11:30pm: Monken’s contract with the Browns will be five years in length, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. That has become the standard for new head coaching hires, with all of this year’s hires receiving a similar deal.
9:49am: Three-plus weeks after firing Kevin Stefanski, the Browns have found their next head coach. They’re hiring former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports. The Browns have officially announced the move.
After the Browns canned Stefanski on Jan. 5, they sent their first known external interview request to Monken the next day. He booked a second interview with the Browns on Jan. 20 and became a finalist for the position, joining defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase.
The Browns told Scheelhaase they were going in another direction this morning, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Scheelhaase will remain with the Rams in 2026, according to Fowler.
Schwartz had reportedly picked up momentum toward a promotion, but the Browns will instead go outside the organization and choose a fourth straight offensive-minded head coach. While Schwartz remains under contract with the Browns, there’s “no guarantee” he’ll stay in place, according to Fowler. Unsurprisingly, Schwartz is likely to draw widespread interest from across the NFL, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports relays.
With the 60-year-old Monken on his way in, the Browns haven’t hired a defense-first candidate since they handed the reins to Mike Pettine in 2014. Between Pettine’s two-year run and Stefanski’s six-season tenure, the Browns turned to Hue Jackson for a couple of disastrous campaigns and Freddie Kitchens during a one-and-done 2019. Monken was Cleveland’s offensive coordinator under Kitchens. The unit finished 22nd in scoring and total offense that year, making for an interesting reunion given the dysfunction that engulfed the Browns during Kitchens’ 2019 season in charge. Although Monken was not believed to be happy during that Kitchens-led season, he is coming back to Cleveland to run the show.
After his first stint with the Browns, Monken returned to the college ranks, where he has garnered most of his coaching experience since he began as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State in 1989. Monken was Georgia’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2020-22, an eminently successful run in which the Bulldogs won two national championships.
Before the Browns brought him back, Monken spent the past three seasons running AFC North rival Baltimore’s offense. The Ravens boasted an elite offense during Monken’s first two years at the controls. Quarterback Lamar Jackson won the MVP award in 2023 and nearly repeated during a first-team All-Pro campaign in 2024. With injuries limiting Jackson to 13 games in 2025, the Ravens finished 11th in scoring and 16th in yards.
The Ravens fired head coach John Harbaugh after stumbling to an 8-9 record, and they didn’t interview Monken before hiring Jesse Minter. With Harbaugh now the Giants‘ head coach, it seemed likely Monken would follow him to New York as his offensive coordinator. Indeed, the team was “very confident” it would reel in Monken, per Connor Hughes of SNY. The Giants and Monken had even worked on a contract in recent days, Fowler adds, but Harbaugh will have to look elsewhere.
While Monken’s reputation as a coordinator precedes him, he’s largely an unknown as a head coach. His only experience in that position came with Southern Miss from 2013-15. The Golden Eagles combined for a dismal 4-20 mark in Monken’s first two seasons, but they made a huge leap to 9-5 in his last year on the job. Monken then departed to become the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, and Southern Miss hasn’t reached nine wins in any season since then.
In his first head coaching role in the NFL, Monken will face another daunting task in attempting to reverse the Browns’ fortunes. Stefanski earned Coach of the Year honors twice and led the Browns to two playoffs appearances, most recently in 2023, but posted a horrid 8-26 record over the past two seasons. The Browns’ Schwartz-coached defense ranked fourth in yards allowed in 2025, though an offense that finished 30th in yards and 31st in scoring doomed the club to a 5-12 mark.
Monken worked with a superstar quarterback in Baltimore, but he won’t have that luxury in Cleveland – at least not at first. Shedeur Sanders may be the frontrunner to start 2026 after finishing this season as the Browns’ No. 1 option. While Sanders oddly received a Pro Bowl invitation as a sub, the fifth-round rookie didn’t prove himself as a slam-dunk answer during his first seven starts in Cleveland. Meanwhile, third-round rookie Dillon Gabriel fared worse than Sanders before suffering a concussion against the Ravens in Week 11.
Along with Sanders and Gabriel, Deshaun Watson could also factor in to some degree after missing all of this season while recovering from a ruptured Achilles. The Browns’ decision to trade a bounty of picks to the Texans in 2022 and immediately hand Watson $230MM in guarantees was a head-scratcher from the get-go, and it has aged like milk since then.
Watson has made 19 mostly underwhelming starts in a Browns uniform over four years. Even though the former star signal-caller is due to count $80.72MM against the Browns’ cap next season, they’re likely stuck with him. It would cost the Browns an eye-popping $131.16MM in dead money to release Watson in 2026.
General manager Andrew Berry, who acquired Watson, is confident Monken is the right fit for Cleveland.
