'Jimmy’s World' rolls on in Cleveland

A few thoughts from the week in sports …

The “Jimmy’s World” soap opera that is the Cleveland Browns had its latest plot twist this week, and it was a doozy.

The Browns fired head coach Kevin Stefanski after his teams won just eight combined games over the past two seasons, and he compiled a 45-56 mark in his six seasons at the helm.

The twist was that general manager Andrew Berry wasn’t also asked to clean out his office and follow Stefanski out of town.

"To win eight games in two years is horrible,” owner Jimmy Haslam said during the press conference in which he discussed Stefanski’s firing. “It's totally unacceptable, OK? And it's not gonna continue, OK?"

Berry and Stefanski worked closely together for six years. The coach clearly didn’t have much to work with in the last two years in terms of the roster.

I agree a change had to be made, and I’m OK with the team cutting ties with Stefanski. He is, by all accounts, a class act and caring coach, but there were too many in-game mistakes that happened over and over.

The Browns had an anemic 3-14 mark in 2024 and 5-12 this year.

It would have been good to see more emotion on the sidelines and in interviews from the coach. Losing became a pattern, the postgame and weekly press conferences all blending together. Sometimes a change is needed.

“We have to get better,” Stefanski would say over and over, but the next game, there would be more presnap penalties, turnovers and special teams blunders.

A lot of it wasn’t Stefanski’s fault, and he will almost certainly coach again in the NFL — probably next season.

After all, Stefanski also won two Coach of the Year Awards (11-5, 2020 and 11-5, 2023). He showed he could get the job done when he had talent.

Could any current NFL coach have made the playoffs with the Browns’ roster this year? I don’t think so.

Berry’s track record as the Browns’ GM since 2020 is poor, but Haslam said in effect that he saved his job in 2025 with good offseason moves and a stellar draft.

Still, the lack of talent on the offensive line and at wide receiver was apparent to even novice fans this past season.

The quarterback carousel also continued, with the Browns showing no clear-cut plan after starting the season with a pecking order of Joe Flacco, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders. In a quarterback-driven league, none of those guys were going to win many games in 2025 with little help around them.

And, of course, Deshaun Watson was lurking in the background like the soap opera character who no one likes. No one seems to know when, or if, the biggest trade bust in NFL history will return to the Browns.

The Browns are still trying to dig out of the hole created after the Watson trade flopped.

If Cleveland had gone in a different direction in its quarterback search, it could have been a much different story the last two years.

No one’s ever publicly said it, but my guess is Haslam was as gung-ho as anyone in the front office to trade for Watson — no matter the cost.

If Berry had been the main proponent to get Watson, he would have certainly been sent packing.

What now?

John Harbaugh seems to be far and away the top choice to replace Stefanski on the wish lists of fans.

Would the fired Ravens coach want to come to Cleveland? How much control would he want? Would he work under Berry?

I think he’d be a great choice, but do proven coaches even want to come to Cleveland?

It was good to hear Haslam state ownership takes “full responsibility” for the team’s struggles. He should because, to reiterate, Haslam knows he wanted Watson as much as anyone.

Haslam added, “Fans deserve better.”

With a new $2.4 billion domed stadium planned to open in Brook Park in 2029, there’s no margin for error for Haslam & Co. They need to rebuild their team if fans are going to pay significantly higher ticket prices.

The Browns have a first-ballot Hall of Famer in Myles Garrett and an excellent group of young players.

They just need to get a winning head coach, fix the offensive line and wide receiver group in the 2026 draft and free-agent market, and roll with Sanders, and if he doesn’t work out, get the franchise quarterback for 2027.

Wow, I got a knot in my stomach thinking about that to-do list. “Jimmy’s World” is excruciating to watch at times, but I’m a glutton for punishment and will keep watching.

WCAL record streak stopped

The host Smithville boys basketball team topped Norwayne 68-50 in a battle for first place in the Wayne County Athletic League Jan. 6.

The Smithies (9-1, 6-0) are arguably the area’s best team and were led by sophomore Brady Sidle, who scored a game-high 19 points. Jax Riggenbach (17), Josh Yates (12) and Isaiah Lee (10) also stepped up for the Smithies.

The game did more than just establish Smithville as the clear favorite in the WCAL race. It ended Norwayne's record 32-game WCAL winning streak. It was the longest ever for a league that was established in 1954.

The Bobcats’ two straight perfect seasons in the league (2023-24, 2024-25) had been matched only by the Northwestern Huskies (1960, 1961).

Parting shot

 It took me longer than planned, but I finally got out to Triway to see the new Carmichael Court in the Miller Family Arena.

I was in attendance for Wooster’s 62-60 win over the host Titans in the finale of the inaugural Battle of Route 30 Showcase. I had heard the Titans' new area was first-class, and it more than lived up to the hype.

Well done, Triway. It’s a great venue to host events.

Aaron Dorksen can be emailed at aarondorksen24@gmail.com.