Why Browns should replace HC Kevin Stefanski with Deion Sanders

Few would argue that Deion Sanders would make a better pro coach than college coach. He rarely recruits high school players, opting for the transfer portal route instead. Home visits with Deion are nonexistent. As a Pro Football Hall of Famer, he obviously knows the game inside and out. If coaching in the NFL, he wouldn’t need to worry about recruiting or NIL.

Enter Cleveland. Shedeur Sanders, like most rookie quarterbacks, has had both good and bad moments in his first four career starts. But there’s no question that the tools are there. He’s also been playing behind a patchwork offensive line that would struggle to compete in the MAC and throwing to a receiver group that appears to have feet for hands on most Sundays.

If Deion had the headset in Cleveland, he’d know how to best utilize Shedeur’s strengths. Free agents would likely be more inclined to play for Deion and alongside Shedeur than they would be for Stefanski and any of his seemingly preferred QB choices (Deshaun Watson, Dillon Gabriel, Kenny Pickett, etc.). 

There’s no way Deion wouldn’t have a plan in place to improve the offensive line and protect his son while also handpicking some new targets to ignite Cleveland’s stagnant offense. It wouldn’t be cheap, but that’s a Jimmy Haslam problem, not a Deion Sanders problem. And Haslam has never been afraid to spend money, even recklessly (see Watson, Deshaun).

Yes, on the surface, the idea of firing Stefanski (the most unlikely two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year winner) and replacing him with Deion Sanders sounds wild. But so does a three-win team punting from its own 39-yard line on 4th-and-1 while already trailing by a touchdown in the first quarter of its 14^th game of another lost season. 

And that’s exactly the rancid decision Stefanski made in a head-coaching career full of putrid performances. It's time to make the move to Prime Time and smell like a winner for a change.