Name: Kevin Stefanski explains why he’s grateful the Browns passed on him the first time around in 2019
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Kevin Stefanski explains why he’s grateful the Browns passed on him the first time around in 2019

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NEW!3,116sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio — Kevin Stefanski was disappointed when the Browns hired Freddie Kitchens instead of him in 2019, but now he counts it as one of his life’s greatest blessings.Not only did he have a chance to call plays for a full season for the first time -- and two playoff games -- he also got to spend the year in Minnesota working alongside one of the greatest offensive minds in football in longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, who was brought in that year as Mike Zimmer’s assistant head coach and offensive advisor.Stefanski, a leading candidate for 2020 AP NFL Coach of the Year which will be announced on Saturday night, already had an all-star lineup of mentors in his Vikings career, from head coaches such as Zimmer, Leslie Frazier and Brad Childress — who gave him his start and brought him along -- to coordinators such as Norv Turner and Pat Shurmur.But spending that lone season with Kubiak, who has four Super Bowl rings as a coach including two as an offensive coordintor, helped catapult Stefanski to his 11-5 season with the Browns in his rookie year, as well as the club’s first playoff berth in 18 years, where they beat the Steelers in the wild card round and then lost to the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in the AFC divisional round.Before Zimmer gave his young offensive coordinator the gift of Kubiak, he had only three games’ experience as an interim coordinator and playcaller at the end of the 2018 season when he was pressed into service for the fired John DeFilippo. If the Browns had hired him instead of Kitchens in 2019, the learning curve on gameday would have been steep.“Not many people are lucky enough to have a setup like that,’' Stefanski told cleveland.com. “It was such a valuable year for me to grow. I’m thrilled that I was able to have that opportunity under coach Zim, with Coach Kub. It really made me better.’'Stefanski, 38, already knew Kubiak from his son Klint Kubiak, the Vikings quarterbacks coach who was an entry-level assistant in Minnesota in 2013 Stefanski was assistant QB coach. Klint and Stefanski became fast friends because of their shared experiences.“He was a much better safety than me (at Colorado State),’' Stefanski, who played at Penn. “We both went to Jesuit high schools, both ended up coaching offensive ball. I have three brothers and the Kubiaks are three boys, so it really is a similar upbringing. I knew what [Gary] was about because I knew was Klint was about, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’'Likewise, Kubiak, who won a Super Bowl as head coach of the Broncos, had already come to know and admire Stefanski before he worked with him in 2019.“I was a fan of his for a few years,’' Kubiak told cleveland.com. “Even when I stepped away from being a head coach, I used to keep notebooks on young coaches and what they were doing. And I knew a lot about him as a coach and a teacher, so I had a lot of good vibes about what he was going to become.’'One of the first things that impressed Kubiak about Stefanski was the way he went about blending the existing Vikings staff with the four new assistants Kubiak brought with him, including Klint as QB coach.“Most guys in that situation would say ‘OK, here’s how we’re going to do it,’’' Kubiak recalled. “But five of us were new and Kevin said ‘Let’s go with what you all have been comfortable with. I’m fine. I can adjust.’ He’s so bright, he was the one that kind of gave to some of my verbiage so we could all catch up very quickly.’'Stefanski, who revered Kubiak, also did that out of respect for the 10-year head coaching veteran, eight with the Texans and two with the Broncos, where he won Super Bowl 50 over the Panthers in the 2015 season.“I felt it was the best way to maximize his impact both on me and on the offense,’' Stefanski said. “And then on top of that, just his experience as an offensive mind, specifically as it relates to the play-action game was something that I wanted to learn from him, and mine him for everything he was worth.’'Kubiak, who retired from the NFL last month after replacing Stefanski as Vikings offensive coordinator in 2020, remembers the transition to working him him was easy “because we had both grown up in the West Coast system. I came in with a group of guys that I’d been coaching with forever, but Kevin and I were speaking the same language within a week.’'Stefanski soaked up as much knowledge as he could of Kubiak’s offense, specifically nuances of the play-action game and the wide-zone scheme that he’s known for. A disciple of Mike Shanahan, Kubiak runs the version of the West Coast scheme — complete with plenty of bootlegs or “keepers” — that he and Shanahan passed down to others such as 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, Packers coach Matt LaFleur and others.The scheme has been wildly successful and has produced not only a long line of great quarterbacks, but also AP NFL Coaches of the Year such as the Rams’ Sean McVay, a Mike Shanahan disciple who won it in his first season with the Rams in 2017 at the age of 32. “For years, that scheme has been very hard on defenses, when you talk about defending the run game and the play-action game,’' Stefanski said. “And I had never been in that scheme specifically. I’ve been in other ones, and I had my own thoughts about the run game and play-action game, but to be able to be exposed to coach Kub and the different nuance that he had into those plays was was incredible for me.’'The devil, he said, is in the details, and “that’s where I think coach Kub’s impact on me, was huge.’'The impact on Baker Mayfield has been enormous too. Once Stefanski learned Mayfield and vice versa, Mayfield took off in the scheme, throwing 20 touchdown passes and only two interceptions over his final 12 games after that pick on the first play of the 37-34 victory over the Bengals on Oct. 25. Over his last nine regular-season games, he was one of the hottest quarterbacks in the NFL, ranking even higher statistically than reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes.