Mac Aljancic: Browns would be better served by Kevin Stefanski ceding the play-calling
In the NFL, the difference between winning and losing is razor-thin. The Browns, with a 3-5 record, are a prime example as they enter the second half of their season today in Miami. Considering that four of their five losses were by decided by a total of nine points, Cleveland was just a few plays away from putting Northeastern Ohio into a frenzy with a 7-1 record. Conversely, Cade York’s last-second 58-yard field goal in Carolina — the second longest in franchise history — prevented an ugly 2-6 start and a potential bye-week house-cleaning.
Right now, Cleveland has the talent, but not the win-loss record, to be a title contender. The good news is that the Browns’ defense appears to have solidified in the last two games (their 242 yards allowed per game would rank first in the NFL), Jacoby Brissett has over-performed as a fill-in, and franchise QB Deshaun Watson returns in December. The bad news is that with nine games left, Cleveland have just 3 home games and little margin for error.
With the Browns so close to being a winning ball club, I have a simple proposal for head coach Kevin Stefanski to flip those narrow losses into wins: Give up his play-calling duties. That’s not a big, risky shake-up like firing defensive coordinator Joe Woods or replacing Brissett with back-up Josh Dobbs. But Stefanski handing over the play sheet to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt would be seamless transition that I believe would have changed some previous losses into wins.
Every fan loves to criticize play calling. Each week, l am blessed to hear my beautiful bride scream at the TV, and then angrily ask me, “why did they do that?!?” She does that because, 1, Our dogs can’t talk, 2, I am a former high school play-calling coach, and 3, Joe Woods was my defensive back coach 30 years ago at Muskingum College, so any defensive woes are 4% my fault.
Anyhow, being an old play caller at a much lower level than the NFL, I can tell you that it is much more difficult than yelling "run the ball" at the TV, chanting "Chubb, Chubb, Chubb" in the stands, or working your PlayStation controller while playing Madden. After each play, you have about a 10-second window to decide the play, which surprisingly isn’t named "run the ball" or "pass the ball". An example of one of my plays, trumped up to NFL levels, would be "shift spread right flex zig-zag power left boot 387". Or here’s one of John Gruden’s from his old ESPN rookie quarterback show: "Flip right, double-X, Jet, 36 counter, naked waggle, X-7, X-quarter". Every offensive play is designed to work. Unfortunately, every defensive play is also designed to work. It’s all a matter of your X’s executing better than their O’s.
My motive to bench Stefanski is not to condemn his play-calling. He, like every play caller, has his flaws. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both seem underused as Cleveland falls into pass-happy spells, and Stefanski makes way too many head-scratching fourth-down decisions. But overall, I think he does a really nice job, as most statistics support: The Browns rank 7th in the NFL in scoring (25.0 points per game) and fourth in yards per game (386). That, of course, is with a back-up quarterback on the field. And by the way, both Chubb (18.6) and the team (33.3) rank third in the league in rushing attempts per game.
Still, Stefanski should give up play-calling for two key reasons. First, he has a very capable alternative in Van Pelt, who spent nine seasons in the NFL as a backup QB and another 18 years as an assistant coach. He has been the Browns' offensive coordinator for Stefanski’s entire tenure and has play-calling experience as both Buffalo’s offensive coordinator and in the Browns' 48-37 playoff win in Pittsburgh in 2021 when Stefanski was quarantined by COVID.
The bigger reason is that the switch would make Stefanski a better game-day head coach. Play-calling is very physically and mentally consuming. When you have the ball, you are on a quick, non-stop cycle of calling the play, observing the play, and reacting to the play’s result. When the defense is on the field, you are studying opposing defensive schemes and dialoguing with players and coaches to get ready for the next offensive series.
These heavy demands have to inhibit Stefanski’s ability as a head coach to tend to numerous other elements of the game: recognizing the good and bad performance and usage of individual players, setting a sideline tone, getting input from players and coaches on both sides of the ball, working the referees, observing game trends, crunch time decisions, etc. Metaphorically, Stefanski is juggling five balls while talking to his mom on speaker phone and reading a book.
One slight edge can lead to victory. Stefanski giving up his play sheet to become a fully focused game-day head coach could be the difference for the Browns.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Mac Aljancic's weekly column looks at the Browns' Kevin Stefanski
