List of Cleveland Browns head coaches

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]

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

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).

Key

#	Number of coaches[N 1]
GC	Games coached
W	Wins
L	Losses
T	Ties
Win%	Winning percentage
00†	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach
00‡	Elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player
00*	Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Browns

Coaches

Note: Statistics are accurate through the 2024 season.

#[8]	Image	Name	Term[N 2]	Regular season					Playoffs				Achievements	Ref.
				GC	W	L	T	Win%	GC	W	L	Win%
1		Paul Brown †	1946–1962	214	158	48	8	.767	14	9	5	.643	Four AAFC championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949)[9] Three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955)[10] Seven NFL Conference championships (1950–55, 1957) 1949, 1951, and 1953 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year[11] 1957 UPI NFL Coach of the Year[6]	[5][7]
2		Blanton Collier*	1963–1970	112	76	34	2	.691	7	3	4	.429	NFL Champion in 1964 Four Eastern conference champions (1964, 1965, 1968, 1969) Three Century Division Champions (1967,1968, 1969)	[12]
3		Nick Skorich	1971–1974	56	30	24	2	.556	2	0	2	.000	AFC Central Division Champions 1971	[13]
4		Forrest Gregg ‡	1975–1977	41	18	23	0	.439	—	—	—	—	1976 Associated Press (AP) NFL Coach of the Year[14]	[15]
–		Dick Modzelewski*[N 3]	1977	1	0	1	0	.000	—	—	—	—		[16]
5		Sam Rutigliano*	1978–1984	97	47	50	0	.485	2	0	2	.000	1979 and 1980 UPI NFL Coach of the Year[6] AFC Central Division Champions 1980	[17]
6		Marty Schottenheimer[N 4]	1984–1988	71	44	27	0	.620	6	2	4	.333	1986 UPI NFL Coach of the Year[6] Three AFC Central Division Champions (1985, 1986 and 1987)	[18]
7		Bud Carson*	1989–1990	25	11	13	1	.458	2	1	1	.500	AFC Central Division Champions 1989	[19]
–		Jim Shofner*[N 5]	1990	7	1	6	0	.143	—	—	—	—		[20]
8		Bill Belichick	1991–1995	80	36	44	0	.450	2	1	1	.500		[21]
		— [N 6]	1996–1998
9		Chris Palmer*	1999–2000	32	5	27	0	.156	—	—	—	—		[22]
10		Butch Davis*	2001–2004	59	24	35	0	.407	1	0	1	.000		[23]
–		Terry Robiskie[N 7]	2004	5	1	4	0	.200	—	—	—	—		[24]
11		Romeo Crennel	2005–2008	64	24	40	0	.375	—	—	—	—		[25]
12		Eric Mangini	2009–2010	32	10	22	0	.313	—	—	—	—		[26]
13		Pat Shurmur	2011–2012	32	9	23	0	.281	—	—	—	—		[27]
14		Rob Chudzinski*	2013	16	4	12	0	.250	—	—	—	—		[28]
15		Mike Pettine*	2014–2015	32	10	22	0	.313	—	—	—	—		[29]
16		Hue Jackson	2016–2018	40	3	36	1	.088	—	—	—	—		[30]
–		Gregg Williams[N 8]	2018	8	5	3	0	.625	—	—	—	—		[31]
17		Freddie Kitchens*	2019	16	6	10	0	.375	—	—	—	—		[32]
18		Kevin Stefanski*[N 9]	2020–present	84	40	44	0	.476	3	1	2	.333	2020 and 2023 AP NFL Coach of the Year	[33][34]

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. Each year is linked to an article about that NFL season.
3. Gregg was fired thirteen games into the 1977 season. Modzelewski served as interim head coach for the remaining game.
4. 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.
5. Carson was fired nine games into the 1990 season. Shofner served as interim head coach for the remaining seven games.
6. The Browns did not play from 1996 to 1998 due to events in the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy.^[3]
7. Davis resigned eleven games into the 2004 season. Robiskie served as interim head coach for the remaining five games.
8. Jackson was fired eight games into the 2018 season. Williams served as interim head coach for the remaining eight games.
9. 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.