The Browns made the playoffs despite cycling through a number of quarterbacks during the 2023 season and responded by firing their offensive coordinator when the year was over.
The quarterback carousel kept spinning in 2024, but the wins didn’t follow and the Browns’ season ended with Saturday’s loss to the Ravens. Their response was the same as the one the year before.
Offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey, who took over as the offensive play caller during the season, was relieved of duty after overseeing a unit that ranked last in points scored and near the bottom of the league in rushing yards and total yards. Stefanski said at a Sunday press conference that the performance of the unit is “never about one person” while making it clear that he felt the team fell short across the board.
“We have to play better on offense in a bunch of different areas,” Stefanski said, via the team’s website. “I don’t think it’s as simple as just one saying running effectively, that is a component of it. But we need to do a better job of setting our team up for success. . . . We are looking for somebody to come in and help us share in a vision where we can go play sound, explosive offensive football,” Stefanski said. “I feel confident that we’ll be able to do that.”
The quarterback issue wasn’t the focus on Sunday, but it goes hand in hand with the lack of success on offense. Deshaun Watson has been ineffective when he hasn’t been injured and will be coming off of a torn Achilles heading into the 2025 season. It will be difficult for any coordinator to succeed if they continue to flounder at the position and that makes it necessary for Stefanski and General Manager Andrew Berry to find a better answer than the ones they’ve been trotting out onto the field.
If they can’t, Stefanski is unlikely to be involved in Cleveland’s next offensive coordinator search.
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