Shortly after the Browns fired Kevin Stefanski, it became clear Jim Schwartz was interested in replacing him as head coach. The veteran defensive coordinator was among the candidates to conduct a second interview with Cleveland.
Schwartz seemed to be in the lead regarding the Browns’ HC search at points during the process, and the team’s preference was to keep him in the organization in one capacity or another. In the end, though, Todd Monken wound up being hired as the new head coach. The former Ravens OC’s arrival led to Schwartz eyeing a departure, and he resigned in early February.
“Anybody that’s in any business, you get passed over for promotion when you’ve done a really, really good job in your job, and you think you were in line for that promotion, it’s time to go,” Schwartz said when reflecting on his decision during an appearance on the “Ryan Ripken Show” (h/t Matt Moret of The Athletic). “I mean, a forced marriage isn’t going to work in the NFL… And I didn’t feel like I could do my job after getting passed over for the head coaching job.”
Upon arrival in Cleveland, Monken was noncommittal on the topic of retaining Schwartz. The veteran defensive mind had been in place with the Browns since 2023. Cleveland posted a top-four finish in points allowed twice in that span, but that was not enough for Schwartz to get the nod for what would have been a second NFL head coaching opportunity. The 60-year-old is set to spend 2026 out of coaching before a potential return elsewhere next season.
Schwartz added it “wouldn’t have been good” for himself or Monken to have him remain in place for the coming campaign. The possibility of split loyalties to the head coach and defensive coordinator among players was mentioned by Schwartz as something worth avoiding when speaking about his decision. His presence (and now absence) certainty had an impact, as Schwartz’s resignation was a factor in Myles Garrett‘s decision to waive his no-trade clause and facilitate his recent move to the Rams.
Monken wound up hiring former Falcons defensive pass-game coordinator Mike Rutenberg for the DC position. 2026 will mark his first stint as a coordinator at the college or NFL levels, and he will be tasked with maintaining a high level of play leading a defense which no longer has Garrett in the fold. When it comes to the 2027 hiring cycle, meanwhile, it will be interesting to see how strong Schwartz’s market winds up being.
I can’t really blame him. That team would be nothing without his defense. It was the only reason any part of their team wasn’t a laughingstock and that Cleveland was talked about as anything other than a complete dumpster fire.
Year after year under Schwartz, the national conversation was that Cleveland’s defense was good enough to keep them in games if their offense could actually do something for a change.
No matter how good the defense was, Schwartz isn’t a HC. He was an awful HC in Detroit …. Monken was the right pick and Rutenberg the better fit for DC
People people feel different ways about this, but I would like to point out that, while ultimately unsuccessful, Schwartz was not necessarily awful as an HC. He took over the Millen Lions and rebuilt them from their defeated season to a playoff team in his third year (unfortunately for them, they of course lost to the Saints).
I’d say that Jim Caldwell got a worse deal in terms of Detroit coaches that were unfairly fired (especially since he got let go in favor of Matt Patricia), but Schwartz, while flawed, wasn’t necessarily awful.
Yeah, I mean look what he did for the defense in Detroit. Imo he built the foundation that Campbell later built upon. Schwartz seems to do this in a lot of places. He takes a laughingstock and makes them respectable on defense and builds a foundation, only to be moved on from in time for somebody else to get the credit when they have a winning team.
Agreed about Caldwell though. He got way more screwed over by Indianapolis though. Having to replace Tony Dungy of all people and take over an aging team that needed younger replacements basically everywhere and then had their franchise QB go down with an injury a lot of people thought he might never recover from? Of course the team had that horrible year! And yeah, same in Detroit. Had them in the playoffs two out of three years. Only one losing season on a team that was notorious for losing seasons. He deserved better.
Lol the pencil. What a terrible head coach he was. New England coordinators rarely do well as head coaches for a reason.
As AK said he was dealt a really rough hand with Detroit but I want to add that was how many years ago? I don’t know how much weight a poor coaching run over a decade ago with a historically bad franchise holds. I would hope he’s also learned from that experience and is a better coach and person today than the man he was nearly 15 years ago.
I don’t know why people are so weird about it too. I guarantee every commenter here has either personally experienced or knows someone who worked really hard at a job and thought they had a really good shot at a promotion only to get passed over for someone else and then want to leave for a new job. It’s life. It’s human. But, if that company is an NFL team and your job is DC all of a sudden we have to act like it’s different.
It is different. He signed a contract to work X number of years AS DC. He decided that he didn’t want to honor that contract despite the fact that the HC position was not owed to him by any stretch.
Most people working jobs do not have contracts. Wanting to leave your job when you get passed over for promotion wouldn’t be not satisfying your contract. There is no contract to satisfy.
Jim had a contract and decided he no longer wanted to honor said contract. All I need to know about him…
Why do people get so worked up about “honoring a contract” when it comes to the NFL? Who cares? Teams fire guys all the time who have contracts and coaches leave all the time when they have time left on their contracts.
You want to know another guy who skipped out on the rest of his contract to go elsewhere? TODD MONKEN. Ravens signed him to an extension in January of 2025 and he decided he no longer wanted to honor said contract. All I need to know about him…
Todd Monken did NOT skip out on his contract….he was offered a promotion to HC and the Ravens had to grant him permission to even interview for said job….get your facts straight. Teams as permission to interview other teams coaches…..
He signed a contract with the Ravens. He left that contract to go to the Browns. He did not honor his contract.
Rct it’s because some people can’t comprehend they can root for a team and like a team and it doesn’t mean they have to agree with every decision or side with them in every case. They are working backwards from the conclusion Jim has to be wrong.
I couldn’t have said it any better… kudos
Jim was never getting the HC job and to hear him talk….glad he moved on.
I think Schwartz is a top notch defensive minded coach but being a HC requires a certain amount of diplomatic skill (particularly when dealing with a critical media). Jim is going to speak his mind and ignore diplomacy completely and that can make owners nervous about hiring him.
You do realize Todd Monken the new Browns HC also speaks his mind right?
I think Todd could go into some crazy rants and talk crazy and still be overshadowed by Browns owner Jimmy Haslam 🙂
Butthurt much?