Cleveland Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Friday that he will be calling plays on offense in the 2020 NFL season. He decided to take the task instead of handing the playcalling duties to offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt.
“I think with any discussion, we spend a lot of time thinking about what’s best for the team,” said Stefanski. “That’s where we landed.”
Most NFL head coaches let their coordinators handle the playcalling, and Stefanski thought about doing the same. However, after not being able to test Van Pelt in this role since NFL canceled all offseason games, Stefanski opted to go down the safe route.
“When I’ve called it, we’re very collaborative,” he added. “We’ll have a lot of people who have a hand in this.”
Kevin Stefanski called plays in 2019 as an offensive coordinator with Minnesota Vikings. His offense ranked eighth in points per game and ninth in total offense.
This offensive efficiency is one of the reasons why Cleveland ended up hiring him, with the team hoping he’ll be able to carry over that same success with Browns’ talented team. By calling plays, Stefanski now has all the tools to do that. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
