The Cleveland Browns’ recent head coaching history isn’t great. From his return to the Browns in 1999 to the hiring of Kevin Stefanski in 2020, Cleveland had 11 head coaches (including interims). Romeo Crennel managed 64 games with the team, Butch Davis 59 and Hue Jackson 40 (very tough) games.
Stefanski already leads all coaches in three easy-to-track categories since his return: total games played (67), wins (37) and playoff games played (3).
At the end of the 2023 season, Stefanski will pass Bill Belichick (36) on the Browns’ all-time wins list, and given that he signed a contract extension this offseason, Stefanski has no plans to let the franchise’s history end.
Heading into the 2024 season, Cleveland’s current head coach still has some climbs to make. By the end of the season, Stefanski will have passed Marty Schottheimer (71) and Belichick (80) for the most games coached in Browns history, leaving just three players behind him: Paul Brown (214), Blanton Collier (112) and Sam Rutigliano (97).
Unless something unforeseen happens, Stefanski will overtake Rutigliano towards the end of the 2025 season.
Stefanski has a chance to not only move up the career games played list in 2024, but also move up the wins list. Eight wins this year would put him ahead of Schottheimer (44) of his 37 wins, and 11 more would put him ahead of Rutigliano (47) for third place in Browns history.
With this year’s contract extension, Stefanski is on pace to finish second in franchise history to Brown (214 games, 158 wins). It’ll be tough to overtake the franchise’s legendary first coach, but at 42 years old, he has a chance — something he never thought he’d be able to say in Cleveland.
While the Browns’ recent history hasn’t been great, the fact that Stefanski is on the cusp of joining or surpassing the legends of Cleveland football coaching is impressive.
How surprised are you with how quickly Stefanski has risen on these lists, and do you think there’s a chance he could come close to matching Brown’s record?
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