List of Cleveland Browns head coaches
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football franchise based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The team began playing in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and joined the NFL as part of the AAFC–NFL merger in 1950.[1] The team played their home games at Cleveland Stadium from 1946 to 1995 before moving to Cleveland Browns Stadium, where they have played since 1999.[2] The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 when the team's owner, Art Modell, moved the team to Baltimore, Maryland and formed the Baltimore Ravens. The team was reactivated under new ownership in Cleveland in 1999.[3] The Browns are currently owned by Jimmy Haslam III.[4]
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There have been 19 non-interim head coaches for the Browns franchise. Their first head coach was Paul Brown, who coached for 17 complete seasons.[5] Brown is also the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season games coached (214), the most regular season game wins (158), the most playoffs games coached (14), and the most playoff game wins (9). Brown is the only Browns head coach to win an AAFC championship, winning four. Brown and Blanton Collier have led the Browns to NFL championships. Brown won the Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year three times, the United Press International (UPI) NFL Coach of the Year once,[6] and was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach.[7] Five coaches have won Coach of the Year awards: Brown (1949, 1951, 1953, 1957), Forrest Gregg (1976), Sam Rutigliano (1979, 1980), Marty Schottenheimer (1986), and Kevin Stefanski (2020, 2023).
Since their reactivation in 1999, the Browns have had significant turnover at the head coaching position. Eleven men have coached the Browns since 1999, and only two have reached the postseason: Butch Davis (2002) and Stefanski (2020 and 2023).
Key
| # | Number of coaches[N 1] |
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| T | Ties |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| † | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach |
| ‡ | Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player |
| * | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Browns |
Coaches
- Note: Statistics are accurate through the 2025 NFL season.
| # | Image | Name | Term[N 2] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yrs | First | Last | GC | W | L | T | W% | GC | W | L | W% | |||||
| 1 |  |
Paul Brown † | 17 | 1946 | 1962 | 214 | 158 | 48 | 8 | .767 | 14 | 9 | 5 | .643 | 4 AAFC championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949) 3 NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955) 7 NFL Conference championships (1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957) 3 AAFC Western Division championships (1946, 1947, 1948) 4 AAFC Playoff berths 8 NFL Playoff berths 3 SN NFL Coach of the Year (1949, 1951, and 1953) 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1957) |
[5][7] |
| 2 | Blanton Collier* | 8 | 1963 | 1970 | 112 | 76 | 34 | 2 | .691 | 7 | 3 | 4 | .429 | 1 NFL championship (1964) 4 Eastern conference champions (1964, 1965, 1968, 1969) 3 Century Division Champions (1967,1968, 1969) 5 Playoff berths |
[8] | |
| 3 | Nick Skorich | 4 | 1971 | 1974 | 56 | 30 | 24 | 2 | .556 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 AFC Central Championship (1971) 2 Playoff berths |
[9] | |
| 4 | Forrest Gregg ‡ | 3 | 1975 | 1977 | 41 | 18 | 23 | 0 | .439 | — | 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year (1976) | [10] | ||||
| – | Dick Modzelewski*[N 3] | 1 | 1977 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | — | [11] | ||||||
| 5 |  |
Sam Rutigliano* | 7 | 1978 | 1984 | 97 | 47 | 50 | 0 | .485 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1 AFC Central Championship (1980) 2 Playoff berths 2 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1979, 1980) |
[12] |
| 6 | .jpg) |
Marty Schottenheimer[N 4] | 5 | 1984 | 1988 | 71 | 44 | 27 | 0 | .620 | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 3 AFC Central Championship (1985, 1986, 1987) 4 Playoff berths 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1986) |
[13] |
| 7 |  |
Bud Carson* | 2 | 1989 | 1990 | 25 | 11 | 13 | 1 | .458 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 AFC Central Championship (1989) 1 Playoff berth |
[14] |
| – |  |
Jim Shofner*[N 5] | 1 | 1990 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 | — | [15] | |||||
| 8 |  |
Bill Belichick | 5 | 1991 | 1995 | 80 | 36 | 44 | 0 | .450 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 Playoff berth | [16] |
| — [N 6] | 3 | 1996 | 1998 | — | — | |||||||||||
| 9 | Chris Palmer* | 2 | 1999 | 2000 | 32 | 5 | 27 | 0 | .156 | — | [17] | |||||
| 10 |  |
Butch Davis* | 4 | 2001 | 2004 | 59 | 24 | 35 | 0 | .407 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 1 Playoff berth | [18] |
| – |  |
Terry Robiskie[N 7] | 1 | 2004 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .200 | — | [19] | |||||
| 11 | .jpg) |
Romeo Crennel | 4 | 2005 | 2008 | 64 | 24 | 40 | 0 | .375 | — | [20] | ||||
| 12 | .jpg) |
Eric Mangini | 2 | 2009 | 2010 | 32 | 10 | 22 | 0 | .313 | — | [21] | ||||
| 13 |  |
Pat Shurmur | 2 | 2011 | 2012 | 32 | 9 | 23 | 0 | .281 | — | [22] | ||||
| 14 |  |
Rob Chudzinski* | 1 | 2013 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | — | [23] | |||||
| 15 | .jpg) |
Mike Pettine* | 2 | 2014 | 2015 | 32 | 10 | 22 | 0 | .313 | — | [24] | ||||
| 16 | _(cropped).jpg){kind=small} |
Hue Jackson | 3 | 2016 | 2018 | 40 | 3 | 36 | 1 | .088 | — | [25] | ||||
| – | .jpg) |
Gregg Williams[N 8] | 1 | 2018 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 | — | [26] | |||||
| 17 | .jpg){kind=small} |
Freddie Kitchens* | 1 | 2019 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | — | [27] | |||||
| 18 | .jpg) |
Kevin Stefanski[N 9] | 6 | 2020 | 2025 | 101 | 45 | 56 | 0 | .446 | 3 | 1 | 2 | .333 | 2 Playoff berths 2 AP NFL Coach of the Year (2020, 2023) |
[28][29] |
| 19 | Todd Monken* | 1 | 2026 | present | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | — | [30] | |||||
Footnotes
- A running total of the number of coaches of the Browns. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once. Interim coaches are not included.
- Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
- Gregg was fired thirteen games into the 1977 season. Modzelewski served as interim head coach for the remaining game.
- Rutigliano was fired eight games into the 1984 season. Schottenheimer served as interim head coach for the remaining eight games before being promoted to full-time head coach.
- Carson was fired nine games into the 1990 season. Shofner served as interim head coach for the remaining seven games.
- The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 due to events in the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy.[3]
- Davis resigned eleven games into the 2004 season. Robiskie served as interim head coach for the remaining five games.
- Jackson was fired eight games into the 2018 season. Williams served as interim head coach for the remaining eight games.
- During the 2020–21 NFL playoffs, Stefanski tested positive for COVID-19. Special teams coordinator Mike Priefer served as the acting head coach in the wild-card round against the Pittsburgh Steelers, winning the game. Stefanski tested positive during Week 15 of the 2021 season, with Priefer again serving as acting head coach against the Las Vegas Raiders, losing the game.