Fill-in head coach’s promise: ‘Try to be an extension’ of Stefanski
Cleveland-area native Priefer has been here before — inMinnesota.
Browns special teams coordinator Mike Priefer made it clear that this is still coach Kevin Stefanski’s team.
Prieferwill serve as actinghead coach after Stefanski tested positive for COVID-19, forcing himto miss Sunday night’s AFC wildcard game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
The Browns will also be without passing game coordinator/ defensive backs coach Jeffff Howard, tight ends coach Drew Petzing, receiverKhaDarelHodge and left guard Joel Bitonio, whowith Stefanski tested positive Tuesday. Offffffffffffensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will call plays in Stefanski’s absence.
“My thoughts and prayers are withKevin andall our players and coaches that have tested positive for this virus. I’m both honored
Browns special teams coordinatorMike Priefer has been thrust to the forefront, fifilling in for head coach Kevin Stefanski, who is sidelined by COVID-19.
and humbled to have this opportunity, butmake no mistake— this is Kevin’s team,” Priefer said on Zoom Thursday. “He’s laid the foundation of a smart, tough, accountable, resilient team, and I’ll do whatever’s asked of me to help the Cleveland Browns win on Sunday night. I do love this city. I think you guys know that. Our fans deserve our best effffffffffffort, and that’swhat we plan on giving them on Sunday night.”
Stefanski and Priefer worked together from 2011-18 with the Vikings, so Priefer iswell aware of howStefanski likes to run things.
“Everybody’s different, but I’m going to try to be an extension of Kevin,” Priefer said. “You guys know my background with him. We’ve learned a lot of football over the years together. We’ve talkedsituational football throughout the year. We’ve talked about it during the week and even on game day.”
Priefer is a Cleveland native whose father Chuck was a longtime college and NFLcoach. He said he hasn’t thought about how surreal it is for a Northeast Ohio native to be in charge as the Brownsmake their first playoff appearance since 2002.
“I feel awful for Kevin. I feel awful for Joel. I feel awful for the other players who aren’t going to be involved, the other coacheswhoaren’t going to be involved, because this means something to everybody,” Priefer said. “We’re kind of a big family — coaches and players and the organization— andwhen you don’t have everybody there, I feel for those guys, especiallyKevin being a firstyear head coach.
“I knowhe doesn’twant it to be about him, but a lot of it is about him andwhat he’s accomplished, what we’ve accomplished together. Is it surreal? I guess. I haven’t really thought about that part of it because there’s a lot of work to be done. But maybe someday we’ll look back and think about it that way. But right now, it’s business as usual, andwe’ve got to go get a win.”
COVID-19 has racked the Browns since Dec. 26, when they learned theywould be without their top four receivers for a Dec. 27 road game against the New York Jets. The team still has several players and coaches on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
“It’s like every morning you wake up and say what else can you deal with,” Priefer said. “Everything’s been different. But fromthe leadership with (General Manager) Andrew (Berry) and Kevin on down to the coaches and even the players, we’ve been so adaptable and so flexible, we’ve been so resilient in fighting through every piece of adversity that we’ve had to deal with this year, and I thinkwe’ve done a great job with that thus far andwe’re going to continue to do so.”
Priefer said Stefanski let his staff know back in the spring of his contingency plans andwhowould step in if the coronavirus pandemic forced Stefanski to miss one or more games.
Priefer has assumed this role one other time in his 19-year NFL career. That came in Week 13 of 2016, when Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer underwent an emergency eye procedure before a “Thursday Night Football” game against the Dallas Cowboys. With Stefanski also on that staff, the Vikings lost 17-15 to a 10-1 Cowboys team.
“CoachZimmerhademergency eye surgery the day before the game, so I did not knowuntil after the mass on Wednesday night. (Vikings GeneralManager) Rick Spielman grabbedme right after that meeting and said, ‘Oh, by the way, you are going be the head coach tomorrow night. Do you want to do it?’ I said ‘Absolutely,’” Priefer said. “So I did not havemuch time to think about it.
“This time there was a little bit more time to think about it, but Iwas not caught off guard by anything. The thing that I knew, the thing that I learned the most is that you have to have good people around you, and we do have good people around. Alex will do a great job running the offense, (defensive coordinator) Joe (Woods) will continue to do a great job running the defense and all our coaches will step up, our players will step up as they normally do as they have done all season long.”
Priefer said the biggest challenge that night with the Vikings was wearing headphones, which he said he hadn’t had on since he coached defensive tackles and special teams at Northern Illinois in 200001. Priefer said the Vikings made fun of him for how much he took them off.