The 2025 season wraps up on Sunday, which means Black Monday is almost upon us, too. It’s that dreaded day (although some celebrate it) when multiple head coaches lose their jobs, usually five or six, sometimes more.
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This year, one of the loudest noises is around Browns’ head coach, Kevin Stefanski, whose seat appears scorching hot with the season finale looming. Many believe that even if Cleveland beats the Bengals on Sunday, Stefanski could still be shown the door.
In five seasons, Stefanski owns a 44-56 record with two winning seasons and two playoff appearances. That resume isn’t terrible. Things may have been better had the Browns’ bet to tie their future to quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022 not gone sideways due to repeated injuries.
Beyond quarterback, the team has dealt with instability at several key positions, rarely getting a fully fit roster. So if a firing does come, where does the blame land? Some have floated rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders as the main reason Stefanski could get the boot, as the rookie has done his part to quiet critics after being heavily doubted by Stefanski himself early on.
Well, Emmanuel Acho is not buying that angle. If Stefanski is fired, the responsibility falls squarely on the head coach and how he handled the quarterback situation, feels Acho.
Even setting the Watson situation aside and the Joe Flacco trade to a divisional rival this season, Acho questioned why Stefanski drafted two quarterbacks in the same class. In his view, that approach lacked a clear plan.
“The fact of the matter is, Stefanski was gone the moment they drafted Dillion Gabriel ahead of Shedeur Sanders. If we’re being honest, he was gone then,” Acho said on Speakeasy.
“I don’t think he’s the one that drafted Dillion Gabriel ahead of Shedeur Sanders. But if indeed he was the one that drafted Dillion Gabriel ahead of Shedeur Sanders, then you can’t draft Shedeur Sanders because now, you look like an idiot,” he added.
Acho went further, saying that starting Gabriel ahead of Sanders only made the mistake worse. Stefanski needed to pick a lane: Either commit to Sanders or do not draft him at all. Trying to straddle both decisions muddied the waters.
“If you start Shedeur over Gabriel, why the hell did you draft Gabriel? And if you don’t start Shedeur over Gabriel, then you end up in the position you end up this year. Why the hell are you starting Gabriel over Shedeur? He was in a lose-lose situation the moment he made that decision. The draft is what got Kevin Stefanski fired,” Acho concluded.
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While Acho’s points are valid, Stefanski deserves a bit of a break, too. Sure, he messed up the draft, but it’s not like all the other teams were chasing Shedeur before the Browns picked him up in the fifth round, except maybe the Ravens. There was so much uncertainty around the Colorado product, and when he showed promise, Stefanski was the one who elevated the rookie as the starter for the rest of the season.
With an unstable roster like the Browns have and a rookie playing big roles, it wouldn’t be surprising if Stefanski doesn’t get fired. But if he does get the boot, at 43, with two Coach of the Year nods already in the bag, it won’t be long before he finds another team to lead. And if he doesn’t end up with terrible ownership like the Haslam family, he’ll surely survive and thrive.
