List of Cleveland Browns head coaches

The Browns have played their home games at Cleveland Browns Stadium since 1999.

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]

There have been 18 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. Ten men have coached the Browns since 1999, and only two have reached the postseason: Butch Davis (2002) and Stefanski (2020 and 2023).

  1. ^ "Year By Year Season Results". Cleveland Browns. NFL Enterprises LLC. Archived from the original on April 2, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  2. ^ "Cleveland Browns Stadium". Cleveland Browns. NFL Enterprises LLC. Archived from the original on March 15, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  3. ^ Henkel 2005, p. 111
  4. ^ "Cleveland Browns – Front Office". January 20, 2013. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference brown was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference coy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference hof was invoked but never defined (see the help page).