Stefanski is PFWA, Sporting News COTY

Named PFWA, Sporting News Coach of the Year

The coach guided the Browns to their highest victory total in 34 years gets national Coach of The Year awards.

Kevin Stefanski, who guided the Browns to their highest victory total in 34 years, was named NFL Coach of the Year on Jan. 21 by the Pro Football Writers of America and by the Sporting News.

Both are national awards and not just voted on by the Cleveland chapter of the PFWA.

This marks the first time since The Sporting News named Paul Brown Coach of the Year in 1953 that the prestigious outlet gave the award to a Browns coach. Marty Schottenheimer in 1986 was the last Browns coach to get the recognition from the PFWA.

The Browns were the only team with a first-year coach to make the playoffs in 2020.

The playoff appearance was the first for the Browns since 2002. Beating the Steelers, 48-37, in a wild-card game Jan. 10 gave the Browns their first win in the postseason since they beat the New England Patriots in 1994.

“I’m proud of our guys for battling all season long,” Stefanski said Jan. 18 in his wrap-up news conference one day after being eliminated by Kansas City in the playoffs. “I’m proud of the guys for putting up with the coaches and us moving the schedule on them constantly. I’m proud of how resilient they were in that regard and how resilient they were in different ball games.

“I think we established our identity this season on offense, defense and special teams. We accomplished some of our goals – ultimately, not all of our goals – but I definitely can look back and tell you that I’m proud of the effort of our players, our coaches and our staff.”

The 408 points scored by the Browns, with Stefanski calling plays, were secondmost in franchise history. The only season that topped 2020 was 1964 when the Browns scored 415 points in 1964 in a 14-point season.

The Browns were 11-5 in the regular season and 12-6 when the playoffs are included. It was the first time they won 12 games in a season since 1986 when they were 12-4 in the regular season and 1-1 in the playoffs.

Quarterback Baker Mayfield was the biggest beneficiary working with Strefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt for the first time. Mayfield threw 26 touchdown passes in 2020 compared to a year ago and just eight interceptions compared to 21 last season. His passer rating climbed from 78.8 in 2019 to 95.9 in 2020.