Breaking Down Kevin Stefanski's Candidacy for Dolphins Head Coach

The Miami Dolphins’ head coaching search is in full swing, and we know one top name is doing an in-person interview Tuesday.

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski is interviewing with the Dolphins, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported. Stefanski will officially become the second candidate who has reportedly been interviewed already.

The Dolphins spoke with Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak over the weekend since the Seahawks had a first-round bye in the playoffs.

This will be Stefanski’s fifth coaching interview, as he’s already met with the Tennessee Titans, New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, and Baltimore Ravens.

What to Make of Stefanski’s Candidacy

Stefanski might not be a name that excites a ton of Dolphins fans, but he actually would be a good hire. His record in Cleveland wasn’t great, finishing at 45-56, but Stefanski did a lot of good things.

He got the Browns to the playoffs twice, going 11-5 in Year 1 with Baker Mayfield. The Browns even won their first playoff game since the 1994 wild-card round, beating the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Stefanski got the Browns back to the playoffs with an 11-6 finish in 2023, as he revived Joe Flacco’s career and crafted a pretty solid offense around the veteran signal-caller.

That’s Stefanski’s calling card: offense. He’s from the Sean McVay coaching tree and has proven he can create some pretty solid running and passing game plans around multiple types of quarterbacks and ball carriers.

Things went awry for Stefanski after the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson. The head coach tried to craft a plan around Watson, but the quarterback had heavily regressed. Plus, his contract and the draft capital lost took a toll on the Browns’ roster.

Of course, it’s also fair to blame Stefanski for some of the Browns’ struggles. He’s the head coach after all, and his team finished 5-12 this year after going 3-14 in 2024.

While Stefanski deserves credit as an offensive mind, he couldn’t quite get the quarterback duo of Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders to click this past season. We’d argue that task, considering the rest of the offensive depth chart, was impossible, but it’s not an ideal outcome.

The other pitfall is that Stefanski greatly benefited from the Browns’ defense. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is one of the best in the sport, and edge rusher Myles Garrett is a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

Stefanski being able to bring Schwartz with him would be a huge boost to his candidacy, but we don’t know where that stands.

Overall, Stefanski is a smart offensive mind with head coaching experience, who could hire from a pretty robust coaching tree on both sides of the ball. He also won Coach of the Year both seasons Cleveland made the postseason.

If the Dolphins don’t want to go with a first-time head coach and can’t get John Harbaugh, Stefanski isn’t a bad option.

New Names to the Dolphins’ Interview List

The other update we received was the team requesting to interview Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard and Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.

If that name sounds familiar to you, it should. Sheppard played linebacker for the Dolphins from 2014 through 2015. Since 2021, he’s worked his way up the Lions’ staff, taking over for Aaron Glenn when he was hired as the New York Jets head coach last offseason.

Sheppard did a nice job with a Lions defense that suffered a bevy of injuries this past season. He kept them competitive despite being down to third-string players at multiple spots.

Sheppard has just one year of play-calling experience, but he’s a fast riser with rave reviews from Dan Campbell. It would be a huge gamble to hire him, but don’t be surprised if Sheppard becomes a head coach sooner rather than later.

As for Minter, he's been the Chargers' defensive coordinator for the past two seasons and has done a great job with that unit. He also coached under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, crafting the defense that helped them win a National Championship.

He also spent extensive time working with the Baltimore Ravens under John Harbaugh. Minter joins Jeff Hafley, Chris Shula, and Sheppard as defensive play-caller candidates looking for their first head coaching jobs.

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