Stefanski’s clean slate

After a flurry of announcements in the last 10 days or so, it appears as though the Browns’ coaching staff is finally in place and ready to go.

Head coach Kevin Stefanski runs a 20-person coaching staff that consists of 10 assistants on offense, eight on defense and two masterminding the various special teams.

Only two members of the coaching staff from the disaster that was the 2019 National Football League season survived the purge.

Back for their second season are running backs coach Stump Mitchell, who has added run-game coordinator to his title, and Mike Priefer, who helped bring back respectability to that phase of the game last season.

One thing is certain: This staff was put together by Stefanski with little outside help, unlike last season when then General Manager John Dorsey imported many of his favorites to help shepherd Freddie Kitchens through his rookie season as head coach.

It is a staff of new faces culled from all around the NFL landscape with only a couple of names that mean anything to the fans. Perhaps the most prominent is offensive line coach Bill Callahan, who has prior head coaching experience in the NFL.

It is difficult to evaluate just what fans can expect from this crew, some of whom just might turn out eventually to be solid selections. But no one knows that right now and if they say they do, they are making it up.

It’s once again going to be get acquainted time for this team with a new cadre of coaches for the third straight year. First, it was Hue Jackson. Then it was Kitchens’ turn last season. And now Stefanski. 

All of which means change. Different personalities, different systems on both sides of the football and different nomenclature. Three seasons, three different head coaches – four if you include interim Gregg Williams in 2018.

Anyone expecting this team to burst forth and take the NFL by storm this season, much like it was anticipated to do last season, is dreaming. Very little will fall in place right away with a virtual clean sweep of the coaching staff.

The players have to learn first how to walk before they can run with this new crew. Smooth operating football does not emerge just like that with a whole new coaching staff. It takes time to adjust.

Stefanski also has the luxury, unlike his predecessors, of a guaranteed five-year contract. So no matter how the Browns fare in 2020 and likely well beyond that, it’s safe to say he will be back next season, owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam III’s mercurial front-office decisions notwithstanding.

One of the most important aspects of his job is making certain every member of this unwieldy coaching staff is of the same mind as the head coach at all times. Easier said than done if he decides to call plays on offense.

Doing so would rob him of the opportunity to literally be the head coach of the Browns, devoting a vast majority of his time on just one side of the football. That’s what triggered Kitchens’ departure.

So let’s see how this all unfolds between now and training camp this summer before making any rash judgments on how this season commences. Until further notice, the new head coach has a clean slate.