As the Browns come out of their bye week and prepare for the second half of the 2025 season, they will have a new play-caller. Head coach Kevin Stefanski announced on Monday that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will call plays beginning in Week 10 against the Jets.
Heading into the bye week, Stefanski said they would evaluate all areas of the team in order to find ways to improve. He saw this move to shift play-calling duties to Rees as a chance to help boost the offense.
"I have a ton of trust and faith in Tommy. He's more than capable. So, excited for him. But bottom line is we have to just get better collectively," Stefanski said. "We have to be better in a lot of facets on the offensive side, I just felt that Tommy is somebody that I believe in – obviously hired him here a couple years back because I really believe in Tommy as a coach – and he's done everything that we've asked. And just feel like this is the right time for this."
Stefanski has been the play-caller since he became head coach of the Browns in 2020. However, in 2024, he turned over the play-calling duties to former offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey ahead of Week 8 as the Browns looked to improve their 1-6 record at the time.
The Browns are in a similar position this season, as they sit at 2-6 after the first eight weeks of the season and coming off their bye week. Over the bye week, they looked at different facets of their offense that worked well in the first eight games that they can lean into more, as well as the areas of struggles and considered if they needed to move on from those areas of the playbook.
Stefanski said that both players and coaches have a part in improving the offense, and Rees plays a role in those efforts as the play-caller to lean in into the parts of the playbook that best fit their players.
"I think Tommy is going to be himself and that's what I'm asking him to do, and I'll be there every step of the way to help him in in any way I can, like you should with any play caller," Stefanski said. "But bottom line is, he understands what we need to do, which is stay on the field and score some points."
After Rees was named the offensive coordinator in January 2025, Stefanski announced he would call plays for the 2025 season. However, Rees and Stefanski created their offensive system collaboratively, and have continued that joint approach as they formulated schematic plans to face specific opponents during the regular season.
Those similar conversations as well as setting up the game plan will continue for the second half of the season as Rees takes over play-calling.
"Those meetings and the discussion that happens Monday through Saturday is as important as the order in which those plays come off on Sunday," Stefanski said. "I just think all of us, as coaches on all sides of the ball, but in this case offense, we have to do our job. We have to do our job putting our guys in positions to succeed. And then it's an opportunity on Sundays to go execute. But I think it's very important what we do during the week and putting a plan together that our guys are confident, and that's really important."
