The Cleveland Browns have found their next head coach. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the team has decided to name Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as the man to take over for Freddie Kitchens.
Sources: The #Browns are planning to hire #Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach. Runner-up last year, winner this year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 12, 2020
The report was confirmed shortly after by both Adam Schefter of ESPN and Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Browns are planning to hire Vikings’ OC Kevin Stefanski, as @RapSheet reported.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2020
Confirming @RapSheet report Kevin Stefanski is the Cleveland #Browns new head coach
— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) January 12, 2020
As Rapoport mentioned, this is not the first time that Cleveland has been interested in bringing Stefanski on board. He was prominently involved in last year’s search that ended in Kitchens getting the job, getting multiple interviews with the franchise before they opted to go in another direction. That didn’t work out particularly well — the Browns entered this year with plenty of hype, but went 6-10 in a season marred by inconsistency on the field and drama off of it. As a result, Kitchens was fired, and Cleveland entered the coaching market for the second offseason in a row.
Now, the team will turn the reins over to Stefanski, who entered the NFL as an assistant to the head coach for the Vikings in 2006 and has risen through the organization ever since. He’s never been a head coach, and has been the team’s offensive coordinator since late in the 2018 season — he was given the title of interim OC, and during this past offseason, he was given the role full-time.
