Stefanski’s tenure ends with a 45-56 regular season record — a total that dipped below .500 after 3-14 and 5-12 finishes in 2024 and 2025, respectively — and a 1-2 mark in the postseason. He owns the rare honor of being the only coach to lead the Browns to the playoffs and record a win in postseason play since the club returned to the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1999, but that accomplishment (plus another postseason appearance in 2023) were not enough to preserve his job.
The coach leaves Cleveland with two AP NFL Coach of the Year honors earned in 2020 and 2023, the two seasons in which he guided the Browns to playoff berths. In 2020, Stefanski was forced to stay home due to a positive COVID-19 test but was fortunate to watch special teams coordinator Mike Priefer lead the Browns to a 48-37 postseason win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card Round before returning and suffering a heartbreaking loss to eventual AFC champion Kansas City in the Divisional Round.
In between those playoff seasons, Stefanski’s squad endured challenges typical of an NFL club, battling through significant injuries — which included a 2023 season in which Stefanski started five different quarterbacks en route to an 11-win season — and remaining competitive until the Browns took significant steps backward in 2024 and 2025.
Those declining seasons can be largely pinned on the destructive decision to trade for former Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson during the 2022 offseason, a move that required the Browns to send the Texans three first-round picks and also fully guarantee a five-year, $230 million extension for the signal-caller. Watson never came close to delivering on the expectations set by such a significant move, sitting out the first 11 games of the 2022 season due to a suspension before struggling to acclimate to Stefanski’s offense and suffering multiple injuries that cost him half of the 2024 season and the entire 2025 campaign.
By the time an Achilles injury ended Watson’s 2024 season, he was generally considered to be one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL.
Jimmy Haslam conceded last March that the decision to trade for Watson was a “big swing and miss.”
The Watson deal happened only after former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield struggled to produce in 2021 while battling injuries, prompting Cleveland to make a drastic change by pursuing Watson, acquiring him via trade and alienating Mayfield in the process, leading to his departure for Carolina via trade.
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