“To Baker’s credit, we asked him to do so many things he hadn’t done before,’' Stefanski said. “He worked his butt off at it and he just kept getting better and better. He was a sponge when it came to giving him different techniques and different types of plays. And there’s so much more there. We have a ton of room to grow both with Bake, but also specifically with the offense.’'Kubiak, who talked to Stefanski each week throughout the season, marveled at Mayfield’s transformation.“What what you saw was how well he knew his quarterback by the end of the season,’' Kubiak said. “To watch that kid probably play his best football of his career the last six weeks of the season, just tells you how much Kevin learned about him and put him in the right situations as time went on.’'Another key, Stefanski said, is matching up the multi-faceted system -- which marries the run and the pass and blurs the lines between the two pre-snap -- with your personnel. There were things he could do here that he didn’t with the Vikings, and vice versa.“It’s something you saw with us in the Browns this year, with some of the guard pull gap-scheme runs, where we had the guys to do it,’' Stefanski said. “And I think that’s where coach [Bill] Callahan’s influence comes in, so if you’re if you’re worth your salt, you’re trying to both maximize what your coaches can bring to the table, while also maximizing what your players do best.’'With the Vikings, Stefanski called plays from the sideline while Kubiak helped from upstairs. The result during that 10-6 season was an offense that finished No. 8 in the NFL with 25.4 points per game, and sixth in rushing. Kirk Cousins finished No. 4 in the NFL with a 107.4 passer rating, throwing 26 touchdowns against only six interceptions, which are typical numbers for the QBs in the system. “[Kubiak] was awesome,’' Stefanski said. “He was the eye in the sky, and he really helped in between series with what he was seeing. He’s called so many big games and he’s called the plays and won a Super Bowl. When you’re on field level, you’d better have a very trusted lieutenant up there, and Gary was more overqualified than you could ever imagine to do that.’'Kubiak, who won two of his Super Bowl rings as offensive coordinator of the Broncos, relished the mentor role.“Kevin had zero ego,’' Kubiak said. “He’d ask, ‘What do you think here or there,’ but he had to go make decisions and my job was to be there and support him and help in any way I possibly could. He was ‘help me out, feed me, talk to me’ — with all coaches not just me. He’s a great listener all great leaders are usually great listeners.’'Kubiak recalled the turning point of the 2019 season after Week 4 when the Vikings got beat 16-6 by the Bears to fall to 2-2.“We got out butts kicked really good,’' Kubiak said. “Chicago had a top defense that year and they really got after us. When I watched Kevin walk in the meeting on Monday with the players, and how he went about the defeat and talking to them, getting his teaching points across and getting them to move on to the next week, that’s when I witnessed something that was very impressive.’'The Vikings went on to win their next four games, just like the Browns did after they got blown out 38-6 by the Ravens in the opener. Like the Vikings, the Browns overcame the crushing defeat to make the playoffs, and advance to the Divisional round. “In our league, everybody’s a hell of a coach when thing are good,’' Kubiak said. “It’s the people that get their players over disappointment and responding to adversity that are really successful in the NFL.’'Early on in that first year together in Minnesota, Kubiak told general manager Rick Spielman and Zimmerman of Stefanski “’this kid’s special.’ In their mind, I had only been around him a short period of time, but I felt I knew him a lot better than that.“I could just tell. I’ve been around some of these great coaches like Kyle [Shanahan] and Matt [LaFleur] and Robert [Saleh] who got a head job now [with the Jets] and when I was around this young man, it was just very obvious he was going to be very successful.’'Kubiak’s notes on Stefanski were highlighted by his path to the head coaching chair.“What struck me was the way he came through an organization,’' he said. “He started as an assistant to a head coach [Childress]. Then he became a quality control coach, a running backs, a tight ends coach, a quarterback coach, a coordinator. And yet his dad [Ed Stefanski] is a GM in pro basketball, so Kevin has seen it all.“You can tell he’s done his homework along the way, and he’s taken advantage of all the good people he’s been around.’'Kubiak, 82-75 as a head coach and 5-2 in the playoffs, couldn’t have imagined being a rookie head coach in this COVID-19-marred season.