Kevin Stefanski confident Browns culture established this season can carry into the next

BEREA — The first person to acknowledge things won't be the same next season for the Browns is their head coach.

“‘Every year is different," coach Kevin Stefanski said a day after an AFC wild card loss to the Houston Texans. "I mean, the players are always different and that’s the NFL. It’s never the same — ever. So you treat each year differently."

There were nearly two dozen potential free agents who were on the Browns roster by the time the season ended in Texas. That included some of the biggest names, including quarterback Joe Flacco, defensive end Za'Darius Smith, running back Kareem Hunt, linebackers Anthony Walker Jr. and Sione Takitaki, as well as defensive tackles Maurice Hurst II, Jordan Elliott and Shelby Harris.

All of those players had a hand in the Browns' third playoff season since 1999, and their second 11-win season since Stefanski took over in 2020. Some, such as Walker and Takitaki, were leaders in the locker room.

Some of those impending free agents will be brought back. Others won't.

However, Stefanski is confident what developed this season can carry forward into the next one because of many of the Browns players who will remain here.

"I would tell you the core of this football team, the guys that we know are coming back, are guys that represent who we are, that understand what they need to do on a day-to-day basis to be great," Stefanski said. "So we’re excited about that. But bottom line is when you’re talking about the locker room, it’s the people. It is just the people in that locker room, and I feel strongly about the people."

The Browns' season was defined by two corresponding parts. One was the litany of injuries, one after the other, which seemed to test the mettle and depth of the team.

The other was the steadfast way the Browns, virtually to a man, responded to each one of those injuries. From Jack Conklin and Nick Chubb in the first two weeks to Walker and Hurst in the final few weeks — and everyone in between — the response was almost the same regardless of the individual speaking.

It could be Stefanski or it could be All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett. Whomever it may have been, it was always something along the lines of "Next man up. We're just trying to go 1-0 this week."

"I thought we were a really close-knit group," Walker said. "… I think when you have that culture in the locker room it makes it easy to play the game with each other and you have that next-man-up mentality, but you believe in that person because they've been through the grind with you. And when you're close like that, you know the next person is prepared to play as well."

The question, though, is how to sustain that from one season to the next in the transient world that is pro sports. Walker, for instance, was clearly one of the Browns' most vocal and respected leaders, but he may not be back.

There's a proof of concept that it can work because there are examples across the NFL of organizations that weather offseason changes and maintain the same successful culture. Some of those exist in the same division as the Browns.

Part of why the Browns believe in the sustainability is because of the success they achieved this season. It was their own proof of concept.

“I think we learned what it takes to be resilient, and obviously each year is different but the main core is going to be back and the main core can carry that over and be like, hey, this is what we went through," left guard Joel Bitonio said. "Hopefully, we don't have to go through anything like that again, but this is what we went through last year. We had 11 wins, we made the playoffs and hopefully that's our floor now — a playoff team that has a chance to win a division and host a playoff game in the future.”

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on Twitter at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kevin Stefanski confident Browns can carry culture through offseason