Kevin Stefanski brushes off rumors he's on the hot seat in Cleveland

The Cleveland Browns are 2-8, but head coach Kevin Stefanski is staying the course.

On Tuesday, November 19, Stefanski was asked whether he's noticed his name on "hot seat lists" in the media.

"I think probably because I grew up listening to [Philadelphia radio], I'm smart enough to not worry about outside noise," Stefanski said, according to ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi. "I get that's part of this gig. That's life in the big city. My sole focus is getting this team ready to get a win on Thursday night. That's it."

The Browns will host the 8-2 Pittsburgh Steelers on Amazon Prime's Thursday Night Football. It's the start of a brutal stretch for the Browns, who will visit Denver on Monday, December 2, before taking on the Steelers again on Sunday, December 8, and hosting the back-to-back reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, December 15.

Despite Cleveland's pole position for a top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Browns general manager Andrew Berry dismissed any notion that the franchise has lost faith in Stefanski.

"I think there are 13 coaches in the history of the sport to win a Coach of the Year award multiple times," Berry told reporters during the Browns' bye week earlier this month. "Ten of them went to a Super Bowl or NFL championship, six of them won one, and seven are in the Hall of Fame. And he's the second-fastest to do it. Like, Kevin's an outstanding coach, and he's absolutely a part of the solution."

Stefanski is the reigning AP Coach of the Year after leading the Browns to an 11-6 record and the AFC Wild Card Round, where Houston blasted them 45-14. Stefanski also won AP Coach of the Year in 2020, his first year as Cleveland's head coach.