Browns Hiring Kevin Stefanski Immediately After Vikings' Stinkbomb Against 49ers is Most Browns Outcome Possible

The Minnesota Vikings had a dismal showing on offense Saturday afternoon against the San Francisco 49ers. The team rushed for a total of 21 yards, and Kirk Cousins went 21-of-29 for 172 yards.

The game featured two Cleveland Browns head coaching candidates in Vikings OC Kevin Stefanski and 49ers DC Robert Saleh. The latter clearly had the better day.

Yet the Browns remain the Browns and decided to go with Stefanski for the head coaching job.

Stefanski was judged for his entire body of work and not just yesterday's game, of course, and it's unfair to impugn a hire based on one day's worth of bad optics. Still, this is a vintage Browns move to see someone fail on a big stage and then hire them the following day.

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is a notoriously reactionary guy, and it is a true surprise he didn't eliminate Stefanski from contention after the loss in Santa Clara. Haslam sticking to a plan for once does not help the optics of this move, though.

Browns fans have every right to be frustrated. The team has whiffed on nearly every decision since 1999, and Stefanski has one full season of experience as the full-time offensive coordinator. His offense fizzled out spectacularly against the 49ers, outdueled by another candidate for the job, and the result was a promotion to head coach in Cleveland.

Fans wanted a big hire after the Freddie Kitchens disaster in 2019. Josh McDaniels was there for the taking, and for whatever reason, it just did not work out between the two sides.

Polarizing reactions to a head coaching hire have become a nearly annual tradition in Cleveland. All Haslam did was throw fuel onto the fire by hiring Stefanski just one day after he was overmatched by another candidate for the job.

Though, at this point, any new hire will draw negative reactions from Browns fans. It is what Haslam has done to the fanbase.