Kevin Lawrence Stefanski (born May 8, 1982) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He began his NFL career as an assistant coach for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

from 2006 to 2019 and was the offensive coordinator during his final two seasons. Stefanski left Minnesota to become the Browns' head coach in 2020, where he led the team to their first playoff appearance since 2002. He was named

NFL Coach of the Year The National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the National Football League (NFL) head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disp ...

after the season, becoming the first Browns coach to receive the honor since 1976 and the first following the franchise's 1999 return as an expansion team.

Early life and playing career

Stefanski graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School in 2000 and the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

in 2004. Stefanski played defensive back while at Penn, being named the Quakers Freshman of the Year in 2000. He was part of the only undefeated Penn team of the decade and was twice an All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

selection.

Coaching career

Minnesota Vikings assistant

Stefanski joined the Minnesota Vikings in 2006 as an assistant to then-head coach Brad Childress. In 2009, he was promoted to assistant quarterbacks' coach, where he would serve until the 2013 season and had coached quarterbacks such as

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 201 ...

and

Christian Ponder Christian Andrew Ponder (born February 25, 1988) is a former American football quarterback. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Denver Broncos and San Francisco 49ers. He played college football at Florida State, and was drafted by the Minnesot ...

. Despite the Vikings' ups and downs during his tenure, Stefanski survived 3 coaching changes (Childress, Leslie Frazier, and

Mike Zimmer Michael Zimmer (born June 5, 1956) is an American football coach for the Colorado Buffaloes. Prior to this, Zimmer was with Jackson State, both college programs being led by Deion Sanders. He previously also served as the head coach of the Minn ...

). In 2017, after the termination of Scott Turner, Stefanski was promoted to coach the Vikings quarterbacks, where he helped transform the Vikings into the NFL's 10th-highest scoring offense. Quarterback Case Keenum had his best season under Stefanski, throwing 22 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions. He previously worked with the running backs in 2016 and the tight ends in 2014 and 2015. After the 2017 season, the New York Giants requested to interview and hire Stefanski as their new offensive coordinator, but Vikings denied the request. After offensive coordinator John DeFilippo was fired following a 21–7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Stefanski was named interim offensive coordinator. On January 9, 2019, Stefanski was promoted to full-time offensive coordinator.

Cleveland Browns

On January 13, 2020, Stefanski signed a five-year contract to become the 18th head coach of the

, two days after the Minnesota Vikings lost in the NFC playoffs. On September 13, 2020, Stefanski lost his head coaching debut to the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

by a score of 38–6. The loss marked the 16th consecutive Week 1 without a win for the Browns. On September 17, Stefanski recorded his first career win as a head coach in the 35–30 win against the Cincinnati Bengals. On December 6, Stefanski became the first Browns head coach since Romeo Crennel in 2007 to lead the franchise to a winning season, securing his ninth win with a 41–35 victory over the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

. Stefanski led the Browns to a 11–5 record, finishing third in the AFC North and clinching the Browns' first playoff berth since 2002. It was also the franchise's best record since their 1999 return. However, Stefanski tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

on the Tuesday before the game, preventing him from coaching the wild card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Browns went on to defeat the Steelers 48–37, which was their first playoff win since 1994, as well as their first since their 1999 re-activation. He returned to the team on January 14. The Browns lost the following week to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

in the AFC Divisional Round, 22–17. For his work during the 2020 season, Stefanski was named as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year. He was the first Browns coach to receive the honor since

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

in 1976, in addition to being the first after Cleveland's return in 1999.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Stefanski and his wife Michelle have three children together. He is the son of NBA executive Ed Stefanski.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stefanski, Kevin 1982 births Living people American football defensive backs Cleveland Browns head coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches Penn Quakers football players Sportspeople from Philadelphia Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania Players of American football from Philadelphia American people of Polish descent