“We talk about that all the time,’' Kubiak. “The fact that he did all of that with that organization through the COVID issues is remarkable. He put together a tremendous staff, and getting a guy like [offensive line coach] Bill Callahan was really important. For him to put it all together so quickly under such extreme adversity tells you a lot about him as a leader.’'The icing on the cake, Kubiak said, was that the team was able to go into Pittsburgh and beat the Steelers 48-37 in the wild card game with Stefanski stuck in his basement with COVID-19.“His leadership was on display that day,’' Kubiak said. “To go play a playoff game without your head coach, I think we can all honestly say that may never happen again.“But the way they went in there and played was just a tremendous reflection on Kevin and the job he did.’'Kubiak talked to Stefanski the day he was placed on the COVID-19 list and every day leading up the Steelers game.“I know how hard it was on Kevin, but he never once complained,’' Kubiak said. “As a matter of fact, I can remember his exact words to me when we talked the Saturday before the game. I said ‘Everything’s going to be all right’ and he said ‘Kub, I’m good. The good Lord’s been great to me and they’re ready to go and they’ve worked their tails off.’ He was so positive and they played exactly the way he talked.’'One of the biggest things Stefanski learned from that season was how to bring a staff from varying backgrounds together and make sure everyone is heard.“It’s one of the things I’m most proud of with our coaches here at the Browns is how people are able to collaborate and operate ego-free,’' he said. “We just get a lot of things done when you do it that way.’'By the same token, Stefanski has passed along to his Browns assistant coaches just how much it helped him to learn from Kubiak in 2019.“We have to take a major step in professional development — all of us — and the coaches have heard me say it already,’' he said. “We’re going to find ways to do that because if you’re staying stagnant and if you’re not getting better you’re doing a disservice to your players.’'Kubiak was also struck by how well-rounded Stefanski was in every aspect of his life.“He’s got a beautiful family,’' Kubiak said. “His kids are mini-me and his wife’s awesome. He’s got his stuff together. Football is something he’s really good at, but what he’s really special at in my opinion is leadership, and that’s something you can’t teach.“It’s something that you have that air about you that just exudes people want to follow you. People believe in what you’re doing and they want to be on your side because they have so much confidence in your ability to lead a group and that’s how he comes across. Kevin has a tremendous ability to be very demanding but very composed, and it’s really hard to find those two ingredients.’'Even now, it’s as if Kubiak is still in Stefanski’s headset.“I’ll watch a play and I can hear Gary talking about what was great about the play what he didn’t like about that play,’' Stefanski said. “We’ll run certain plays that I know are right up Gary’s alley and then we’re running other ones that I know he’s probably going to give me a call and say ‘Hey, what were you doing here?’ So he’s always front of mind for me.’'Kubiak, as humble as Stefanski is, appreciates Stefanski’s kind words, but “whatever he got out of being with me, I got just as much from him, I can promise you that,’' he said. Stefanski has already NFL Coach of the Year from the Pro Football Writers of America and The Sporting News, and could have his name called again Saturday night for the most prestigious AP award.“It’s a group effort all the way,’' Stefanski said. “I’ve been blessed to have so many great mentors. I stayed in one spot and so many great people came in and out of my life. I also hope that I continue to have an evolution based on the coaching staff we have here, and I’ll continually strive to be better.’'Kubiak, for one, hopes the AP NFL Coach of the Year Award goes to Stefanski on Saturday night.“I look at the way they go out,’' Kubiak, who retired to his ranch in Texas, said. “They went in there and beat the Steelers and were right there with the Chiefs (a 22-17 loss in the AFC Divisional round) until the final whistle. For him to accomplish what he did in such a short amount of time under such extreme adversity, the award is well-deserved.’'Stefanski knows he might not be up for such an honor if not for that pivotal, career-changing season he spent with Kubiak.“You can measure experiences in time, or you can measure them in impact,’' Stefanski said. “And that was an extremely impactful period of time.’'Browns playoffs shirts, hats for sale: celebrating the team qualifying for the 2020 NFL playoffs.More Browns coverageNote to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

NEW!3,116sharesCLEVELAND, Ohio — Kevin Stefanski was disappointed when the Browns hired Freddie Kitchens instead of him in 2019, but now he counts it as one of his life’s greatest blessings.Not only did he have a chance to call plays for a full season for the first time -- and two playoff games -- he also got to spend the year in Minnesota working alongside one of the greatest offensive minds in football in longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, who was brought in that year as Mike Zimmer’s assistant head coach and offensive advisor.Stefanski, a leading candidate for 2020 AP NFL Coach of the Year...

Kevin Stefanski explains why he’s grateful the Browns passed on him the first time around in 2019

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