Todd Monken Hired As Next Cleveland Browns’ Head Coach
If you thought the Cleveland Browns were going to do something predictable, you clearly haven’t been paying attention for the last two decades. After a coaching search that felt longer than a DMV line, the white smoke has finally risen from the Berea headquarters. The result? A familiar face is coming home.
Todd Monken is officially the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns. And if you’re sitting there scratching your head, thinking, “Wait, didn’t we already try this?” you aren’t crazy. But you might want to hold off on the panic button. This isn’t the same Monken who walked the sidelines during the Freddie Kitchens fever dream of 2019. This is a guy who went away, reinvented himself, and is coming back with a resume that looks much shinier than it did five years ago.
The Return Of Monken: A Second Date?
Let’s be honest, getting back together with an ex is usually a bad idea. But in football terms, this might be the exception to the rule. When Monken was the offensive coordinator in Cleveland back in 2019, the team went 6-10. It wasn’t pretty. But blaming him for that season is like blaming the passengers for the Titanic hitting the iceberg.
Since leaving Northeast Ohio, Monken went down to Georgia and casually helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back National Championships. Then, he hopped over to Baltimore and helped Lamar Jackson secure his second MVP trophy while orchestrating the league’s top-ranked offense in 2024.
He’s 60 years old next month, but he’s coaching like a guy in his prime. He’s seen the college game, he’s seen the pros, and most importantly, he’s seen the AFC North from the other side of the trenches.
Fixing a Broken Offense
Let’s not sugarcoat it: Monken has his work cut out for him. He is inheriting an offense that, statistically speaking, couldn’t score points if the end zone were the size of Lake Erie.
Under the previous regime, the offense sputtered to dead last in scoring over the past two seasons, averaging a meager 15.8 points per game. That is painful to watch. Monken is walking into a room with major question marks at the most important position in sports. Deshaun Watson is rehabbing a torn Achilles. The rookie QBs, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders, have potential but are still green.
However, if there is a “QB Whisperer” available, Monken might be it. Look what he did with Stetson Bennett at Georgia. Look at the efficiency he brought back to Jackson’s game. If anyone can squeeze lemonade out of this quarterback lemon, it’s him. Plus, he’s got weapons. Even with Quinshon Judkins recovering from that nasty ankle break, the cupboards aren’t bare.
The Jim Schwartz Factor
Here is the subplot that every Browns fan needs to pay attention to. While the offense was busy falling off a cliff, the defense was elite? Jim Schwartz has built a juggernaut. The Browns’ defense allowed the fewest yards per game since he arrived and has been a terror on third downs. Myles Garrett is likely picking up his second Defensive Player of the Year award soon.
What is the smartest thing Monken can do? Don’t fix what isn’t broken. Reports are already swirling that Monken is open to keeping Schwartz as his Defensive Coordinator. If that happens, it is a massive win. It lets Monken focus 100% of his brainpower on fixing the scoring problem while letting Schwartz continue to cook on the defensive side of the ball.
Can Monken Handle the Heat?
This is Monken’s first crack at being an NFL head coach. He’s been a coordinator, a college head coach, and a position coach. He’s paid his dues. But being the head man in Cleveland is a different beast. The media pressure is intense, the fans are impatient, and the expectations are always oddly high for a team that struggles to find the playoffs.
He’s replacing Kevin Stefanski, a guy who won Coach of the Year twice and still got shown the door. That tells you everything you need to know about the job security in Cleveland. But there is a sense of optimism here. Monken isn’t a flashy, trendy hire. He’s a football guy. He’s a grinder. And coming from the Ravens culture, he knows exactly what it takes to win in the toughest division in football.
