The Cleveland Browns parted ways with head coach Kevin Stefanski just one day after the regular season ended and relevant reactions have been rolling in ever since.
Potentially among them was a social media post from Deion Sanders, the head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes football program and father of Browns rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
While Deion Sanders did not name Stefanski directly, he spoke in general terms about “new things” and a “new mindset” and winning at the “game of life.”
“We’re gonna make it!” he wrote. “Please get that in your Heart, your Spirit & your way of Living! It’s 2026 & that means it’s a New Year therefore it’s time for New Things! A whole new mindset is warranted & must be established right Now! We’re gonna Win this Game of Life. #CoachPrime”
While it is certainly possible that Deion Sanders’ sentiment was unrelated to Stefanski’s departure, it is worth noting that Sanders authored the post less than an hour after the news of Stefanski’s firing went public.
Kevin Stefanski Waited as Long as Possible to Get Shedeur Sanders on Field
GettyCleveland Browns former head coach Kevin Stefanski.
Stefanski and the Browns decided to draft Shedeur Sanders early in the fifth round after passing over him several times before.
Sanders began his journey with the team as QB4, where he remained until late August when the team traded Kenny Pickett to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel got some work with the first-team in practice, even though Joe Flacco claimed the starting role midway through August and held onto it through the first month of the season.
Once the Browns eventually replaced Flacco with Gabriel, Stefanski kept all the first-team reps with Gabriel, even after the team shipped Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals and Sanders moved into the QB2 role.
It took a Gabriel concussion during a game against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 11 for Sanders to get his first shot, immediately after which Stefanski made public his intentions to go back to Gabriel as soon as he was healthy enough to play.
However, Sanders led the Browns to a road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders the following week and the pressure from fans and media — as well as perhaps internally, though that has not been confirmed — combined with Sanders’ relative on-field success led Stefanski to stick with Sanders down the stretch.
Browns’ Next Choice of Head Coach Will Reveal Much About Shedeur Sanders’ Future in Cleveland
GettyQuarterback Shedeur Sanders of the Cleveland Browns.
None of that factual retelling of the Sanders/Stefanski timeline is meant to suggest that the former Browns head coach harbored any ill will toward the rookie QB or didn’t want him to succeed.
That said, with Stefanski gone, the team has an opportunity to hire a coach who truly believes in Sanders and is interested in building an offense around him that has the best chance of success.
Thus, who the Browns hire is of particular note, as the franchise also owns two picks in the first round of the upcoming draft — their own at No. 6 overall, and one from the Jacksonville Jaguars that is likely to fall in the mid-to-late 20s or possibly even the low 30s (currently No. 28).
Cleveland won’t be able to land one of the top two quarterbacks in what some analysts now believe is a two-QB draft, so to speak (just two franchise-caliber players at the position), without trading up.
But the team isn’t going to simply hand the reins over to Sanders, either, after a 3-4 year as the starter across eight appearances, during which he tallied 1,400 passing yards, seven TDs and 10 INTs. Thus, Sanders is going to face competition for the QB1 job, in some form or another.
But the general attitude of the new head coach toward the polarizing and popular young signal-caller, as well as that coach’s capability of constructing a successful offense around what Sanders does well, is going to speak volumes about how the franchise higher-ups view the QB’s future in Cleveland.
Deion Sanders Shares Strong Words After Browns Fire Kevin Stefanski