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Kevin Stefanski says 'sound offensive football' more than scheme will determine success
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- Kevin Stefanski says 'sound offensive football' more than scheme will determine success
BEREA — It didn't take a football savant to figure out what was ailing the Browns as they stumbled along to 3-14 this season. One just had to look at the scores to see the issues.
The Browns struggled to score points during the season, averaging a league-low 15.2. They only scored more than 18 points three times, and had a three-game stretch of less than 10 points broken with a 35-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday's finale.
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So, there was no surprise Sunday morning when offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson were fired by the team. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski said the direction going forward isn't so much about scheme as much as it is about executing whatever scheme in a more clean fashion than the Browns did this season.
The Browns finished with a league-high 23 interceptions and 11 fumbles lost. They also were flagged for 119 penalties for 915 yards.
"It goes back to we need to play sound offensive football," Stefanski said Sunday. "And that really is in every scheme. It doesn't matter whether you're dropping back to pass, handing it off, we have to be more sound than we were, and obviously it also goes into taking care of the football, which we have not done a good enough job of.
"I know you guys are sick of me talking about it, but it's the No. 1 thing when you're talking about winning and losing it, and we have to do a better job there."
Cleveland Browns coach Kevin Stefanski (left) and offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey talk during practice at the Browns training facility Aug. 4, 2024, in Berea, Ohio.
Stefanski already has a list of potential candidates for the position, but couldn't contact any because of the games being played on the final Sunday of the regular season. He did say individuals in the organization were also going to be considered.
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The fifth-year head coach was an offensive coordinator and play caller before getting the Browns job. He held the play-caller duties over his first four seasons before giving them up to Dorsey in Week 8 after quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.
"We are where we are," Stefanski said. "There's decisions that you make every week, every season, seemingly every quarter of a game, and then you learn from those decisions. What I'm always trying to do, as you guys know, is just trying to do what's best for the team."
Whether or not Stefanski starts calling the plays again with the new offensive coordinator remains to be seen. It wouldn't be a deal-breaker one way or the other.
Dorsey's hiring centered around the use of run-pass options and spread concepts that would maximize Watson's skillset. That ran counter in many ways to the wide-zone run scheme/play-action pass game that Stefanski favored from the Mike Shanahan/Gary Kubiak tree.
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Right tackle Jack Conklin and left guard Joel Bitonio both advocated for such a return. Conklin specifically called it their "identity."
"Yeah, not to get too far into specifics, other than to say we will get back to a sound system that gives our team a chance," Stefanski said. "And, again, I want to make it clear this is not about one person or one particular part of the scheme. This is about all of us owning it and fixing it."
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski: 'Sound' football, not scheme most important
