The Cleveland Browns are going to give head coach Kevin Stefanski a contract extension.
The 2020 NFL Coach of the Year has seen his struggles over the past two seasons, but as he gets set to enter the last year of his contract this offseason, Stefanski has turned into something the Browns have needed him to become.
A leader.
No other head coach in nearly a decade has found a way to cater a gameplan to four different quarterbacks and find a way to win with them all in the same season. One would be hard-pressed to find another coach who could rally a team that has lost all of their starting quarterback, star running back, three offensive tackles, a veteran leader in the secondary, and more to injury this year.
Yet, despite losing 14 key players to injuries this season, Stefanski has his Browns sitting at 8-5 on the season and with a firm grip on the top wildcard spot in the AFC. This is a testament to Stefanski and the coaching staff he has put together in Cleveland.
Safety Juan Thornhill tweeted out his love to Stefanski after the win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Thornhill stated, “Despite all of our injuries this season Coach Stefanski still find a way to put us in position to win each week. Love that guy.”
Another defensive player in star pass rusher Myles Garrett has appreciation for the job Stefanski has done as well. “He’s coaching his (expletive) off,” Garrett said as the Browns have fought, clawed, and dragged good football teams through the mud this season.
The Browns sit with the most wins against teams with a winning record this season despite everything that continues to be stacked against them. And now with four games left to go, the Browns have an opportunity to continue to stack wins down the stretch.
NFL Coach of the Year betting odds are beginning to shift in Stefanski’s favor as well according to BetMGM, as they have now skyrocketed to +1200 with four weeks to go. There are just five head coaches with better odds than him at this point in the NFL season, and two of them (San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and Indianapolis Colts’ Shane Steichen) have been defeated by Stefanski and the Browns this year.
The markets have adjusted, and so should the expectations around Northeast Ohio:
Stefanski is here to stay in Cleveland and is going to see a new contract on his desk. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
