Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders gave a measured response when asked about the team’s decision to fire head coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons.
Sanders was among the first players to speak to the media after Stefanski’s firing. It came during a news conference that the rookie quarterback acknowledged came ‘a couple seconds’ after Cleveland’s players were made aware of the organization’s decisions.
‘I think it’s just overall the mentality like, things gonna happen. That’s just how the league is,’ Sanders said when discussing Stefanski’s departure. ‘Moving forward, just focus on what we can improve individually for the next head coach.’
Stefanski was twice named the NFL’s Coach of the Year with the Browns and led Cleveland to its first playoff win since the 1994 NFL season in his first year in 2020.
However, recent seasons haven’t gone as well for Cleveland. The Browns posted a combined 8-26 record over the 2023 and 2024 campaigns, dropping Stefanski’s overall record with the team to 45-56.
And those recent struggles are ultimately what prompted the Browns to move on from Stefanski, as owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam communicated in a statement announcing the 44-year-old’s firing.
Now, Cleveland will shift its focus toward finding a successor for Stefanski.
Meanwhile, Sanders doesn’t know exactly what his future will hold but feels confident about the way he carried himself and performed during his rookie season.
‘I think I did what I was able to do,’ Sanders said when asked whether he had showed Browns general manager Andrew Berry enough to inspire confidence as the team’s 2026 starter. ‘I definitely grew from a lot of things. I got experience now. I’m always the same confidence-wise, I’m there. But that’s not in my hands. That’s not my decision. I can’t speak on what other people feel.’