Alan Kornspan
Believeland Media
The Cleveland Browns began training camp on Thursday at the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia.
This is the second year in a row that the Browns organization has started training camp at The Greenbrier.
After the completion of the first day of training camp, Stefanski said that he is happy to be starting practice at The Greenbrier.
"As you guys know, this is a beautiful place for us," said Stefanski.
"It's very lucky that we have ownership that lets us come down here and do it first class. They treat us great down here. So, we’ll be down here for eight nights, get some really good work in, and then we’ll be back up in Berea to see our fans."
Stefanski said that his message to the team was to stay focused on the work that needs to be done to improve.
"I told the guys, and I know all 32 clubs talked about winning (the) Super Bowl, everybody does," said Stefanski.
"As you know, that costs nothing. It’s very cheap, talk is cheap. You can say really anything you want, we don’t really hone in on a lot of things that we may be able to speak into existence. We just kind of focus on the work, and that’s why we’re down here. We’re here to work.”
Stefanski Reports that He Will Be Calling the Offensive Plays on Game Day
One question that often comes up in discussing the role of the head coach in the NFL, is "should the head coach of an NFL team be calling the offensive plays on game day, or should that duty be be given to another member of the coaching staff such as the offensive coordinator?"
According to Derrick Klassen, a sports writer for the 33rd Team, in his article, "Ranking Every NFL Offensive Play-Caller Entering 2024 Offseason" about one-third of NFL head coaches call their own plays. In addition, Klassen ranked Stefanski as the 9th best play caller in the NFL.
During the off-season, it was unclear on whether Stefanski would continue to call the offensive plays on game day since the Browns hired a new offensive coordinator, Ken Dorsey.
Earlier in the off-season, at the Cleveland Browns June 3rd press conference, there was speculation that there could be a change in who would be doing thr play calling since one of the quarterbacks mentioned that Dorsey was calling the plays at practice.
At the time, however, Stefanski said that it was not uncommon for him to not be calling plays during practice.
"No, we rotate at practice. I don’t always radio the plays into practice. I never have. We’ve always mixed it up,” said Stefanski.
In the first press conference of the pre-season, Stefanski wasted know time in ending the speculation by letting everyone know that he will be calling the plays this season.
Stefanski, said that this was not a decision he took lightly.
Thus, he made sure to take his time and discuss the issue with many people.
Although Stefanski will be calling plays on game day, Stefanski emphasized a few key takeaways from his decison.
He emphasized that what occurs within the offense is a group effort amongst the staff.
"But I want to reiterate, I feel really, really strongly about our entire offensive staff.
"Ken Dorsey is going to be a huge, huge help to me, not just on game day, throughout the week. He has a huge influence on what we do offensively already; the things that we’re implementing, things that he’s putting together, the way he works with our offensive staff."
Also, Stefanski said that he is very confident in Dorsey's ability to manage the offense.
In particular, Dorsey will have a main role in leading the quarterbacks in the quarterback room.
Stefanski stressed that he gains much confidence in taking on the play calling duty since the coaching staff does a great job of communicating on game day.
"I know it (play calling) can be done in a bunch of different ways," said Stefanski.
"My confidence comes from the people around me. I feel really strongly about that group. I feel strongly about how we operate on game day and the communication that we’ve had from a game management standpoint."
Overall, some important takeaways to think about when it comes to Stefanski's decision to call the plays this season.
First, the Browns had a very successful offense last season. In addition, Stefanski is ranked as very effective play caller.
Thus, it should be exciting to see how the offense does this season with Stefanski again calling the plays.
We here at Believeland Media would love to know your opinion on Stefanski's decision to call the plays on game day.
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