The Cleveland Browns’ season ended in disappointment, again. However, to some, that wasn’t much of a surprise.
The signs were there during the season. At least, that’s how Hanford Dixon feels. In the latest edition of his “The Top Dawgs” show with fellow Browns legend Josh Cribbs, the former defender revealed when he knew Kevin Stefanski was done.
More specifically, he knew it was over as soon as he saw him giving up play-calling duties for the second season in a row.
“When we started to see the production on the field, I said, we got a problem here. We got a serious problem here. And then I knew where I was just kind of fed up when he gave up the playcalling,” Dixon said.
Do you know the exact moment we all should've known Kevin Stefanski wasn't coming back next season? #DawgPound@HanfordDixon29 returns to giving up play calling in back-to-back seasons.
Presented by @FanDuel https://t.co/bygEoJ2Swg pic.twitter.com/fFfmBpAUAE
— The Top Dawgs Show (@TopDawgShow) January 13, 2026
Stefanski had always been adamant about giving up play-calling duties. He did so in 2025, and the offense looked slightly better under Ken Dorsey’s command.
Then, he did the same again in Week 10 this season, with Tommy Rees taking over. Even so, he reportedly still had the final say on what was being called.
Stefanski arrived in Northeast Ohio with a reputation for being an offensive guru of sorts. The Browns only had a top-10 offense once in Stefanski’s six years with the team.
The former Browns’ head coach got way more conservative with his play-calling and scheming as the years went by. It seemed that he was coaching not to lose, not coaching to win, and he held his quarterbacks back when they tried to take deep shots down the field.
At the end of the day, it’s not fair or accurate to blame Stefanski for everything. The roster was flawed, the quarterback situation was terrible, and he didn’t seem to have much of a say in any of that. That being said, none of that seemed to matter anymore.
The writing was on the wall, and after winning just eight games in two seasons, there simply was no way to justify keeping him around for another season, not even with two Coach of the Year awards.
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