Jameis Winston at quarterback won’t be the only major change for Cleveland’s offense on Sunday.
Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced coordinator Ken Dorsey will take over offensive play-calling moving forward.
Stefanski noted it was fully his decision to make that change.
“I’m very confident in Ken and I’m very confident in our offensive staff,” Stefanski said during his Wednesday press conference. “I feel that this is — when you’re talking about playing good football and putting game plans together, it’s never one person’s job. It’s really a collaborative effort. I have a ton of faith in all of our coaches. And Ken calling the plays doesn’t change that collaborative approach.”
Dorsey, 43, was promoted to Bills offensive coordinator in 2022 after the club’s former coordinator, Brian Daboll, was hired as Giants head coach. He was then fired midway through the 2023 season and replaced by Joe Brady.
Stafanski, the two-time AP coach of the year, had called plays for Cleveland since he was hired in 2020.
The Browns had shifted their offensive scheme during the offseason in an attempt to tailor it more toward Deshaun Watson’s skillset. The results have been extremely poor, as the Browns are No. 29 in points, No. 32 in total yards, and No. 32 in third-down conversion rate (23.7 percent).
Stefanski said he did feel comfortable calling the revised offense, but feels this is the best course of action at this time.
“Like I’ve told you guys many times, anything that happens good or bad for the football team is my responsibility. And we need to play better on offense,” Stefanski said. “We need to win football games. We’ve got to play sound football, play well on offense, defense, special teams. So, that’s going to always be our goal and that’s really what’s driving any decision I make.”
Stefanski noted that it will free him up to oversee more things during the game. But the team’s defense has not really been a problem under coordinator Jim Schwartz, who was hired last year.
“Yeah, I mean, it obviously does [free me up] in the sense that you’re not sending plays in every 40 seconds,” Stefanski said. “But that’s always been part of my job, to make sure that I know what’s going on for the football team — the offense, the defense, the special teams. So, maybe with the offense having the ball, there’s more opportunities there. But, that’s always part of the gig.”
As for the future, Stefanski said he’s not thinking about potentially calling plays again at some point down the road.
“Honestly, [that’s] not my focus at all for this week,” Stefanski said. “I want to do whatever is best for our football team — all the time. And I just feel like this is the best thing to do.”
