List of Cleveland Browns head coaches

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The Browns have played their home games in FirstEnergy Stadium since 1999.

The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team began playing in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and joined the NFL as part of the AAFC–NFL merger in 1950.[1] The team played their home games at Cleveland Stadium from 1946 to 1995 before moving to FirstEnergy Stadium (formerly Cleveland Browns Stadium), where they have played since 1999.[2] The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 when the team's owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore, Maryland and formed the Baltimore Ravens. The team was re-activated under new ownership in Cleveland in 1999.[3] The team is currently owned by Jimmy Haslam III.[4]

There have been 18 non-interim head coaches for the Browns franchise. Their first head coach was Paul Brown, who coached for 17 complete seasons.[5] Brown is also the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (214), the most regular season game wins (158), the most playoffs games coached (14), and the most playoff game wins (9). Brown is the only Browns head coach to win an AAFC championship with four, the NFL championship with three, the Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year three times, the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year once,[6] and to have been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach.[7] Blanton Collier, Dick Modzelewski, Sam Rutigliano, Bud Carson, Jim Shofner, Chris Palmer, Butch Davis, and Rob Chudzinski have spent their entire NFL head coaching careers with the Browns. Eric Mangini had been the head coach of the Browns since the firing of Romeo Crennel,[8] but was himself fired on January 3, 2011. Shurmur replaced Mangini as head coach, but was fired after posting a 9–23 record over two seasons in charge.[9] On January 11, 2013, the Cleveland Browns officially named Rob Chudzinski as the replacement for Pat Shurmur. Chudzinski compiled a 4–12 record during the 2013 season, but was fired on December 29.[10] On January 23, 2014, the Browns hired Mike Pettine as their head coach. Pettine was fired on January 3, 2016, hours after the Browns lost their 2015 season finale. On January 13, 2016, Hue Jackson was named the Browns' new head coach. He was then fired on October 29, 2018 after only 3 wins in 40 games. He was replaced by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams on an interim basis. On January 9, 2019, Freddie Kitchens was promoted from interim offensive coordinator to head coach.[11] He was fired on December 29 after the Browns finished the 2019 season with a 6–10 record.[12] On January 13, 2020, Kevin Stefanski was named head coach.[13]

Key[]

# Number of coaches[N 1]
GC Games coached
W Wins
L Losses
T Ties
Win% Winning percentage
00† Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00‡ Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00* Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Browns

Coaches[]

Note: Statistics are accurate through the 2021 NFL season.
#[14] Name Term[N 2] Regular season Playoffs Achievements Ref.
GC W L T Win% GC W L Win%
1 Paul Brown † 1946–1962 214 158 48 8 .767 14 9 5 .643 Four AAFC championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949)[15]
Three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955)[16]
Seven NFL Conference championships (1950–55, 1957)

1949, 1951, and 1953 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year[17]
1957 UPI NFL Coach of the Year[6]

[5][7]
2 Blanton Collier* 1963–1970 112 76 34 2 .691 7 3 4 .429 NFL Champion in 1964
Four Eastern conference champions (1964, 1965, 1968, 1969)
Three Century Division Champions (1967,1968, 1969)
 [18]
3 Nick Skorich 1971–1974 56 30 24 2 .556 2 0 2 .000 AFC Central Division Champions 1971 [19]
4 Forrest Gregg ‡ 1975–1977 41 18 23 0 .439 — — — — 1976 Associated Press (AP) NFL Coach of the Year[20] [21]
— Dick Modzelewski*[N 3] 1977 1 0 1 0 .000 — — — — [22]
5 Sam Rutigliano* 1978–1984 97 47 50 0 .485 2 0 2 .000 1979 and 1980 UPI NFL Coach of the Year,[6]
AFC Central Division Champions 1980 		[23]
6 Marty Schottenheimer[N 4] 1984–1988 71 44 27 0 .620 6 2 4 .333 1986 UPI NFL Coach of the Year[6]
Three AFC Central Division Champions (1985, 1986 and 1987) 		[24]
7 Bud Carson* 1989–1990 25 11 13 1 .458 2 1 1 .500 AFC Central Division Champions 1989 [25]
— Jim Shofner*[N 5] 1990 7 1 6 0 .143 — — — — [26]
8 Bill Belichick 1991–1995 80 36 44 0 .450 2 1 1 .500 [27]
— [N 6] 1996–1998
9 Chris Palmer* 1999–2000 32 5 27 0 .156 — — — — [28]
10 Butch Davis* 2001–2004 59 24 35 0 .407 1 0 1 .000 [29]
— Terry Robiskie[N 7] 2004 5 1 4 0 .200 — — — — [30]
11 Romeo Crennel 2005–2008 64 24 40 0 .375 — — — — [31]
12 Eric Mangini 2009–2010 32 10 22 0 .313 — — — — [32]
13 Pat Shurmur 2011–2012 32 9 23 0 .281 — — — — [33]
14 Rob Chudzinski* 2013 16 4 12 0 .250 — — — — [34]
15 Mike Pettine* 2014–2015 32 10 22 0 .313 — — — — [35]
16 Hue Jackson 2016–2018 40 3 36 1 .088 — — — — [36]
— Gregg Williams[N 8] 2018 8 5 3 0 .625 — — — — [37]
17 Freddie Kitchens* 2019 16 6 10 0 .375 — — — — [38]
18 Kevin Stefanski*[N 9] 2020–present 33 19 14 0 .576 2 1 1 .500 2020 AP NFL Coach of the Year [39][40]

