Monken had been the offensive coordinator for Baltimore for the last three seasons but had struggled in 2025 with Lamar Jackson, both on and off the field.
The soon-to-be 60-year-old Monken has been a head coach only once in his career, compiling a 13-25 record in three seasons with Southern Mississippi, though after winning one game in his first season there, He won nine games in his final season before moving to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator.
Monken was with the Browns before, serving as their offensive coordinator in 2019 during the one season that Freddie Kitchens was Cleveland's top man.
Monken's offenses with Baltimore were at the top of the league in their first two seasons, but slid in 2025 due to injuries to Lamar Jackson and an offensive line that was worse than in past seasons.
The Browns have had several candidates remove themselves from consideration due to the team's insistence on the new head coach keeping Jim Schwartz as defensive coordinator, but Schwartz is reported to have said his goodbyes inside the Browns headquarters and isn't interested in returning to the Browns.
The Browns have bungled this beyond even the Browns' usual screwups.
I wasn't thrilled with the Browns going too young with Jacksonville's Grant Udinski or the Los Angeles Rams Nate Scheelhasse, but I could see why they would decide on that path.
Monken, who has been described by The Athletic's Zac Jackson as a "Grumpier Kevin Stefanski," doesn't bring youth, a dynamic personality, or a winning head coaching background and might have been the compromise candidate between Jimmy Haslam and Andrew Berry (Berry, who shouldn't be here to begin with) as a coach who would take the job with Jim Schwartz, only to see that go awry when Schwartz (rightfully so) is angry about not getting the job and doesn't want to return.
In the end, the Browns took over a month to hire a coach who no one else interviewed (sound familiar?) because it was so important to keep Jim Schwartz, yet not important enough to give the head job to Schwartz, who now wants to leave the team and cause the one unit that has worked (the defense) to be in an uproar.
I just don't understand the decision or rationale in hiring Todd Monken.
The Browns somehow took the worst-case scenario and made it their own.
Keeping Andrew Berry as GM, hiring another candidate no one else is looking to hire, losing Jim Schwartz, turning off their players, and sending their fan base into "business as usual" mode is clown show material.
Clownshow- meet Brownshow.
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