The Cleveland Browns have hit the halfway point of a difficult 2025 season, sitting at 2-6 after their bye week. Despite low expectations entering the year, the team’s poor offensive performances have led to coach Kevin Stefanski making a significant change.
What Major News Did the Cleveland Browns Announce?
Coming out of the bye week, Kevin Stefanski announced that he will no longer call the offensive plays for the team. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will now handle those duties. This is meant to bring change to an offense that ranks near the bottom of the league in nearly every major category.
“I just felt like it was the right time for this,” Stefanski said, via Jeff Schudel. “It’s never about one person, whether you talk about a player or a coach. But, obviously, I think Tommy’s going to be himself and that’s what I’m asking him to do.
I’ll be there every step of the way to help him in any way I can, like you should with any play-caller. But, bottom line is, he understands what we need to do, which is stay on the field and score some points.”
This is not the first time Stefanski has passed off play-calling duties. He did the same last season when the Browns were having a hard time offensively, giving then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey a chance to lead the offense.
However, the experiment did not last, as Dorsey was let go after the season. Rees, who has worked as a passing-game specialist and tight ends coach, was promoted to offensive coordinator in the offseason and will now have complete control of the play sheet.
Kevin Stefanski has decided to turn over play-calling to #Browns offensive coordinator Tommy Rees. Here he explains his reasoning. pic.twitter.com/FnxPWtww3F
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) November 3, 2025
“These are things that I’m always looking at what can we do better,” Stefanski said. “I have a ton of trust and faith in Tommy. He’s more than capable, so excited for him. But, bottom line is, we have to just get better collectively so that’s offense, that’s defense, that’s special teams, that’s players, that’s coaching. So, that’s our charge and that’s what we’re working hard to do.”
Rees is one of the youngest coordinators in the NFL. He was in the college ranks before joining the Cleveland Browns in 2024. He was the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame and Alabama. A former quarterback himself, Rees started 30 games for Notre Dame between 2010 and 2013.
The Browns’ offense has been among the NFL’s least productive through eight games. The team ranks 31st in total yards per game (263.5), 31st in points per game (15.8), and 29th in passing yards (174.0). The running game has also been ineffective, averaging 89.5 yards per game.