Kevin Stefanski Names Callie Brownson Chief of Staff
The Cleveland Browns have announced that head coach Kevin Stefanski is hiring Callie Brownson as his chief of staff, the same job that Stefanski first had with the Minnesota Vikings under then head coach Brad Childress. Brownson most recently worked as a coaching intern with the Buffalo Bills under Sean McDermott.
Brownson's path to the Browns is a fascinating. Before entering the coaching ranks, she played football in the professional ranks for eight seasons as a member of the D.C. Divas of the Women's Football Alliance. She played safety, running back and slot receiver, was a team captain for five years and named an All-American four times.
After completing her professional career, she coached a few seasons of school in Northern Virginia. Then she was able to land a scouting internship with the New York Jets in 2017. She was one of sixteen female coaches invited to attend the Manning Passing Academy at their first women's clinic. She met the head coach of Dartmouth, Buddy Teevens, impressing him enough to earn a two-week internship which turned into a full time job as a quality control coach. She was the first full-time female coach in D-1.
Brownson was able to turn that opportunity into an eerily similar path with the Buffalo Bills under McDermott. Meeting Brownson at a coaching forum in Indianapolis through Teevens, two-week internship at training camp turned into a full-time position.
Brownson's current journey in the coaching ranks is not one she anticipated. She was perfectly happy to coach high school in Virginia, where even being recruited to coach on that staff was a big deal. As other women have made history in the NFL and other areas of coaching, it has opened the doors to what is possible for women coaching men's sports and Brownson has gone through those doors and excelled. Now she gets her foot in the door in the NFL coaching ranks with an official position with a team in the Browns that is building a remarkably diverse organization in Cleveland.
