Getty Head coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills and head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns hug after Buffalo's 31-23 win
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski gave a lengthy interview this spring and one of the things he admits is how “jealous” he is of other teams and coaches because of their success.
Kevin Stefanski Admitted He’s ‘Jealous of the Guys That Have Won’
In an interview with “Pardon My Take,” hosts Dan “Big Cat” Katz and PFT Commenter commiserated with Kevin Stefanski about not having a Super Bowl victory — they are fans of the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders. And Stefanski admitted that part of what motivates him to win is straight-up jealousy.
“One of the things that motivates me is just jealousy. I’m just jealous. I’m jealous of the guys that have won, I’m jealous of them. They’ve had the parade, they got the ring, I’m very jealous. I want that so badly,” said Stefanski.
The hosts posited a hypothetical to the Browns head coach where they asked, “Would you rather go undefeated in the regular season but lose in the first round of the playoffs, or go 10-7 and lose in the Super Bowl?”
Stefanski wasn’t sure how to answer that because to him if you don’t win the Super Bowl in either scenario, what difference does it make?
“It’s hard to think about two scenarios not winning the Super Bowl because then it doesn’t matter either way,” admitted the coach.
“We would rather in the next 15 years, lose 15 Super Bowls than win one and miss the playoffs all 49 others,” said PFT Commenter, which Stefanski found very hard to believe.
“Really?!” said Stefanski, “That one team…,” to which Katz countered, “Fifteen NFC championship games, that’s pretty cool … those are some fun times,” and when Stefanski still looked skeptical, Katz said, “You might be too competitive to be a head coach.”
Kevin Stefanski Wants to Bring a Super Bowl Parade to Cleveland
Stefanski said that since he took the job as the Browns head coach, he has had people coming up to him to remind him how historically bad the team has been and he wants the fans to start having bigger expectations.
“I can’t tell you how many times I was reminded the team hadn’t been to the playoffs since… and I was like, ‘I don’t care.’ I wasn’t here for any of that when you had to suffer, I didn’t live that. So that didn’t matter to me. And going to the playoffs, you want to set your bar a little bit higher than just ‘going to the playoffs,” said the coach.
In the 2020-2021 season, the Browns did make the playoffs, nabbing the second wild card spot in the AFC. They then upset the No. 3 seed Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in Pittsburgh and Stefanski said that fans have told him that’s their Super Bowl — but he wants the real thing.
“I remember us going through the airport in Cleveland and one of the TSA agents comes up and says, ‘Thank you for beating Pittsburgh, that was our Super Bowl.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I want the Super Bowl to be your Super Bowl!'” said Stefanski.
“Our fans are unbelievable,” he said, adding, “We have a passionate group. Northeast Ohio, Cleveland, it’s a small town and some of these towns that deserve a winner, you want that so badly for them.”