Kevin Stefanski Hoping To Channel 2023 Vibes With Browns Return To Greenbrier
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski hopes he can replicate the infectious culture that spread through his team in 2023.
That's why, as general manager Andrew Berry revealed on Tuesday, the team plans on making a return trip to the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia for the start of training camp. For Stefanski and company, the decision to go back to where it al began last season was an easy one.
"Coming out of there, I thought we got our work done," Stefanski said at the NFL Combine on Wednesday. "Whatever we did in terms the players being around each other I felt was a positive. It’s a beautiful environment, they treated us great down there. So I felt pretty strongly shortly thereafter we left there that it’d be a good thing to return."
Last July, the Browns spent 10 days at the famous resort as they opened up training camp earlier than usual due to their involvement in the Hall of Fame game. The experience wound up becaming a rallying cry for the team throughout the entirety of the regular season.
As Cleveland battled an exuberant number of injuries last season, including potentially devastating blows like Nick Chubb and Deshaun Watson, the players constantly pointed to the Greenbrier experience as one of the key reasons the team remained so resilient and together. That manifested itself in a trip to the playoffs, despite the so many players ending up on the IR with season-ending injuries.
"I think that was part of going down there in the first place was getting our guys under one roof," said Stefanski. "As you know, really bad cell phone service down there, which is a good thing. So just to see our guys spending time together outside of football, I just think all that adds up."
While Stefanski is obviously hoping to recapture some of the vibes of last season, he isn't entering the team's second Greenbrier experience with any preconceived notions.
"What you don’t want to do is say we had a good year or bad year all tied back to that," he explained. That’s not the case ... is it going to manifest itself in wins and those type of things? It’s so hard to know coming out of those. But the staff down there was outstanding. Our staff put on a great operation, if you will. We got a lot of work done, so I thought it’s important to do it again."
Stefanski's right, nothing in the National Football League is guaranteed. That said, it certainly doesn't hurt to try to replicate an experience that obviously helped shape what was a memorable season in 2023.
I think going down there, first time for us to go through that experience," Stefanski said. "And really it was coming out of that, we all felt really strong that it was a positive experience."
The Browns will announce later this offseason the official start date of training camp from the rolling hills of West Virginia. In the meantime, they'll work to reconstruct a roster with players who are willing to buy into the team building exercise once again.