“Todd has a varied and diverse background that we found as a particularly appealing match for our team at this stage in its life cycle,” Berry said on Wednesday. “He has a direct, demanding, and detail-oriented leadership style that will create a great incubator for a young team. His successful offensive track record at both the pro and college level with a variety of offensive systems and QB skill sets will allow maximum flexibility as we make several, long-term investments on that side of the ball.”
Berry’s statement suggests the Browns will exercise patience with Monken, which will be necessary in the short term. With the Browns holding two first-round picks this year, including the sixth overall selection, Berry will be in position to give Monken more young talent to work with in 2026.
Bad franchises continue to be bad
If your a Brownie you got to be fired up about this hire!
diklover:
You do?
So with both Harbaugh and Monken poaching aggressively from the Ravens…who is going to be left in Baltimore besides Lamar?
Lamar’s mom
Having a cheerleader captain could make the Ravens contenders again 🙂
Who do you think Minter wanted to keep from that staff. The offensive line coach? The terrible DC. They were the reason Harbaugh got fired. That’s the whole reason you make a change at HC, and this goes for Buffalo too for those who think Brady is just going to continue with status quo. Even when guys have gotten elevated after an amicable split like in Tampa, the next guy is going to go there own way on how they coach the team and in staffing their coaches.
Agree with what you’re saying but the poaching wont be limited to just coaches. The Ravens will probably be undertaking a larger rebuild than they anticipated because Harbaugh & Monken will target some of Baltimore’s depth players as well.
What rebuild? The roster is stacked. Lamar was hurt all year and Monken and Orr were awful coordinators.
That’s exactly what they’re going to do for sure.
Harbaugh will poach heavily from that defense and Monken from the offense.
All of their depth guys and upcoming free agents will be targets for sure, and there is PLENTY of talent on both sides of the ball. Maybe Monken brings in Rashod Bateman or that backup TE they have? Maybe Keaton Mitchell -though I doubt it. Harbaugh will definitely make a run at the team’s free agents they’ll try to keep affordable.
Meh
I felt like the Browns wouldn’t have hired an offensive-minded coach unless he agreed to keep Schwartz as DC. Maybe that’s why some of the people were turned off by the situation and dropped out (aside from the Browns being a dumpster fire with a meddling owner).
But, who really knows with this clown show.
It’s ok. They have a Pro Bowl QB now
LMAO
No all the candidates they interviewed but Udinski agreed to keep Schwartz as their DC….as a Browns fan I wanted Scheelhaase but him agreeing to take a Bills interview while still meeting with the Browns more then likely killed any hope they would go that direction….just gotta hope Monken gets more out of Sanders then Kevin did…..
It may be more of Schwartz looking for other opportunities after being passed over by Cleveland for the HC gig.
I would be shocked if Monken did not want to retain Schwartz.
It is all about how jaded Schwartz feels. Apparently he had been urging defensive players to speak up for him for head coach.
True
Schwartz will be out the door shortly.
This is the right hire for them out of all the candidates they had, even though I think monken will probably still be 1 and done since it’s the browns
This guy could help develop the young Cleveland qb’s
I think they should have hired Schwartz or Scheelhaase, but as a Browns fan, I’ll root for Monken to succeed. But no coach will succeed in Cleveland or anywhere else without having a good offensive line, which Andrew Berry incorrectly seems to think is in good shape in Cleveland.
It was Stefanski who stuck with his OL. .not Berry
Stefanski did not control the roster. He played who he had. He cycled through LTs after Jones got hurt searching for the answer. I believe Stefanski did the best he could with that aging, oft-injured o-line.
Stefanski was the one who wanted his OL to stay together…hence why they kept the core veterans…and yes Stefanski had a say in his roster
Sure, he had a say, but look at the all the retread “never was” guys they brought in as back-ups. Cam Robinson? Cornelius Lucas? KT Leveston? I’d stick with who I had, too.
Now, admittedly, Berry’s hands were somewhat tied based on salary limitations from the Watson deal, but Stefanski did what he could with whom he had. Berry did not draft an OT except Dawand Jones in the last 5 years.
He must have been a good boy and completed all of his homework.
Not a Haslam fan, but imagine someone asking a candidate for a 50 million dollar job to complete a survey or write an essay. The horror. Coming in and saying my dad coached in the league wasn’t cutting it?
Yeah, I had no problem with that process. I had to go through it for a MUCH lower paying job years ago.
The one I didn’t want!
I wonder if he had to write 500 times, “I promise to use Quinshon Judkins in key situations.”
Flippin’ joke!
😂😂😂
Incredible
He took Jackson to new heights. Not a sexy pick, but it’s an upgrade over Stefanski as far as X’s and O’s go. He has been called one of those drill sergeant types personality wise though, so there will be no country club atmosphere under him. We’ll see if the players respond to that in today’s NFL. If they keep Schwartz, they have the X’s and O’s on both sides of the ball at least squared away.
