DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns Fire Stefanski

Apparently he elaborated.

Thanks for that update Milk. I should have clarified (I need fired too obviously): Will the HC have the same "power" as Berry? Meaning will both report to Haslem as in the past or will the HC report to Berry.

Thanks for pointing that out.

Because we were so bad at picking them for so long. I mean, the Kitchens hire alone screams absolute hiring incompetence. I remember watching the first Hugh Jackson interview after his hire and thinking "he better be a wunderkind on the field because he comes off like a complete dipstick". Then a compete 180 and hired the very measured, very rational Berry and Ski.

I think there might be no more identifying characteristic of incompetence in ownership of any organization than wild variance in hiring. It reeks not only of not having any sort of guiding principle, you know, knowing what you're looking for, but also just desperate hope and self deluding. You can land on someone who's actually good but if you're the one still making big decisions, like a 4yr old with a bazooka, it's just a matter of time before you accidentally blow a hole in the bottom of your own boat. You do things like chuck your injured B+ QB for the promise of a sometimes A- QB who sat out a whole year, had 22 sexual assault allegations, made it clear he hates you but then throw 1/4 billion dollars at him and chain the fate of your organization to the whatever way the wind blows that guy for the next 5 years. And then fire the people who don't thrive in those 5 years. We will suck for as long as the Haslam's own this team. Full stop.

Everyone raise a glass for the next guy. May he have no idea what he's getting into.

Haslem once again shows he has 0% football knowledge

I think the bigger issue is the best, most qualified people to be HC's in this league can easily see the dysfunction at the top. Why would they, the cream of crop, ever want to hitch their wagons to that? They've watched Berry dismantle a once competitive team when he arrived and put the product we see now on the field.

I thought Ski would have been given at least another year to continue building upon what was left of the Watson wreckage. And Berry gets to keep his job?

I've never detested the Haslams more than I do right now. I don't think Jimmy has the self-awareness to understand that he's seen as a joke of an owner.
What coach of any value wants to come to work for this team?

My football buddies, not Browns fans, are also bewildered by this.

Can't help but think he is referring to Cleveland here.....but maybe not.

That seems to be a growing trend these days.

Berry is a boot licker ....

I think KS realized his job was in jeopardy as the season went along and decided if he was going to get fired he might as well stop being a yes-man to Haslam and do his job his way and Haslam couldn't stand not having someone do what he says.

The real culpable person is the one who wanted "massage parlor" Waston and was willing to guarantee $230 million and 3 #1 draft choices that bankrupted the Browns.

If it was not KS, then whom?

Stefanski lacks the power, money nor authority to do any of that. Who it was still remains uncertain but nobody who has really thought this through thinks Stefanski wielded that much power.

Raiders fire HC Pete Carroll following his first season in Las Vegas

https://www.nfl.com/news/raiders-fire-hc-pete-carroll-following-his-first-season-in-las-vegas

I do not see a better HC candidate compared to Stefanski available.

Berry was just as much of the problem if not more...

You assume they’re looking for better rather than a YES man…

j/c...

If I were a head coaching candidate (especially one that's worth a damn), I would expect that any offer from the Browns would come with some sort of guarantee for a certain number of years (give me a year or two while we build the roster). The problem is that apparently wasn't good enough to keep KS... and per the past several coaching hires before KS, wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on.

I live in the NYC area and heard on the radio that he's supposedly the top candidate for the Giants. I mean, look at his resume against the other candidates. Yes, the W-L isn't great but it comes with a lot of caveats. One particularly gigantic HUGE caveat that would have sunk Belichic in his prime.

The Browns are so freakin' stupid. And the Browns owner doesn't deserve nice things because he's so freakin' stupid. Rinse... repeat.

I'm not angry over the firing of KS..... I liked him and thought he was a sincere guy with lots of skills...

But, I looked at his record, hell he was within one good year of getting to .500. He appeared to have the most of the team on his side.

I think he could have easily been over .500 if he had a consistent QB and Wide Receivers to rely on.

One thing bothered me, when Haslem announced the termination and was asked about Jim Schwartz, his comment should have been, yes, we are looking at that, but nope, he was like, WHO? (kinda)

I wish Kevin all the best.....

tampa?

