After six seasons with the Cleveland Browns , the Kevin Stefanski era has officially come to an end. He was the 18th full-time head coach in the team's history, but on January 5, 2026, the owners decided it was time to move in a different direction after the Browns ended the season with a 5-12 finish. Months after his release, ex-Browns WR Jarvis Landry has shared what he believed to have gone wrong between the head coach and the locker room, especially the team's QB, Shedeur Sanders .
"I don't know if he'd be a great coach in the league, but I do think he knows a lot about offense. I don't know how much he is involved in the analytical side of things, but I know in Cleveland, that was a huge part. I think that played a part in some of the decisions that he may have been forced to make, even with the Shedeur Sanders thing, right? Either forced to make or persuaded to make," Landry said on the 4th and South Podcast.
Even though Kevin Stefanski has moved on to a new chapter with the Atlanta Falcons , his time in Cleveland will always be defined by how he handled one of the most talked-about prospects in recent years, who is none other than Shedeur Sanders.
It's no secret that the Browns' season didn't live up to the hype, and much of that frustration centered on the relationship between the head coach and his young quarterback. Early in the 2025 season, the tension reached a breaking point when rumors swirled that Stefanski was intentionally slowing Shedeur's development.
This was especially evident after he turned to Tyler Huntley with only two minutes remaining to lead a game-winning drive against the Los Angeles Rams . While a benched Sanders watched from the sidelines , the Browns, trailing 17–16 at the time, saw Huntley execute a 46-yard drive. This set up a 37-yard field goal as time expired, securing a 19–17 victory.
The road for Shedeur wasn't easy from the start. After being selected in the fifth round of the 2025 draft, he began the year deep on the depth chart. He only got his real shot in Week 12, stepping into the starting role after fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel went down with an injury.
Suddenly, the spotlight was entirely on Shedeur, but he was stepping into a tough situation with a struggling team and a coaching staff that seemed ready to leave. Some former players believe the team's struggles happened because Stefanski was overwhelmed by his duties as a head coach.
They feel that if he had been allowed to just focus on the offense, he would have been the perfect person to help a young quarterback succeed. Shedeur finished with 1,400 passing yards, 7 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. But had the responsibility always been a burden for Stefanski? Let's learn that from the ex-player's perspective.
The story of Kevin Stefanski and Jarvis Landry in Cleveland is a classic case of how quickly things can change in the NFL. They say a first impression is everything, but for this duo, the early success didn't guarantee a long-term bond.
When Stefanski arrived as head coach in 2020, Landry was the team's top receiver, and the two seemed to be building something special together. During those first two seasons, the energy was high, and the results on the field were even better.
Stefanski's start was legendary. He won the AP NFL Coach of the Year award twice—once in 2020 and again in 2023. He became one of only 13 coaches in history to win it multiple times, even leading the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002. However, the magic eventually started to fade. By 2024, the team plummeted to a 3-14 record, followed by a disappointing 5-12 finish in 2025. As the losses piled up, the once-strong connection between the coach and his players began to stir.
Landry eventually opened up about the shift in the locker room atmosphere, noting that while Stefanski was great at the start, the personal connection seemed to disappear over time. Landry explained the struggle many young coaches face when moving into leadership.
"They have success as a position coach, and then they get thrown into this head coaching role, where you expect most of these younger coaches to be more personable and relatable with their players. In most cases, it just doesn't work out that way. My time in Cleveland, especially in the beginning, was great. He won Coach of the Year, we ended up going to the playoffs, and then, for some reason, after, it just kind of felt like the spark or the connection between the players and the coaches started to dim out," Landry stated.
October 26, 2025 Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski looks on during the second half of the game between the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. /CSM Foxborough United States of America – ZUMAc04_ 20251026_zma_c04_164 Copyright: xEricaxDenhoffx
The decline wasn't just about "vibes"; the stats were equally grim. Despite Stefanski being hired as an offensive expert after 14 years with the Vikings, the Browns' attack became one of the worst in the league. Last season, Cleveland ranked near the bottom of the NFL in yardage and scoring . While some of that can be blamed on the talent on the roster, the lack of creativity on offense made it impossible for them to compete in the tough AFC North.
Ultimately, football is a game of trust. For a team to win, players need to feel a genuine bond with their leader. As Landry indicated, when that spark dies, and the players no longer feel "locked in" with their coach, everything else falls out of sync. The situation with Sanders, mentioned earlier, is a prominent example.
Even with a defense that showed flashes of talent, the muddled offense and the disconnected locker room turned a promising era into a struggle for survival. With Todd Monken replacing Stefanski as HC, the Browns expect things to be different now.
