Kevin Stefanski: I think we established our identity this season

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When new head coaches are hired in the NFL, they often talk about establishing a new culture or identity for their teams.

Progress on that front can be hard to define during a season, but the year-end press conference offers a chance to reflect on how that process has played out. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski got his opportunity to do that on Monday.

While he noted that the goal remains winning the final game of the season, Stefanski said that he thinks the team has been successful in implementing the identity he wants the team to have in all phases of the game.

“I am proud of our guys for battling all season long,” Stefanski said, via Cleveland.com. “I am proud of the guys for putting up with the coaches and us moving the schedule on them constantly. I am proud of how resilient they were in that regard and how resilient they were in different ball games. I am proud of how they fought yesterday. 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 am proud of the effort of our players, our coaches and our staff.”

Stefanski’s work this season has made him a favorite to be named the NFL’s coach of the year and it’s set a high bar for the Browns as they move toward the 2021 season. That’s a new place for the Browns to find themselves and building off success will be Stefanski’s next task in Cleveland.