The Browns fired Kevin Stefanski on Monday after Shedeur Sanders and co. posted a 20-18 win vs. the Bengals. The Browns finished the season with a 5-12 record.

Hours after the Browns’ head coach was fired, Deion Sanders tweeted a cryptic note on X. He wrote,

“Lord I Thank You! #CoachPrime”

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The whole season, a narrative played out that there was tension between Shedeur and Stefanski. While Deion didn’t mention Stefanski directly in his tweet, the timing and choice of words can indicate that he’s referring to the Browns coach getting fired.

While Kevin Stefanski is out of Cleveland, Shedeur himself faces an uncertain future. General manager Andrew Berry stated today that the franchise will continue working on the quarterback position. He acknowledged Shedeur’s progress but labeled him more of a work in progress.

While Shedeur has clearly asserted his supremacy over fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel in the past eight games, he’ll still need to prove to the organization in the offseason that he can be the franchise quarterback. Also, with Deshaun Watson returning from injury next year, it’ll be interesting to see how the QB battle shapes up in Cleveland for the 2026 NFL season.

Shedeur Sanders Reacts to Browns Firing Kevin Stefanski

Rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who had a longer way to the start than expected, offered a calm but futuristic outlook after head coach Kevin Stefanski’s firing.

Sanders spoke to reporters shortly after the news became public, noting that the timing of the media availability came almost immediately after players were informed of the move.

“It was a couple seconds,” Sanders acknowledged, before addressing Stefanski’s departure directly. “I think it’s just overall the mentality like, things gonna happen. That’s just how the league is,” Sanders said. “Moving forward, just focus on what we can improve individually for the next head coach.”

Stefanski exits Cleveland after six seasons, as one of the more accomplished coaches in the franchise’s history, despite things going south in 2025. He was named NFL Coach of the Year twice. He also guided the franchise to its first playoff win since the 1994 season during his debut year in 2020, thus leaving his mark.

However, the past two seasons proved difficult. Cleveland posted a combined 8–26 record across 2023 and 2024. This dropped Stefanski’s overall mark, pushing owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam to move in a different direction.