DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Kevin Stefanski named Browns head coach

Not sure how anyone can know that but...ok...

Njoku was lucky to end-up with only a broken wrist... and yes this one is on Baker, IMHO...

I don't see it that way. I think they got a very good coach.

WISHBONE!!!!! LOL

Man you are funny. Thanks for the smile on this Wednesday morning.

I saw it very different. I was impressed but will admit my bias as he was my #1 choice by a hair over McD. However, we've all seen press conference and know they mean very little in January.

But that said, I thought he was....Poised. Confident. Had a good answer for everything. Didn't stumble with words. Focused his comments on the players and the system over himself and what he wants.

Sometimes people are good with saying the right things in front of people and the camera or maybe he is the real deal. We'll find out over the course of the year and on gamedays.

Scribbling about Kevin Stefanski’s biggest challenges: Fixing Baker Mayfield and discipline

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2020/01...discipline.html



By Terry Pluto, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Scribbles in my Cleveland Browns notebook after the hiring of Kevin Stefanski as the team’s new head coach. He is a rookie head coach whose last job was as the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive coordinator:

1. Can Stefanski actually coach the Browns for more than a year or two? Browns history says probably not. But how can he beat the odds? It starts with two areas: Quarterback play and leadership.

2. Let’s start with leadership. Perhaps the best line of Stefanski’s press conference dealt with the team having strong personalities such Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Baker Mayfield. Stefanski replied: “I don’t mind personality...Personality is welcome. Your production is required.”

3. That sounds good, but Stefanski will be challenged by some of the players. The Browns were one of the NFL’s most undisciplined teams. Often when former coach Freddie Kitchens did discipline someone, it was a lesser player such as David Njoku or Rashard Higgins. There was a sense “stars” had special privileges, even when the “stars” were not that productive.

4. Kitchens made the mistake of starting soft as a head coach, trying to be the buddy of the players. When he tried to impose discipline later in the season, there was a lot of pushback. Anyone who has ever taught a class knows it’s best to start strict, then you can back off. We’ll see what Stefanski does.

5. Let’s consider Beckham, who missed nearly all of the spring voluntary practice sessions. He didn’t engage in many full practices during training camp. It seemed Kitchens and the Browns were giving him special treatment. Browns fans know Beckham has a big, sometimes self-absorbed personality. As for his production, Beckham caught 74 passes for 1,035 yards and 4 touchdowns. It was the least productive of his six-year career, other than when he played only four games in 2017.

6. Stefanski on Beckham and going to voluntary spring practices: “It’s important. It’s a time for us to start implementing our schemes. It’s team building, so I’m looking forward to...having them (players) in the building...but ultimately, it’s voluntary.”

7. Last year, Beckham insisted he didn’t need to be at the minicamps to learn the offense and he had his own way of preparing for the season. The Browns allowed him to do that. It can’t happen again unless the Browns want more problems.

8. The best way for Stefanski to earn the respect of the players is to be very organized, confident in what he’s asking them to do and letting them know what it will work. He is not screamer. He is supposed to be a CEO type coach, and that means the players must believe the coach can make them better and help them win. It’s not about personality or liking the guy.

9. Which brings us to Mayfield, who went from setting a rookie record for TD passes (27) in 2018 to being ranked No. 31st in quarterback rating in 2019. In many ways, Stefanski’s future is in the hands of Mayfield.

10. “The sky is the limit for him (Mayfield),” said Stefanski. “He is as accurate as they come. There are plenty of things we can do schematically . . . to make life easier on him.”

11. Upon further review: Mayfield was an accurate QB in college. He was fairly accurate (.638) as a rookie. But last season, he ranked 31st (.599) in accuracy. His passes often sailed high and he lost his soft touch on short throws.

12. Yes, the Browns can put Mayfield in better schemes and formations to help. But there also are some fundamental issues with his throwing motion that led to the decline in accuracy. Stefanski made his reputation by helping QBs Case Keenum and Kirk Cousins.

13. Reviving Mayfield can change so much for the franchise. Did Mayfield work as hard as needed last summer? He probably thinks so, but the data indicates otherwise. Stefanski needs to sit down and discuss with Mayfield what it takes to be a long-term, productive QB in the NFL. It’s not easy, especially when commercials and other things came so soon to Mayfield last summer.

14. I like how Stefanski is a disciple of Gary Kubiak. If you have seen Kyle Shanahan’s offense with San Francisco, that’s out of a system established by Kubiak and Mike Shanahan (Kyle’s father). The run is a key part of the offense. That can help Mayfield while at the same time maximizing the talent of running backs Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb.

15. For Stefanski, there are a lot of issues taking over the 6-10 Browns as he becomes their fifth coach hired by Owner Jimmy Haslam since 2013. But the biggest are Mayfield and discipline, which can be two game changers for the franchise.