Sorry to see him go... Kevin was a standup Coach and person , and was light years ahead of some of the last clowns we had. Fans just want more, quicker and different. Be careful what u wish for.
We will never know who did what behind the scenes when it came to major decisions like Watson and draft picks. I suspect Kevin was asked and went along with the majority. His personality was not confrontational and didn't have the clout here like some coaches with less ownership involvement. I always wanted a little more fire and player atonement on the field. If someone on the OL wiffs several times or cant remember the damn count then yank his ass for a series or two. Bill Cower style Nice guys finish last . That said, He had a turd of a offense and was given nothing for QB help. Do u think he was beating on a table for 2 rookies this year during the draft? Until we get a STUD QB like the many we passed on over the years, we are going to be in the same place every year.

I feel KS easy going nature had something to do with it. He didn’t hold anyone accountable both players and coaches and he didn’t call anyone out. Ownership may want someone with a little more fire. The new stadium could be having an impact on decisions being made too.

IMO, Ward kind of alluded to this in his presser today. When asked what he wants in the next coach he hesitated for several seconds as if he wanted to measure his words before he said accountability. He had a lot of nice things to say about Stefanski as well but I thought this answer was a look behind the scenes.

And yet you have people pining for him here. Some very angry. I’ve never seen a coach who was handed an embarrassment of riches and accomplished so little be so revered. Feels like the twilight zone.

I'm glad he's gone. He was the right guy for the job when he got here, but then got too smart for his own britches. Too many head scratching coaching decisions and trying to act like the smartest guy in the room that cost us games. He also had to have some culpability in the DW fiasco. If he would have stood his ground and disagreed with the decision they wouldn't have signed him. He either agreed with it or didn't press his opposition. He was a year removed from being named NFL COY, he could easily have gotten another job if he was worried about job security. I just grew really tired of his coaching.

I said it in another thread that has since been locked.

Berry is a weasel. He cemented that when he opted out of the traditional bye week press conference and shoved everything on Kevin's plate.

I don't have a big problem that we moved on from Stefanski, but if only one was fired, it should have been Berry.

Schwartz poses a problem. He won't stay if he isn't promoted as HC. Why stay with a team who passes you over after coaching your ass off, producing outstanding results?

He is smart. He won't simply quit and lose money. He will see to it the team releases him.

I like Jimmy Haslam, but he isn't a very good NFL owner. He would be a great Guardians owner. Baseball is a sport where owners can buy their way out of bad decisions and into good decisions.

People can say what they want about Jimmy, much true, but they can't say he doesn't care like Lerner or doesn't spend money like Art.

It's frustrating being a Browns fan. The Browns and NFL in general have just about beaten all of the passion out of me. The NFL is the least fan friendly of all the sports.

Sorry for the rant.

My feeling is that if that was the reason, then him or both would've been canned prior to the start of this season. We had a high pick in this last draft... so we potentially let a dead man walking have a hand in taking a QB at 2? I don't buy it.

I'm not one who puts a lot of trust into what these talking heads say for the most part but if this part is true, it matches up with what I've thought all along. This entire "consensus" thing was nothing but a publicity statement to try to present a vision of total unity. There is always a hierarchy and pecking order when it comes to making decisions within any corporation. Not everyone is going to agree on all major decisions. The higher your rank is on that corporate ladder the more power your say has all the way up to the owner. I have no idea if this is true or not but then again neither does anyone else. But it would come as no surprise to me if this isn't 100% accurate. From your link...............

It makes sense that KS didn’t want Watson. He knew he would have to change his whole offense around and we all know how that turned out

I can say already that I'm going to follow Stefanski like I do Baker now that they have both been dumped by the Browns. I would've preferred they stayed longer in Cleveland, I harbor no ill-will, and I'll be sorta rooting for them as they continue their careers.

This is true. But Stefanski has to own the fact he did not have a good relationship with Baker, and again with Watson. Those were two QB's that have some proven results in the league, and he was unable to find sustained success with either. He had some success with Joe Flacco in 2023 but really that was it.

Total agreement.

I'm there, too. I just kind of checked out this year. At first I was upset that the team beat Pittsburgh and Cincy in the last two games and then I sat back an considered what I was doing. Yeah, I'd just given up entirely. That's not football.

The Ownership will continue to make dumb decisions. The only good thing they might be doing is building a stadium that will anchor the team to Cleveland for the foreseeable future. Beyond that they should let a football man run the team.

See you guys next year!

He wenat 11-5 with Baker at QB. Oh, you're about not having sustained success with Baker while he was playing injured most of the season the following year. Yeah, they should have done great playing with a hobbled QB.

People can say anything they want but Baker himself has taken responsibility for being immature when he was here and said he had to go through the adversity he faced to be the QB he is today. I'll take that from the horses mouth rather than some rewrite of history.