Stefanski over McCarthy
By Steve King
Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy did a conference call with the Cleveland media on Wednesday as his Cowboys get ready to host the Browns on Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
When last offseason began and the Browns were looking for a head coach to replace the fired Freddie Kitchens, I wanted them to hire — or at least take a good, long look at — McCarthy. He seemed to check all the boxes in that he won over a long period of time in one place with the Green Bay Packers, was an offensive-minded coach, which you definitely need to be in this day and age, and he understands the importance of quarterbacks, which, shockingly, seems to be lacking in some NFL head coaches.
He was, in summary, the candidate who had the proverbial “been there, done that” going for him. That meant a lot to me, because I was tired of the Browns hiring head coaches who had little or no head-coaching experience, not just in the NFL but overall, period, going all the way back to the youth leagues.
McCarthy, as expected, went to the Cowboys because Dallas owner Jerry Jones values those traits, too, which is why he years ago hired Bill Parcells. And Kevin Stefanski, as expected, was hired by the Browns because they had almost hired him a year ago before, at the 11th hour, then General Manager John Dorsey dug in his heels about hiring Kitchens when everybody else in the building wanted Stefanski. I was, at first disappointed. No, wait a minute, perhaps I wasn’t really disappointed, per se, but I was like, “OK, but Stefanski doesn’t move the needle much, if at all, for me.”
But, all these months later as the coaches get ready to do their own head-to-head battle, I’m glad the Browns got Stefanski and not McCarthy because he is smart, organized, disciplined, practical yet innovative, determined yet willing to collaborate, and understanding yet tough. He is a good mix of good stuff.
I did not think I would be this impressed — or impressed at all, really — with Stefanski, especially after only three games. Let’s hope it continues, beginning Sunday with an interesting and revealing visit to Dallas.
I had watched Stefanski, as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, lose to 27-10 to San Francisco in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. I thought, in a head-to-head battle, that Stefanski was outcoached and outsmarted by 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. After McCarthy was out of the picture, I wanted the Browns to hire Saleh, who is loved by his players and has the reputation of being an out of-the-box thinker and a great communicator.
But now, all these months later, when McCarthy, whose team is a disappointing 1-2, and Stefanski, whose team is a surprising 2-1, are preparing to go head-to-head, I am thrilled that Cleveland hired Stefanski.
