He’s only 43. He’s a two-time NFL Coach of the Year. He made the playoffs twice as many times as all other Browns coaches combined since their rebirth in 1999.
His team even won a playoff game (he wasn’t on the sidelines, but his offense dropped 40-plus on the Steelers). The last Browns coach to win a playoff game was Bill Belichick.
Kevin Stefanski, just hired by the Atlanta Falcons, was more worthy of a statue than a pink slip in Cleveland. He also was deserving of at least an interview from the Steelers and would have been an excellent hire.
Why wouldn’t you want to pick his brain? Why wouldn’t you want to know how he kept beating you in Cleveland with inferior teams and laughable quarterbacks? Because he comes from Cleveland? So did Belichick. Who cares?
Stefanski went 5-1 against Mike Tomlin in Cleveland. His winning QBs included Dorian Thompson-Robinson, Jacoby Brissett, Shedeur Sanders and Jameis Winston.
If I’m Art Rooney II, my first question to Stefanski: What’s wrong with us?
Yes, Stefanski is a so-called “retread,” and the Steelers likely will want to prove they can outsmart everybody by choosing the untested riser again. That’s fine. Just know that “retreads” have won 16 of 25 Super Bowls this century. Just know that Stefanski’s overall record in Cleveland wasn’t great because the incompetent owner sold his soul to Deshaun Watson.
Belichick was a retread. So were Andy Reid, Tom Coughlin, Gary Kubiak, Bruce Arians, Jon Gruden and Tony Dungy. They all won Super Bowls. The Steelers have won two in the past 46 years, so it’s not like they have the blueprint.
Stefanski could have stayed 15 years and still only been 58. I bet he’d have come close to winning a playoff game in the next nine years, too, which would top Tomlin’s last nine.
Why wouldn’t you at least interview him?
