CLEVELAND, OHIO – DECEMBER 14: Head coach Kevin Stefanski of the Cleveland Browns walks off the field after losing to Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium on December 14, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Kevin Stefanski and Joe Judge knew each other very well before their Sunday Night Football clash.
One of the reasons that Sunday Night’s matchup between the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants garnered so much intrigue was the fact that two of the best young coaches in the NFL in Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski and New York’s Joe Judge would be duking it out. These two know each other pretty well, as they were once the best of friends in high school.
As was detailed in the New York Daily News, Stefanski and Judge were once teammates at Philadelphia’s Saint Joseph’s Prep, where Stefanski beat out Judge for the starting quarterback job on the freshman team. Judge later transferred to Lansdale Catholic.
Both Kevin Stefanski and Joe Judge are having solid debut seasons as head coaches
Stefanski, the son of legendary NBA executive Ed Stefanski, joined the Browns after over a decade in various positions with the Minnesota Vikings. Under Stefanski, Baker Mayfield has found a groove, Nick Chubb is becoming a star, and the Browns are likely headed to the playoffs. The Giants might’ve started off slow under Judge, but he has his team right in the thick of the NFC East hunt.
After high school, Judge went to an FBS school at Mississippi State, frequently ending up on the Honor Roll. Stefanski went to a I-AA school at Ivy League powerhouse Penn, making All-Ivy twice while serving a part of a team that went undefeated in 2003.
Stefanski and Judge are clearly passionate personalities that can walk into a locker room and instantly command respect. Who could’ve ever imagined that the match that lit both of those fires was struck on some muddy freshman football practice fields in Philadelphia? Time will tell which former St. Joe’s Prep Hawks quarterback ends up being the better coach.