Kevin Stefanski once won a Coach of the Year Award for unexpectedly taking the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs.
His 2020 season looked a lot like DeMeco Ryans’ effort for this year’s Houston Texans.
But if Ryans is going to earn honors for his rookie performance, he’s going to have to get past Stefanski.
Cleveland withstood an onslaught of injuries and started 5 quarterbacks on their way to another postseason.
And NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk is the first organization to give Stefanski the nod over Ryans for their resilience.
Kevin Stefanski is the PFT coach of the year, by a narrow margin over DeMeco Ryans. https://t.co/05SEoPBBAQ
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) January 10, 2024
Stefanski convinced his team to ignore what they couldn’t control and focus on one game at a time.
Each player readily repeats the mantra of going 1-0 each week with the players on hand.
Cleveland is the first NFL team to get to the playoffs with 5 starting quarterbacks.
Four of those passers were credited with game-winning drives, also an NFL record.
But Stefanski’s biggest task was overcoming the loss of running back Nick Chubb, the heart and soul of his offense.
This is the first time in the coach’s tenure that he does not have a 1,000-yard rusher.
He got important yards and touches from Jerome Ford and Kareem Hunt after Chubb went down in Week 2.
Watching the Browns offense after that first-half injury, fans might have feared their season was lost.
But Stefanski rallied his troops and made adjustments on the fly to get the most of those left standing.
PFT’s writers also credit Stefanski with the hire of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
Schwartz created a dominant defense and earned PFT’s Assistant Coach of the Year award.
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