PHILADELPHIA – Former University of Pennsylvania football captain Kevin Stefanski C'04 has been named the head coach of the NFL's Cleveland Browns. The Browns made the announcement on Monday, Jan. 13.
 
"I am thrilled to hear the news about Kevin," said Penn's George A. Munger Head Coach of Football, Ray Priore. "I was Kevin's position coach when he was a player here at Penn, and also spent a year with him on our staff. It was obvious from the moment he arrived on campus that he was a leader with a great football mind. I am not surprised that he has risen to the level of NFL head coach, nor how quickly it happened. Anyone who has been on a football field with him will tell you it was never a matter of 'if' but rather 'when,' and that was answered today."
 
Stefanski joins the Browns after serving as offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings. He has been with the Vikings in a variety of roles since the 2006 season, after serving the 2005 season as a graduate assistant with the Penn football staff.
 
As a player, Stefanski was a three-year letter winner with the Quakers, in 2000, 2002 and 2004 when he was a tri-captain along with Dan Castles and Ric San Doval. A defensive back, Stefanski earned honorable mention All-Ivy in 2002 and 2004. During the five seasons that Stefanski was a player in the Penn program, the Quakers won three Ivy League titles—going 32-3 in Ivy play—and went 42-7 overall. That included the 2003 season when Penn went undefeated (10-0).
 
Stefanski was recipient of the program's Defensive Rookie of the Year Award in 2000, and in 2004 he was recipient of the program's George A. Weiss Award which is presented annually to the player whose spirit and play personifies "Pennsylvania kind of football." He graduated with a communication degree from the College of Arts and Sciences.
 
Stefanski's father, Ed, is also a Penn graduate and played for the Penn men's basketball team from 1974-76. He is currently a senior advisor for the NBA's Detroit Pistons.