NFL Insider IDs This Potential Head Coaching Candidate as Ideal Fit for Giants

The Giants head coaching search is expected to pick up steam this time next week.

Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski could move to the front of the line for head coaching candidates for the New York Giants if he and the Browns part ways. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

By this time next week, the New York Giants’ search for a new head coach will officially move from the vetting process to the interview stage.

And one such name that could end up on the list, but which, as of now, is not thought to be there, only because he’s under contract to a team, is Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, claims ESPN NFL insider Jeremy Fowler.

The Browns have done “preliminary research” on a potential coaching change, per @JFowlerESPN. pic.twitter.com/qMWYQgzlID

— ESPN Cleveland (@ESPNCleveland) December 30, 2025

Fowler reported that Stefanski is 50-50 to return to his post, noting that he’s heard that the Browns have done “preliminary research” into a potential replacement for the 43-year-old Stefanski.

If the Browns do move on from their current head coach, the Giants could very well come into play for the two-time Coach of the Year winner (2020 and 2023).

Stefanski, an offensive-minded coach who, before coming to the Browns, was the Vikings' offensive coordinator for part of 2018 and all of 2019, worked with all the offensive position groups at one point or another with the Vikings, except the offensive line.  

Stefanski checks a lot of boxes.

Dec 28, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski speaks with quarterback Shedeur Sanders (12) during a time out in the second quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Huntington Bank Field. | Scott Galvin-Imagn Images

Stefanski’s coaching background would certainly check a box for the Giants, who are looking for a strong offensive mind to help quarterback Jaxson Dart continue developing into an upper-echelon NFL quarterback.

Another box that Stefanski checks is that he has had success as a head coach. Despite owning an overall 45-58 career record, he has twice led the Browns to two postseason berths, both of which have come off of 11-win seasons (2020 and 2023). 

Stefanski was so highly regarded as an offensive playcaller that when Pat Shurmur became the Giants' head coach ahead of the 2018 season, he wanted to hire Stefanski to be the team’s offensive coordinator, only to have his request denied by the Vikings, for whom Stefanski worked at the time. 

Fowler shot down the idea of the Giants or any team, for that matter, potentially trading for Stefanski, given his record over the last two seasons. But he also opined that Stefanski, should he become available, would be “the strongest retread candidate in the eyes of many” and that “the Giants would be an ideal fit.”

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