The Cleveland Browns haven’t had much success finding stability at the offensive coordinator position…for a while now. The last time they had a reasonably competent offensive coordinator was the one year they had Kyle Shanahan in 2014, and by no coincidence, they also finished 7-9 that year (for perspective, Steelers fans, this is good by their standards).
That was Mike Pettine’s first year. The next year, he had John DeFilippo. In 2016 and 2017, Hue Jackson as head coach was his own offensive coordinator. Todd Haley was thrust upon him for 2018, and then both of them were fired mid-year, Haley being replaced by Freddie Kitchens, who would have an embarrassing year as head coach and play-caller last year.
Shockingly, he, too, is now gone. Kevin Stefanski, whose resume has largely been built on his play-calling with the Minnesota Vikings, is now the head coach, but while he has an offensive coordinator, he has not yet decided upon who will call the plays during the season.
We do know who will be writing the script for the first 15 plays of one of the Browns’ preseason games this year, and that will be the winner, yet to be determined, of an ‘All in Challenge’ fundraiser event that will auction off that opportunity to script the plays.
The purpose is not to explore their options for future offensive coordinators, but to raise money for relief assistance to those suffering under the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s obviously a nice gesture, and, really, quite an interesting opportunity for anybody who wins.
More accurately, the winner will not script the plays himself, but rather assist Stefanski and offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt in creating that script. While the results of preseason games don’t count, the team still has to evaluate their players and their performances, and it’s easier to do when professionals are the ones creating the plays.
The winner will also be invited to a team dinner and team meeting the day before the game, in addition to sideline passes for the game itself, and will even enter the field with the team and participate in the opening coin toss.
For somebody who values such things, this could really be an awesome experience. I’m sure many Steelers fans would love to see the team do something similar…especially all the people on message boards who are convinced they can call better plays. I would imagine their first 15 plays would net at least 21 points.