Yes, he helped Jackson, but he also kept Henry on the bench for nearly an entire half in a game the Ravens had to win. I don’t get that. Hopefully, he learned his lesson and uses Judkins appropriately.
Both these things are true: 1) Todd Monken is a very good football coach who is a reasonable choice to get a shot at being a head coach. 2) This feels like a hire that won’t last very long and is in place while the Browns become more appealing by getting Watson off the roster, rebuilding the offensive line some, and getting to an offseason when they have a better shot at a quarterback.
Wait, another QB?
They set a record for number of QBs in the room last pre-season and hey, you aren’t impressed by their Pro Bowl QB?
Or he could end up being the next Bruce Arians, another pick by a dumpster fire franchise that was not lauded at the time, and then he built a Super Bowl contender that was a game away from the Super Bowl. He’s done everything right at every level of football to get this shot but just didnt’ have the connections to get a job until now. Great college HC, great college OC, great NFL OC, but people fawn over whoever they’re told to fawn over. Davis Webb was a terrible backup QB, yet everyone knows he’s going to be a superstar HC despite never even coordinating a team’s offense or even really having much responsibility for that matter. This actually could work.
Didn’t have the connections? He’s very well connected. He’s been on staffs with guys who are head coaches and coordinators all over the league. He’s been coordinator on some not very good teams, which has hurt his stock, and he’s also known for not exactly having a personality that makes everyone want to follow him. Webb’s stock also has a lot to do with everyone who’s worked with him seeing him as a future head coach going back to his early playing days.
There are a million people on staffs, but there are certain coaches with a certain profile and certain ages who come up for head coaching jobs, and that’s not by accident.
You said he didn’t have connections. That’s just not true.
To be an HC? He didn’t. Guy coached Jackson to two straight MVP seasons, and he barely got a sniff for head coaching jobs. If you think who their friends and agents are when they’re in the room with these owners doesn’t matter, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just like office politics anywhere in the world. Just look at that Joe Brady story and how it’s being received by that fan base, like he didn’t coach for Sean Payton for years or coordinate the most prolific offense in college history, but he’s not with him now nor a Shanahan or McVay disciple or have an agent talking him up to media people every day to drop his name on their terrible programs.
I really don’t know what to say to you if you truly don’t get this simple point. He was coordinator on a team three years ago where the other coordinator is now going to the Super Bowl as a head coach. He was on staff with tons of guys who went on to become defensive coordinators around the league. He worked with the Chargers GM in Baltimore and overlapped with the Raiders GM in Tampa. He’s very connected. Whether people like him or profile him as a head coach is a different story.
I didn’t say anything about him being connected in coaching. I said connected with owners, and for that, you need someone constantly talking you up. That doesn’t come from coaches. That comes from agents and the people behind the scenes.
I’m not sure about the “connections” part. I’ll agree he’s been a good OC but if you’re going to promote a guy for whom the bulk of his experience is coordinator, I would have gone with Schwartz and then found a young “up-and-comer” for OC.
Now, they’re going with an unproven (as HC) guy, probably going to lose a premier DC (and likely at least some of his assistants), and have to have new coordinators on both sides of the ball. STC is probably going to leave, too. That’s no loss, except in continuity: so there’s none anywhere.
I never had confidence in Haslam to lose, but I lost a lot of confidence in Berry with this move.
You want to replace a pro bowl QB? Blasphemy!
I agree with all your points except one. The offensive line needs a MAJOR overhaul, not just “some.” Fixing that offensive line will cure a lot of the problems on the Browns, but not all of course. Fixing the line will help quarterback play and help the defense get rest, and even occasionally play with a lead, something I’ve heard is a good thing to do sometimes. I’m a Browns fan so that last point is more speculation than reality to me.
Oh I didn’t mean it only needs some. But it’s entirely possible by the time they bring in a new coach they’ve only had time to do some.
Yes, they have one of the worst lines in the league. So does Baltimore. That’s something that went to s*** under Stefanski when it was one of the best in the league when he got there. Another thing not Kev’s fault. Put it on the pile.
One of the best in the league? What?
They certainly were in 2020-21 when Stefanski was hired and Callahan was the o-line coach. Injuries and age with up with them and there was no money in the last couple of years to have decent back-ups. 2024 and 2025, the Browns had among the most o-line combinations to start a game, due to injuries.
They have had a terrible line for YEARS.
Yes, when he got there, any metric showed that was one of the best lines in football. It even had a Hall of Famer as a LT. A Pro Bowl guard. A Pro Bowl right tackle. Do you even watch football?
Lol what? Literally when?
Yeah it had two aging Pro Bowlers and a bunch of terrible other than that. Wills was never a Pro Bowler.
