3 Takeaways from Kevin Stefanski Interview with Ken Carman, Anthony Lima
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Perhaps listening to my wise counsel or by complete coincidence, Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski continued to be his own best advocate by participating in an in-studio interview on the Ken Carman Show with Anthony Lima.
Rather than a disjointed press conference with questions coming at him from a number of angles, Stefanski was engaged in an interview that felt more like a conversation. As a result, Stefanski was able to make some points and build on them over the course of the conversation.
The entire interview is worth listening to but there were three main points that stood out from the rest.
"It's exhausting. Calling plays is exhausting. And I think what I've tried to get to with certainly our offense is- the fun part for me is putting together the gameplan, working with the coaches Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, trying to put our players in the best position to succeed. When it gets to gameday, you try to really get out of the way as much as you can. That's something Jim (Schwartz) and I have talked about and he talks about defensively is you've prepared the guys, get out of the way. Give them stuff that they can go execute at a high level."
What is often ignored when it comes to the play calling operation beyond the fact it's a collaborative process that involves several coaches is that so much of the work is done during the week before the game. After the initial script is done, how and when a coach chooses to call plays is to be determined, but the work was done during the week.
Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and the rest of the offensive staff are constantly tweaking and adjusting to try to react to how teams are defending them in live time. They are providing Stefanski information to help him make the best call in a given situation. And there will be times where Van Pelt may be making the calls as Stefanski simply relays them onto the field.
This idea that Stefanski could be doing other things if someone else is calling plays is technically true. But he's not going to be talking to the defense. Stefanski is going to be focused on what is going on with the offense because he still has to make decisions. It's one of the reasons he got the job. And that is true of just about every head coach.
Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin calls the defense, but if he doesn't like what the offense is doing, he will get involved and dictate play calls if necessary. Stefanski is an effective play caller and the Browns have a good operation for the most part. There's always room to improve and calls that don't work, but so much of that work is done before the game has started that it's a minor detail to have have him call the offense he designed.
"The Philly comes out in me every once in a while. It does. You don't see it on gameday, mostly because I want our team to play with composure. I think when you lose your mind, you lose your ability to think. You lose your ability to make smart decisions both as a player and a coach."
One of the biggest hypocrisies in the game of football is how coaches will preach discipline and work months to instill it in their players only to throw world class hissy fits when things don't go their way. The head coach has lost his mind, throws the headset and is completely unable to control himself only to then turn around and scream at a player who does the same thing.
And as Stefanski points out, if a coach loses their mind, they can't think. So many coaches preach having a 'next play mentality'. That applies to coaches as well. A coach can't get bogged down in an argument with an official or yelling at a player or another coach because the game isn't waiting on them. Players are waiting on a play call while the coach is screaming at an official and the play clock is ticking. It ends up being a distraction.
Stefanski sets the tone for everyone else. He's focused on the game rather than his emotions. So many of the elements of discipline and expectations for games are a product of work done in the summer and in practice, which is likely to be where Stefanski shows more of that emotion.
Authenticity is important. Stefanski needs to be who he is. He's not a conduit for the emotions of fans or media. That isn't going to serve the needs of his team, which is the only element that matters. No one in that building questions his passion for the game.
"The other thing I'd point out is scramble drill for instance. Not a lot of scramble drill- not a ton, some with Jacoby's more mobile than you think. Deshaun's going to be on the move, off schedule. There's gonna be moments for scramble drill. We spent a lot of time talking about it. I don't know that we got a big play out of it that I would've expected, but those are constantly things about how can we be better to match Deshaun's skill set."
This is a question about sacks that Watson took and the adjustment to Watson from Jacoby Brissett. Stefanski talked about how the team will work to get better at it, but some of that is simply the cost of doing business. He's right. Watson took a ton of sacks in Houston and plenty were of his own making, but the point about the scramble drill is the far more compelling topic.
The Browns scramble drill was largely non-existent in the six games Watson played. There are some basic rules for the scramble drill. Work towards the side of the field the quarterback is with deep guys coming back to the quarterback and short guys working deep. Find space, sit down. However, the NFL has become far more nuanced as the talent level at the quarterback position continues to increase.
With Patrick Mahomes on the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce might work away from Mahomes specifically because he knows Mahomes can make that throw. Beyond the physical elements, there is a chemistry, a feel to it.
One of the biggest areas the Browns should improve is getting the feel for how to run the scramble drill. It allows their athletes to take over, starting with Watson but extending to tight end David Njoku and wide receiver Amari Cooper among others.
The Browns could spend months just on this and it would be worth every second. So many games are being won by quarterbacks who can extend plays and receivers who understand how to get open. There was a few year period where the play the Pittsburgh Steelers called was almost meaningless. Ben Roethlisberger would buy enough time as the play broke down and then play backyard football. It was successful.
The fact that Stefanski brought this element up unprompted suggests it's at the front of his mind on areas the Browns will be working in the offseason as well as training camp.
The more Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry talk, the more people will understand the why's of how they operate. There will always be people who chirp, but they are both great at communicating their vision for the team and should be more active on this front.
