Cleveland’s Stefanski returns to ‘special place’ at Minnesota
Kevin Stefanski will be back in Minnesota on Sunday as the reigning NFL Coach of the Year but also as someone who has stayed true to himself since he joined the Vikings 15 years ago.
The Vikings hired Stefanski in 2006 with the title of assistant to the head coach, an administrative role in which he did anything and everything — filling out schedules, informing players they had been fined, you name it — as the right-hand man of coach Brad Childress.
Rogers was the quarterbacks coach of the Vikings from 2006-10, the first five of Stefanski’s 14 seasons with the franchise. Childress promoted Stefanski in 2009 to assistant quarterbacks coach.
Now Rogers is among the many former Minnesota assistants working under Stefanski as the Browns (2-1) gear up to face the Vikings (1-2).
“He is probably the most unique head coach I’ve ever worked for in terms of the big picture from A to Z,” said Browns senior offensive assistant Kevin Rogers said. “... I think he’s totally a different breed.”
For example, Stefanski doesn’t yell at his players, something Rogers admitted he wouldn’t have been able to fathom as a graduate assistant from 1977-78 at Ohio State under legendary coach Woody Hayes.
“He’s unbelievable. He gets his point across, but hollering and screaming, that’s not Kevin Stefanski,” Rogers said. “I think he’s so dedicated to what he does and has his priorities so straight that he’s just respected. He just is. He doesn’t need to scream and holler to get his point across.”
Stefanski, 39, is the epitome of calm, so don’t expect him to get fired
up for his reunion with the Vikings, who also once employed Browns assistants Joe Woods (defensive coordinator), Mike Priefer (special teams coordinator), Chad O’shea (wide receivers), Jeff Howard (defensive backs), Brandon Lynch (assistant defensive backs) and Drew Petzing (tight ends).
“You think about some of our players when they go back home or whatever and you have to have a talk with them,” Stefanski said. “You don’t have to have a talk with me. I understand what’s at stake.
“[Minnesota] is obviously a special place. I had a great time there and was treated great by the organization from the ownership to the coaches and staff. Really have good friends there. With that being said, it’s a really big game, and they’re a good team, so that has our full attention.”
A former University of Pennsylvania safety, Stefanski has a long track record of connecting with players.
“I was happy for him to win Coach of the Year,” Vikings running back Dalvin Cook said. “Everything that came his way was well deserved. He waited his time. Finally he got the job, and he took over and did what he needed to do. I was happy for him. Once my coach, always my coach. My coach for life, just the way he embraced me as a player and as a kid.”
After the Childress era, the next two Vikings head coaches, Leslie Frazier and Mike Zimmer, retained Stefanski. He coached quarterbacks, tight ends and running backs en route to becoming the offensive coordinator of the Vikings for the final three games of the 2018 season and all of 2019.