They had a position group that was very good, then a lot of those guys aged out/succumbed to injuries, they lost their offensive line coach, and they were behind on replenishing talent because they traded three first round picks for Watson.
Yes, because the only place you get offensive linemen is the first round, lol. No, they went downhill because Stefanski can’t coach, and Andrew Berry sucked as a GM until his draft last year. He neglected the position and didn’t develop anyone in his time there as HC.
how does somebody who “cant coach” win 2 coaches of the year awards?
I’m not sure how anybody can call their position group very good.
They had two good OL after trading Zeitler for OBJ and Olivier Vernon and a whole lot of awful once the Wills didn’t work out. They even spent a 2nd rounder on Corbett at OG and predictably watched it go up in flames.
The 2020 Cleveland Browns featured a dominant, elite offensive line, ranked 6th in the league by PFF entering the season and finishing as one of the best in the NFL. The unit was anchored by right tackle Jack Conklin (highest-graded RT at 84.3) and rookie left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr.,
That’s what he inherited when he got there. These things are facts, not made up stats.
You’re right. I forgot Conklin.
Still nowhere near one of the best in the league though.
Corbett is still a starting guard in this league and has been on a Super Bowl winner. He was gone prior to Stefanski’s and Berry’s hiring.
Browns’ O-line was good in 2020-23, despite Will’s mediocrity. They started going downhill with injuries, age and Callahan’s departure.
Interesting: Berry has not drafted an OT in ANY round since he took Wills in 2020.
Hard to see how this is much of an upgrade over Stefanski
You watched both of their offenses over the years? We have very large sample sizes to compare. It’s a huge upgrade X’s and O’s wise.
Ravens had Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry and until this year, a very solid offensive line.
They didn’t have Henry year one when he got there, and the offense was light years better than under Roman. The offensive line went to hell because Harbaugh didn’t replace the OL coach that died right before the season in 2024 with a quality candidate. Go look at George Warhop’s resume and tell me if that looks like someone who should be running anyone’s offensive linemen room. Now, if that was his call and he takes him to Cleveland with him, good luck on all that, but I don’t think Harbaugh is letting his staffers make those kinds of calls.
Browns will get a run-pass option (RPO) quarterback in free agency or the draft. It might be Malik Willis as a free agent or one of the projected late first round picks in the 2026 draft.
What! So you interview Scheelhaase for over 7 hours just to hire Monken? OMG
I really don’t get this but I guess it makes sense when the Browns know their offense is by far their biggest weakness.
Monken is very good at scheming with RPO type QBs, and that’s probably exactly what Sanders is. The front office CLEARLY wants Sanders to be the franchise QB even though he’s yet to show he’s even remotely that guy.
Sanders barely runs. An RPO QB? Monken has also been an OC for several offensive styles other than in Baltimore. That’s just the sign of a good coach that he was able to adapt to the talent he had in Jackson instead of being stubborn.
Lol @ thinking you have to be a runner to run an RPO.
RPO is for quarterbacks who can’t stand in the pocket and read a defense. It has nothing to do with actual running ability.
I’m well aware. The point is that he doesn’t have much running ability. He’s barely a threat with his legs. He’s a classic dropback passer.
But he’s not a classic dropback passer right now. He bails on pockets all the time.
And it has nothing to do with reading defenses (you people still insist NFL quarterbacks can’t read a defense in the year 2026 like it’s something mystical). The Bengals run RPOs. Burrow can’t read defenses?
It has everything to do with reading defenses. The whole point of RPO is to simplify the offense and make up for one read QBs.
Sanders was the Browns 3rd leading rusher this year and had 169 yards on 21 carries. That’s over 8 yards per rush. He actually surprised a lot of people, including me.
He still is a terrible runner, and that’s not his game. Did you even watch him in college?
I watched him in the NFL. I mean you can’t disregard his passing in college but only critical if his running. I never said he’ll be a great runner but as for his ability he’s better than what people said. 8 yards a rush for a quarterback is great
Dillon Gabriel made a living off RPO’s during his last season at Oregon. Maybe they believe he is the franchise QB.
Browns gonna Brown.
Todd is a lamentable name.
Monken is nothing more than a placeholder until the next shiny bauble comes along.
One and done.
I think he lasts two seasons before he gets fired.
If he turns our offense around, no need to fire him …
Being a Browns coach or quarterback is just like Cleveland weather. If you don’t like it wait a few minutes and it will change. In the Browns case not for the better.
6 years for Stefanski
Ok…now that I’m over my shock and done being upset….this was the right hire for our young offense, which will be even younger after the draft…..there’s a reason neither the Browns or Bills hired Scheelhaase as a HC….
I honestly really like Monken
re-read the article a few times .. keep missing the part where lamar is following monken to Cleveland
They don’t need him. They have a Pro Bowl QB