I agree a lot with bonefish. To met it was easy to see why they went in his direction. We heard a lot of the same stuff. But aside from "promising we will work" none of it sounded like canned responses.

I think he will be meticulously organized. And while any organization would be a stark contrast to Kitchens'. From what I have read, and just listening to him...I think he would contrast(in a good way) to places that are organized.

I think he will be "consistent". He will be the same coach whether we are winning or if we are losing. Romeo Crennel did not succeed as a HC. BUT in both of his HC stint's he was praised for his consistency of demeanor. It was a stability that players appreciate and look for.

I for one am looking forward to seeing him in action. I didn't know much about him...but the more I read about him...the more I understood why he was in this race. And he quickly moved into the top 3 guys I wanted. (none of whom had HC experience...well knowing Rivera was gone.)

I felt the quote of the day was "Personalities are welcomed...Your production is required."

jc

so is anybody actually excited about the hire?

im not. and its not because of the hire itself. Stefanski deserves the benefit of the doubt for now.

but im so over this constant firing/hiring cycle we've been in since 99. its exhausting and really hard to follow the team up until week 1 of the season.

I get that - but, did Hue have to go? Yes. Should Freddie have stayed and been given longer? No. . . . .so we are where we are and just gotta hope they got it right.

and pettine? chudd? Farmer? Banner? Sashi? Dorsey? Seems like everybody has to go.

I would agree that Pettine was under the influence of a poor GM. I don't know that he necessarily needed to go, but at that point we were broken and old.

I feel we might have had better success with Pettine/Sashi than Hue/Sashi.

No need to apologize, wasn't being a jerk.

But this is the problem with some forms of analytics. There is no possible way on earth, you could say baker had an Above average year last year. I would even argue, if he had another "above average year" like last year, we would be looking to draft another QB in 2021.

Player grades just don't work for me, typically because they cannot and do not account for how big a certain play is.

Lets say Denzel has a shut down day. Breaks up a pass, picks off a pass, then with the 10 seconds left, up 2 and the team we are playing needs 5 yards to get into field range to win the game, he gives up a 15 yard pass on a blown coverage. That wouldn't really account for much on his "grade", yet it cost the team the win. Lets say this happens 5 weeks in a row, and he cost the team 5 wins. Should he get a excellent grade?

I agree. Hue was very, very, very good in front of a camera if you ask me, and we know how that turned out.

And this is what people fail to recognize. Farmer gets a bad wrap, Sashi, etc. because of the players they chose and brought in, yet we have 0 idea how much of those players they actually got to draft and pick.

There was an article I read about Farmer that stated he never got to actually pick a 1st rounder. Haslam wanted Johnny, they gave Gilbert I recall him saying as who that was Pettine pick. Haslam forced his hand multiple times.

It literally seems impossible by sheer odds alone that we would have had this many BAD FO and Coaches. Take the hint, its not the staff and FO, its the owner.

I agree. I think Farmer had a keen eye for talent, much like Dorsey.

Farmer hurt himself when he demanded Johnny be on the field. Perhaps that came from Haslam too? Where is Farmer now? I don't even know. I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't gotten another shot at GM yet.

And back to my point on Pettine. I would imagine Sashi was in his ear saying he could fix this, explained himself, and was allowed to pick the GM and HC (Very similar to Depodesta now).

The time came to hire the HC and everyone was saying Hue was the prize. Haslam's people were saying no, go McDermott, but Jimmy couldn't resist and hired Hue anyway. In hindsight, if Sashi, etc knew we'd hire Hue, they might have just insisted on keeping Pettine.

I think this is why Rish is doom and gloom. Jimmy will find a way to insert himself and meddle in the plan. We've had good people here but Jimmy steps on everyone's toes. Whoops! Things go awry and people need fired. I can certainly understand, but I have faith things will be right. I think keeping Depodesta, and letting him direct the HC search is Jimmy learning.

Hiring McDaniels and being forced to fire depodesta would be Jimmy being Jimmy. Even though i think we'd be ok with that. I think we're going to be just fine with the direction we went. We will have to win some fans back, however.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwiWp1yzEtU

Here's Hue's presser. He's introduced at about the 3:00 mark and by 3:40 he already says "Trust Me!" ...

It's very different because Jimmy and Sashi are there - and to me he has a lot of fake smiles and chuckles. Maybe that's said with the knowledge of how things ended here - and while he is an impressive orator, to me he strikes me as much more a salesman than an impressive, meticulous, detailed leader - just my opinion.

Mildly optimistic is the most I can muster.

That was Alec Scheiner and Haslam. Alec Scheiner was a problem for this organization. Forced himself into the football side of things.

Farmer was terrible. Him texting down to the sidelines is one of the contributors leading to Shanahan's 30-point Power Point presentation. Currently, he's probably sipping some of his slow brewed coffee and dripping with sweat. He's been out of the NFL since being fired by the Browns in 2015.






