Jameis Winston played for Kevin Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns in 2024. Now that the Browns have fired Stafanski, Winston opined on Monday morning that the 43-year-old would be “suitable for this
role” as coach for the New York Giants.
“He’s a great leader. Very poised. Doesn’t allow anything outside to effect his thinking,” Winston said. “I think he will be a great fit here.”
Stefanski won two Coach of the Year awards in six seasons with the Browns, but finished with an overall record of 45-56 (.446 winning percentage). The Browns fired him after going 8-26 over the past two seasons, including 5-12 in 2025.
Winston, who just completed his 11th NFL season, know what he would like to see in the next head coach.
“We definitely are required to have some structure and strong leaders put in in position for our team to have success because we have a very young team, and I believe it’s required for us to have stern leadership,” Winston said.
“We have to finish. That’s an accumulation of players and coaches in crunch decisions making key choices in those key moments,” Winston said.
Quarterback Jaxson Dart is familiar with Stefanski, an offensive-minded coach was an offensive coordinator before becoming Cleveland head coach, from the draft process. The Browns, who drafted quarterbacks Dillon Gabriel in Round 3 and Shedeur Sanders in Round 5, obviously had heavy interest in the quarterback class.
Dart said Stefanski was “great” during the pre-draft process.
“He’s had a really good career, especially from an offensive side of things,” Dart said. “The visit with him and his staff really went well, and I think he’s a really good coach.”
The question now is whether or not Stefanski will be Dart’s coach in 2026.
