ball. Through that lens, there are several strong options for the team to interview, from Los Angeles Chargers DC Jesse Minter, to Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores, to even current Browns DC Jim Schwartz, if the Browns choose to take the rare approach of promoting from within after a firing.
There’s also that one option that Browns fans can barely stomach right now — holding firm with the status quo for at least another year as the team’s exciting 2025 draft class continues to develop. If the Haslams aren’t getting the intel on this year’s hiring class that they need, continuing with the current regime can not be ruled out.
We also definitely can’t rule this out: It’s possible that the Browns are playing against Stefanski in 2026, after they're done playing for him over this final month of 2025. Time will tell, but some sort of fireworks should be expected at the start of the new year.