Absolutely agree.

There's always next year ......

I disagree with this. And I wasn't even on the McDaniels bandwagon until after the fact. Hiring McDaniels and firing Depodesta was exactly what the organization needed. It wasn't about Depodesta. It would have removed Jimmy from the equation and that's exactly what McDaniels was trying to do. Remove Jimmy. That's why his demands were "hire me and get out of the way". Jimmy couldn't stand just being the owner and providing resources to his staff. And that is the only way this will ever get turned around. And Josh knows that. It was smart on his part. Get it on his terms where he has a chance at success or have his career be controlled at the whims of Jimmy. I think he likes Jimmy well enough as a person. No way he was going to let him have any control over his career. And that's super smart. I appreciate that.

I can't imagine the guy that gave the presser yesterday commanding any respect from Baker, OBJ, and the rest of the crew. This is going to end like all the others. It was a poor choice driven by a poor vision executed by proven incompetence. Jimmy wanted someone who would align with him. Why? Why does any candidate need to align with Jimmy? Hire the right people and let them do their thing.

Should be fun.

We've gotten used to it. Nobody is forcing you to criticize people for being tired of watching this rerun over and over again either.

As a matter of fact, the better question might be what the hell is wrong with people who aren't frustrated by it?

Some people want proof things have changed. The "rah, rah" press conferences just aren't enough anymore.

You realize this isn't a ringing endorsement, right?

Yeah, that great roster Sashi brought to Cleveland would have really helped Pettine.

Ummmmmm ....

I don't think Jimmy is part of the equation now, or we most likely would have hired McDaniels. McDaniels has been a Haslam target since he became owner.

This was kinda my point.

But when things start to go south, even if McDaniels comes, there's potential Jimmy intervenes. I feel like he's going to give this one proper time... could be wrong though.

Whose draft picks did Dorsey need to draft Pro-Bowlers?

His own or Sashi's?

I'm not surprised by this response. You continue to prove you didn't understand what we were doing when sashi came on board.

I wasn't the one trying to claim that Pettine may have had more success with "what Sashi" was doing.

That would be you.

I'm about as excited as I can be. Given our turnover, getting excited about a coaching hire is kind of like getting excited about a rental car... Whether you love it or hate it, you only get to keep it for a short while.

The more I read, the more I like the hire. He was #2 on my own personal irrelevant list. I thought McDaniels was the safe bet, the one the media would criticize the least. Stefanski was second and based on pure coaching alone, Stefanski was probably #1.

If the others in the FO can stay on the same page and not devolve into a power struggle, I think he will be fine. Plus, and this is important, I think we have the best looking head coach in the NFL now... my wife is actually ready to watch football.

Oh I've never said that Sashi didn't know how to tear a team down to nothing. In doing that, hoarding draft picks is what you do while trading top draft picks away.

That's dodging the question.

Let me ask it this way - If Dorsey didn't have those extra picks that other people acquired, what players did he draft worth any sort of elite (How about well-above average) talent consideration?

I'll concede Mayfield as a possibility. Anyone else?

I'm not avoiding anything. Tearing a team down and trading down picks gives you more picks. That's the nature of the beast. That isn't some complicated equation. It isn't something that hasn't been done before.

It still amazes me how some of you think he had some great skill set when no other team in the NFL would give him a job. Looking at the evidence based on employment, he's the Hue Jackson of former NFL GM's.

Hell, even Hue got a job in the NFL after he was fired from here. It didn't last long, but hey, at least he managed to get one.

Not Sashi. But it's nice to know that a hand full of you think you're smarter than every FO and owner in the entire NFL. To me, that in itself speaks volumes.

Obviously I am speculating, but I would assume that was Haslam direction. Farmer didn't even want to draft him in the first place.

The Brock Osweiler trade was pretty clever.

Referencing Hue is a terrible piece to your argument. He was hired by Marvin Lewis, his best friend, as "special assistant to the HC (if that is not the biggest Good Ole Boy-type hire). Now that Marvin Lewis hasn't been hired as a HC anywhere, Hue Jackson is selling happy birthday announcements on twitter for $50 a pop.

Imagine being John Dorsey (and most likely you at some point) and looking at everything he had when taking over ...then realizing the last front office accomplished far more with much less in terms of assets across the board.

Dorsey needed extra draft capital to essentially match what Sashi (but namely Berry in his talent evaluation) did in two drafts so far.

More draft capital provides a higher chance to hit picks... What a concept. But the last regime was for more efficient than Dorsey. It's a reason that he is gone and, ironically, why we're trying to bring back Berry.

And that led to Nick Chubb.....an extra asset Dorsey needed to claim a probowler. If not for the pick, all we had to show for the second round in 2018 was Austin Corbett. Sad.

Would you really have preferred that Sashi and Co. been the ones picking the last 2 drafts? Your responses sound like none of our past GMs missed on a pick.