Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski will handle play-calling duties. Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski will call offensive plays

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Sep 11, 2020 4:45 PM ET

For the second season in a row, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield will have offensive plays called by the team's head coach in Week 1.

As Jake Trotter of ESPN wrote, new Cleveland head coach Kevin Stefanski told media members on Friday that he — not offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt — will handle play-calling duties when the Browns open the season versus division foes the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Stefanski served as the full-time offensive coordinator and offensive play-caller for the Minnesota Vikings during the 2019 campaign. Per Trotter, Minnesota finished the season ninth in NFL offensive efficiency.

Cleveland hired Stefanski last January after the club parted ways with Freddie Kitchens. Nick Shook of NFL.com noted that Kitchens was widely criticized for not relinquishing the job of play-caller as the Browns tumbled down the standings and finished the year with a disappointing 6-10 record.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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