Tony Grossi hits the
nail on the head as usual in his analysis of Kevin Stefanski's "It is a Privledge" comment this week.
I think Grossi nails the context too. The Browns and Stefanski will message his departure as a mutually friendly parting of ways.
I wrote a few days ago that I hope the Browns keep Stefanski another year, but what I don't know is what exactly has been the narrative behind closed doors these last 12 months in Berea. In particular the narrative around Dillon Gabriel.
If the Browns and Stefanski part ways, it's clear to me that behind closed doors, Stefanski was and remains adamant that Dillon Gabriel is the QB that he believes should be at the controls for the Cleveland Browns. If that's the case, I think Stefanski has one big problem: Jimmy Haslam and 99% of the traditional experts in the NFL world disagree with him. I disagree too for that matter.
Why would Stefanski bet his head coaching career on Dillon Gabriel? Perhaps because he is convinced that his Ivy League Offensive Scheme can only be successful with a QB who fully grasps the nuances of his scheme.
The problem with Gabriel however is obvious to everyone except perhaps Kevin Stefanski. Dillon Gabriel does not have an NFL arm. Not having an NFL arm would be a problem even if Gabriel were 6' 5"..... We all saw the proof in the 6 games he started. His longest pass was a 26 yard completion and of the few throws that he completed longer than 20 yards most of the yards gained were after the catch which was less than 10 yards downfield.
TD to interception ratio of 7:2 you say? Well, the analytics point out that Dillon Gabriel's turnover worthy plays were at 4.6% it just turns out defenders had as hard a time catching his balls as offensive players did.
Nothing against Gabriel here. He obviously is a very smart, polite and still relatively young man, who interviews extremely well, but Stefanski and the Browns did Gabriel a massive disservice drafting him in the 3rd round and shouldering him with any expectations that he could succeed in the NFL. Jimmy Haslam has connections to talent evaluators around the league and before day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft they all must have told him that taking Gabriel in the 3rd round was nutty. Haslam did the right think drafting Shedeur and we have all seen the proof in Sander's numerous big plays during his starts.
Kevin Stefanski bet the farm on a QB who in Rex Ryan's words "has none of the attributes of an NFL QB" and in doing so, I don't care what Jimmy Sexton says, if that's the case, Stefanski is never going to get another gig as a head coach in the NFL.
Time will tell and in this case, if Stefanski is gone after this season ends, I think that behind closed doors, the above narrative would in fact be exactly why Haslam decided "enough is enough"
