The Browns are changing play-callers amid a five-game losing streak, with coach Kevin Stefanski handing over the play-calling duties to first-year offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey.
Stefanski announced the surprise switch Wednesday, ahead of the team’s first practice with Jameis Winston as the starting quarterback. Deshaun Watson will have season-ending surgery later this week to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered during last week’s loss to the Bengals.
The Buffalo Bills fired Dorsey as the team’s offensive coordinator and play-caller last November. Though many assumed at the time that the Browns hired Dorsey to call the plays, Stefanski announced in July that he would keep the play-calling duties.
Stefanski is a two-time NFL Coach of the Year and had been one of the league’s best play-callers, but almost nothing has worked for the 1-6 Browns this season. He has called the plays since taking the job in 2020 with just one exception: the wild-card game following the 2020 season, when Stefanski was unable to coach due to COVID-19. Alex Van Pelt, who was the offensive coordinator for the last four seasons before the Browns fired him last January, called the plays in that game.
Now, the Browns are making what feels like a desperate move. Is it also an understandable one? Given the circumstances, probably.
Stefanski said it was “fully” his decision to make the change, but given that Stefanski had always resisted questions about giving up play-calling — and opportunities to do so — the decision is curious.
“To improve, this is the right move for right now,” Stefanski said.
The Browns are the league’s only team yet to score 20 points or reach 300 yards in a game.
(Photo: Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
