00:00How about a decision, Joe, that we started to hear about as Week 18 approached,
00:04which is the Cleveland Browns moving on from multiple-time coach of the year,
00:07Kevin Stefanski, despite this team winning two in a row
00:12to close out the regular season.
00:15Are you surprised the Browns moved on from Stefanski?
00:19No, no, and we talked about it as well in the pregame.
00:22We talked about Kevin Stefanski living up to expectations
00:26or over-exceeding when he's not supposed to,
00:30but that was after a down year, right?
00:31Like this year, if he were to over-exceed expectations in 2026,
00:36he would be mentioned as a coach of the year candidate.
00:38And I understand he did it with Joe Flacco.
00:41He did it in the early part of his tenure in Cleveland.
00:44But again, where was the offensive identity with this team?
00:47He couldn't do it with Deshaun Watson, a quarterback that they paid, what,
00:51$281 million for guaranteed and couldn't elevate that offense.
00:55It wasn't until Deshaun Watson was out that he opened up the offensive attack
00:59with Joe Flacco.
01:00And then the situation with Dylan Gabriel and obviously Shadour Sanders.
01:04They do have offensive talent, young running backs like Dylan Sampson,
01:09Raheem Sanders, and obviously Quinshawn Junkins.
01:12But again, there is no offensive continuity or identity for this offense.
01:17They couldn't get the football either to their wideouts
01:20and star number one, Jerry Judy.
01:22I mean, that alone should just have Kevin Stefanski fired.
01:25See, I disagree because you just said star number one, Jerry Judy.
01:28He's not a star number one.
01:30The offense had no talent.
01:31The offensive line is full of guys that used to be good.
01:34They're not anymore.
01:35And the quarterback set up here, anytime it looks like,
01:39hey, we think we like the quarterback in Cleveland, they win games.
01:43They go to the playoffs.
01:44They went to the playoffs with Baker Mayfield.
01:45They went to the playoffs with Joe Flacco.
01:47I don't think it's Stefanski's fault that the Deshaun Watson situation was the worst move
01:53you'll probably ever see a franchise make in league history.
01:56And I certainly don't think it's Kevin Stefanski's fault that they didn't win games
02:00with the combination of Flacco, Gabriel, and Shadour Sanders this year.
02:05This group was going to be set up and still somewhat is to draft quarterback this year.
02:10Maybe there's a guy on the market in the trade capacity that Stefanski could get behind
02:16and agree with, you don't, listen, sometimes being a multiple time coach of the year
02:21is a little ridiculous because it means you have down, major down seasons with good seasons.
02:27But Stefanski, Joe, we know is going to be one of the, he's getting a job this cycle.
02:31Not a doubt in anybody's mind, the Cleveland Browns, I actually think built a little momentum
02:37this year.
02:37We know they had a good draft class.
02:39I've seen Stefanski put good offenses out there.
02:43Why are we surprised they didn't put one out there?
02:45No one's surprised they didn't put one out there this year.
02:48So is Stefanski being fired because they're handing the keys of the organization over to
02:52Shadour Sanders and nobody trusts that relationship?
02:54That can't be the case.
02:56No, no.
02:57But again, did Shadour earn the job?
03:00I mean, based off the play where they got wins and still pulled it out, you would still
03:04give the credit to the quarterback in that type of situation.
03:07But it goes back to Kevin.
03:09When we talk about the Deshaun Watson situation, he was one of the top 10 quarterbacks when they
03:13signed him and got him from Houston.
03:16He didn't have one 300-yard performance in a Cleveland Browns uniform.
03:21The offensive attack was very conservative with Kevin Stefanski, and he failed to open
03:26it up.
03:27He felt more comfortable with Joe Flacco opening up the offense than with Deshaun Watson, their
03:33franchise quarterback.
03:34He played not to lose when Deshaun Watson was at the helm, and you can't understand why.
03:39And I think you look at that, and then you look at the situation here.
03:44All right, granted, you want to say Jerry Judy is not an elite number one wide receiver.
03:49Okay, I'll buy into that.
03:51But what about stretching defenses vertically down the field?
03:55Are they a ground and pound team?
03:57Or are they a team that wants to obviously take shots deep?
04:01You don't know what Kevin Stefanski, what is the offensive identity in Cleveland?
04:06I think he'll be a top candidate.
04:09I think he's a great candidate for the New York Giants, but not the Cleveland Browns.
04:13He's wore out his welcome.
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