Featured Columnist IVJanuary 5, 2025
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Kevin Stefanski will return as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach in 2025, but the team is already shaking up its coaching staff after a disastrous 3-14 season, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Pelissero reported Sunday that Cleveland has fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and offensive line coach Andy Dickerson, both of whom were hired last offseason.
The Browns have one of the worst offenses in the league. They’re averaging the fewest points (15.2) and fifth-fewest yards (300.8), and that’s unacceptable any way you cut it for a franchise that had such high ambitions coming into the campaign.
Aaron Schatz đ @ASchatzNFL
Here’s the list of the worst offenses in DVOA history with the Browns at No. 13 entering today’s game.
It’s interesting how rare it was for units to be historically great or terrible from 1978-1990. It really makes the 1985 Bears stand out. pic.twitter.com/08GdjZJ1LE
Having said that, it’s not as though Dorsey was dealt a great hand from the start.
Simply put, the Deshaun Watson trade has been a failure on a historic scale for the Browns. He has made just 19 appearances through three seasons and when he has been healthy, his performance has been much worse compared to his peak with the Houston Texans.
Pretty much any offensive coordinator would have a hard time getting something out of this version of Watson. Then Cleveland cycling through Jameis Winston, Dorian Thompson-Robinson and Bailey Zappe after the three-time Pro Bowler suffered a season-ending Achilles injury.
Compounding matters, running back Nick Chubb missed the first six games while recovering from a torn ACL and meniscus in 2023 and was out for the last three weeks after breaking his foot.
Ultimately, the marriage between Stefanski and Dorsey may have been imperfect from the start.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Daniel Oyefusi detailed how firing Alex Van Pelt as OC and hiring Dorsey “was curious to people inside the building and out.” The personnel move represented a major shift in playing styles, particularly a pivot toward opening up the passing game and trying to play to Watson’s strengths.
“The changes did not bring out the best in Watson or the Cleveland offense, which looked caught between two worlds,” Fowler and Oyefusi wrote. “Watson struggled mightily as the season began, missing open targets and looking uncomfortable in the pocket. The Browns never reached 20 points in Watson’s seven 2024 startsâall games in which Stefanski, not Dorsey, called the playsâand the quarterback was last in QBR (23.5) by a wide margin, looking up at the Titans’ Will Levis (27.0) at the bottom.”
From that standpoint, letting Dorsey go is understandable and perhaps warranted.
But having a third different offensive coordinator in as many seasons rarely looks good for a head coach, and it underscores the level of urgency within the entire organization.
Ben Axelrod @BenAxelrod
I’m fine with the Browns running it back (more so Stefanski, but understand the front office being a package deal). But the reality of a season like this one is they better get off to a hot start next season. Because everyone’s on the hot seat now.
Joe Banner @JoeBanner13
I think Stefanski is a good NFL HC, but not many teams would give a HC more time after not winning a playoff game in 5 years. Indicative of a lowered bar after a really rough history. He should definitely take back play calling for sure.
Leaving the Watson trade and its consequences aside, two playoff appearances in five years isn’t a great return from the Stefanski era. He probably has one more staff reshuffle left before he’s the one who will be held accountable for whatever struggles Cleveland continues to endure on the field.
