The Browns Failed to Hire the Right Head Coach, Which Works in the Patriots' Favor
When news broke Sunday morning that the Cleveland Browns had hired Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as their next head coach, a big sigh of relief swept through New England. After 48 hours of trying to determine whether Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels would be taking on a head-coaching job in Cleveland, Patriots fans were pleased to hear that he did not get the Browns' head-coaching job and would likely stay in New England as the team's OC.
In the end, the Browns' decision to choose Stefanski was one that was okay with McDaniels. The long-tenured Patriot reportedly wanted to rebuild the Browns' front-office, which didn't seem to go over well with Cleveland brass. Owner Jimmy Haslam and company wanted whoever took the HC job to give the personnel in place in Cleveland at least one year before the decision was made to move on from them.
The stipulations that were in place for whoever took Cleveland's head-coaching job didn't bode well for a coach like McDaniels, who wanted a lot of control over his football team. According to The MMQB's Albert Breer, the Browns head coach would have to meet twice a week with ownership and the analytics team to go over the game plan, along with giving an analytics person a headset on game day. These are aspects that Freddie Kitchens and Hue Jackson had to deal with during their tenures in Cleveland, and likely some of the same reasons they failed as head coaches. Browns ownership is too involved in what goes on in football operations, which is why the head-coaching job in Cleveland has become an unattractive job for head-coaching candidates in recent years.
So, while the Browns have now hired a head coach that will adhere to all their demands, the Patriots retain their offensive coordinator, which bodes well for them in a big way this offseason. While quarterback Tom Brady has made it clear that he and New England have not begun to discuss a new contract or stipulations that would keep him a Patriot, one can assume that a big factor in his decision to remain with the Patriots will be who is calling the offensive plays in 2020.
McDaniels and Brady have become very close over the years, because, well, they've spent so much time together. Each of them knows what to expect from the other, and have found a massive amount of success from their quarterback-coordinator chemistry. This means if McDaniels weren't the Patriots' play-caller in 2020, it would have likely lessened the chances of New England keeping Brady at age-42.
If McDaniels was offered and accepted the Browns' head-coaching job, it's also hard to determine who would have taken over the offensive play-calling duties in New England. The opportunity is there to re-hire Chad O'Shea, who was on the Patriots' staff as a wide receivers coach before becoming the OC in Miami for Brian Flores in 2019, but was fired a couple weeks back. However, there is no guarantee that Belichick could or would want to mend that relationship.
The Browns picked the guy they wanted, though it may not have been in the best interest of the franchise to choose a coach that would do what they say rather than do what's best to win football games. And because of their decision, the Patriots' 2020 outlook just became a little bit brighter.
