The Challenge Kevin Stefanski has Waited for his Entire Career
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The Cleveland Browns offense coming out of the 2022 season and looking forward to the 2023 season is full of possibility. An offense with quarterback Deshaun Watson, running back Nick Chubb, receiving threats including Amari Cooper, Donovan Peoples-Jones and David Njoku protected by an offensive line that just locked up the third of its All Pros to an extension should be the most highly anticipated since the team returned in 1999.
The Browns opted to transform the offense as soon as Watson took the field. An ambitious undertaking, head coach Kevin Stefanski wants to win, but he also seems to be trying to gather as much information as possible ahead of a critical offseason.
Watson and Jacoby Brissett have both noted how much of an influence they have within what the Browns do offensively. If a quarterback doesn't want to run something, they don't run it, scratching it from the game plan. Further, Stefanski is spending a significant amount of time in quarterback meetings. That has accelerated trust and given the quarterbacks a stake in the offense.
The report suggested there could be coaching changes and tweaks in offensive philosophy, making the Browns more inclined to pass. Maybe there's something more here, but all of this seems pretty obvious regardless of the fact Tennessee has achieved their first season with at least ten wins since Phil Fulmer, six head coaches ago. That drought is something else not lost on Haslam. Everything the Browns are doing is geared towards moving in the direction of being a more dynamic passing offense.
In the offseason, coaches go around and pick each other's brains. It's how they stay up to date on evolving trends within the sport. So much of what NFL teams do is taken from college which is taken from high school. It comes down to numbers. 32 NFL teams compared to hundreds of college teams and thousands of high school teams.
Given Haslam's relationship with Tennessee, it would be easy for Stefanski to connect with Heupel. Stefanski doesn't have to adopt the air raid to find concepts worth incorporating from a prolific Volunteer passing offense. And since Hendon Hooker was an effective dual threat quarterback, it could be valuable for how best to utilize Watson.
That should be just one of the people Stefanski speaks with in the offseason. Some of them could be major names. Stefanski likely already has a relationship with USC head coach Lincoln Riley since he coached former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. However, it's not always the biggest schools that offer the best innovations. Necessity often being the mother of invention, teams with limited resources are forced to think outside the box and come up with new ideas to overcome deficiencies.
It also wouldn't be a surprise if the Browns were to hire an assistant coach who is well versed in concepts the team wants to incorporate into their offense. It's a great way to stay on the cutting edge.
The Browns have been using the games with Watson as a way not only to get reps for him but also for players like Nick Chubb. They have taken full advantage of an opportunity to get those two accustomed to each other, but it naturally functions as a lab to test certain concepts, gathering as much data as possible.
With six games of Watson, even if the Saints game was largely useless due to extreme weather, Stefanski will have a better feel of Watson the player and have a better idea of where he wants to take the offense from here. He's not going to throw out an offense that has proven effective, but he is going to adapt it to fit the personnel he has.
The fact Stefanski has been so willing to adapt to Watson is critical. Unlike some coaches in Browns past, Stefanski isn't stubborn, believing that players have to fit a predetermined, rigid framework. Instead, he's spending time with Watson to figure out what he likes to do. He's seeing him play to understand his strengths and weaknesses. Likewise, he's challenging Watson with some concepts that he believes will make him a better quarterback.
For example, Watson has never operated under center this much. He hasn't had to turn his back to the defense on play-action. For his part, Watson has had an open mind. It's challenging him to grow as a player, learn more about the game. It could provide additional avenues to attack defenses, who then have to prepare for more variations within the Browns offense.
Stefanski has been able to maximize the quarterback position, the offense as a whole both as an offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings and the head coach of the Cleveland Browns with two different quarterbacks. He was also Case Keenum's quarterback coach when the Vikings went to the NFC Championship in 2017.
It's difficult to imagine Stefanski will ever have a better opportunity with more talent on the offensive side of the ball than he will have with this team. With the help of general manager Andrew Berry, Stefanski has engineered this situation. His entire career has been building to this.
Assuming the Browns extend Donovan Peoples-Jones, which seems inevitable at this point, the Browns will have Watson, Chubb, Cooper, DPJ, and Njoku as well as Joel Bitonio, Wyatt Teller and Jack Conklin all under contract for at least the next two seasons. Even if the Browns endeavor to find players that can further expand the offense, they know the players they will scheme around.
Naturally, expectations and the use of the 2022 season as a transition year add pressure for Stefanski and the Browns to deliver. But given the excitement of the players and Stefanski's ability to put together an offense, they sound like a group that can't wait to attack this challenge in the coming year.
