Team moving forward with preparations

From Minnesota, Stefanski lauds team’s IT, video departments

The Browns are moving “full steam ahead” with plans for their offseason program despite restrictions.

The Browns are moving “full steam ahead” with plans for their offseason program despite restrictions imposed by government and the NFL because of the novel coronavirus.

Coach Kevin Stefanski, working remotely from his home in Minnesota because NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on March 25 ordered all team facilities closed, is not sure exactly what those plans are. All 32 NFL coaches are in the same predicament.

The Browns in normal circumstances would start their offseason program April 6 in Berea. That’s can’t happen on time. So Stefanski, his coaches and everyone else involved are trying to figure the best way to adapt and conduct virtual team meetings without the team being together.

“The truth is I don’t know yet,” Stefanski said April 2 on a conference call. “But I will tell you we have plans and then contingency plans and contingency plans for those contingency plans.

“We’re full-steam ahead getting ready with our team, getting ready with our program and ready to deal with whatever the rules come out to be in this offseason. We preach all the time that you have to be ready to adapt and you have to be ready to hit the curveball, so this is a bit of a curveball. But I think our guys are thinking creatively about how to attack this offseason and that’s where I have a ton of confidence in our coaching staff.”

Stefanski worked his way up the coaching ladder with the Vikings for 13 years becoming their fulltime offensive coordinator last season. He was hired as Browns head coach in January.

Stefanski is one of three new NFL head coaches along with Matt Rhule of the Panthers and Joe Judge of the Giants.

Ron Rivera is in his firstyear with the Redskins after nine years with the Panthers. Mike McCarthy is in his first year with the Cowboys after 13 seasons in Green Bay.

Moving into the big chair for the first time can be daunting, as the history of the Browns the last 21 years reflects. Doing so under conditions never experienced can be overwhelming on top of daunting. Yet you will hear no, “Woe is me” talk coming from the 37-year-old new boss of the Browns.

“All 32 clubs are going

to be playing by the same rules, whenever we see our players, whether it’s via a tablet or seeing them in person,” Stefanski said. “We’ll have our program ready to go and our installs ready to go. I think we’re in the same boat as everybody else.

“I think it’s a challenge like all of us are having a challenge. I think everyone of our fans and their work set up is similar to my set up right now, a lot of Zoom calls and Microsoft Teams and Facetime calls and you just have to make it work.”

Coaches have to do the bulk of their planning before the offseason program begins so players can get playbooks to study. Stefanski and his staff are finding

ways to do that even though they can’t be together because of social distancing.

“They’re those virtual meetings,” Stefanski said. “I sit in on the offensive staff meeting for a little while. Coach (Offensive coordinator Alex) Van Pelt is running that. We’re sharing a screen and looking at that and looking at drawings and looking at video and making corrections. Joe (defensive coordinator Joe Woods) is doing the same with the defensive staff.

“None of us this would be possible without our IT department and video department who have been just incredible these last few weeks. I can’t say enough about those guys and girls.

It’s been just an impressive group getting us up and running and making sure we’re able to get a lot of work done remotely.”

General Manager Andrew Berry is getting similar work done with the scouts and personnel department in preparation for the three-day NFL draft, still scheduled to start April 23. Teams cannot have prospective draft picks visit their facility. So they are conducting video chats up to 60 minutes long, as stipulated by the league.

Teams in normal circumstances would be limited to visits from 30 draft-eligible players. So teams can have up to 30 video chats. There are no on-campus visits.

Team meetings are obviously

an imporwtant part of the offseason program. Even more important is the work done in the weight room with the strength and conditioning coaches nearby. That is more difficult to monitor remotely,

“That’s a question that we’re looking to get some guidance from the league on,” Stefanski said. “There are workout bonuses for guys and how do you know that they’re doing the workout? So that’s a bit of this puzzle that I think we’re still awaiting some word on.

“If they’re anything like me, the guys are bored to tears, and they probably really want to work out, but we’ll be ready. Again, whatever

the league determines is the way to appropriately check up on the guys.

“Their bodies and the shape that they’re in matters to how they play this game. So we, with them, are going to have to be creative about this and make sure they’re getting the work in they have to get in because a lot of gyms are closed and a lot of places you can’t go work out with a buddy. You’ve got to do these things on your own, so there’s definitely Spartan element to that.”

The next challenge for NFL coaches will be how to adapt if COVID-19 concerns prevent teams from conducting organized team activities beginning in May.

PHIL LONG — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS New Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is leading meetings and preparing for offseason workouts from his home in Minnesota.