Footnotes[]

  1. ^ A running total of the number of coaches of the Browns. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once. Interim coaches are not included.
  2. ^ Each year is linked to an article about that NFL season.
  3. ^ Gregg was fired thirteen games into the 1977 season. Modzelewski served as interim head coach for the remaining game.
  4. ^ Rutigliano was fired eight games into the 1984 season. Schottenheimer served as interim head coach for the remaining eight games before being promoted to full-time head coach.
  5. ^ Carson was fired nine games into the 1990 season. Shofner served as interim head coach for the remaining seven games.
  6. ^ The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 due to events in the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy.[3]
  7. ^ Davis resigned eleven games into the 2004 season. Robiskie served as interim head coach for the remaining five games.
  8. ^ Jackson was fired eight games into the 2018 season. Williams served as interim head coach for the remaining eight games.
  9. ^ During the 2020–21 NFL playoffs, Stefanski tested positive for COVID-19. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer served as the acting head coach in the Wild Card Round against the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning the game. Stefanski tested positive during Week 15 of the 2021 season, with Priefer again serving as acting head coach against the Las Vegas Raiders, losing the game.

Notes[]

General
  • "History: All-Time Head Coaches". Cleveland Browns. NFL Enterprises LLC. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  • "Cleveland Browns Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
Specific
  1. ^ "Year By Year Season Results". Cleveland Browns. NFL Enterprises LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-04-02. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cleveland Browns Stadium". Cleveland Browns. NFL Enterprises LLC. Archived from the original on 2010-03-15. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Henkel 2005, p. 111
  4. ^ "Cleveland Browns – Front Office". January 20, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Paul Brown". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c d Hickok, Ralph (2008-04-17). "NFL Coach of the Year Award". Hick OK Sports. Archived from the original on December 5, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Paul Brown". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  8. ^ "Cleveland Browns Franchise Encyclopedia". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  9. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (December 31, 2012). "Pat Shurmur, Tom Heckert fired by Cleveland Browns". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved December 31, 2012.
  10. ^ Sessler, Marc (December 29, 2013). "Rob Chudzinski fired by Cleveland Browns". National Football League. NFL Enterprises LLC. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  11. ^ McManamon, Pat (January 9, 2019). "Sources: Browns to name Freddie Kitchens head coach". ESPN. Retrieved January 9, 2019.
  12. ^ "Browns relieve Freddie Kitchens of duties as head coach". www.clevelandbrowns.com. Retrieved 2019-12-30.
  13. ^ "Kevin Stefanski named Browns head coach". ClevelandBrowns.com. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  14. ^ Interim head coaches are not included in the numbering.
  15. ^ "Cleveland Browns". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  16. ^ "History: NFL Champions". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  17. ^ "NFL Coach of the Year". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 2009-02-17. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  18. ^ "Blanton Collier". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  19. ^ "Nick Skorich". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  20. ^ "AP NFL Coach of the Year Winners". The Washington Post. 2005-01-08. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  21. ^ "Forrest Gregg". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  22. ^ "Dick Modzelewski". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  23. ^ "Sam Rutigliano". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  24. ^ "Marty Schottenheimer". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  25. ^ "Bud Carson". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  26. ^ "Jim Shofner". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  27. ^ "Bill Belichick". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  28. ^ "Chris Palmer". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  29. ^ "Butch Davis". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  30. ^ "Terry Robiskie". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  31. ^ "Romeo Crennel". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  32. ^ "Eric Mangini". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  33. ^ "Pat Shurmur's Coaching Record". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
  34. ^ "AP Source: Browns Hire Rob Chudzinski as New Coach". abcnews.go.com. AP. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
  35. ^ "Mike Pettine Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  36. ^ Cabot, Mary Kay (January 13, 2016). "Hue Jackson hired as Cleveland Browns' 8th head coach since 1999". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  37. ^ Laine, Jenna (October 29, 2018). "Browns fire head coach Hue Jackson, offensive coordinator Todd Haley". ESPN. espn.com. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  38. ^ Patra, Kevin (January 9, 2019). "Browns promote Freddie Kitchens to head coach". NFL. nfl.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  39. ^ Gordon, Grant (January 12, 2020). "Browns hire Kevin Stefanski as next head coach". NFL. nfl.com. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  40. ^ "Kevin Stefanski Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks Record, Statistics, and Category Ranks". Pro Football Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 4, 2021.

References[]

  • Henkel, Frank M. (2005). Cleveland Browns History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-3428-2.

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