The Cleveland Browns have filled the last open head coaching spot in the AFC North, hiring Todd Monken - the former offensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. With that move, Monken stays in the division, and the Cincinnati Bengals will now continue to game-plan against him twice a year, just in a different shade of AFC North rivalry.
Monken's arrival in Cleveland marks a significant shift in the coaching landscape across the division. He joins new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy and Jesse Minter, who recently took over the reins in Baltimore, as the fresh faces leading AFC North franchises. For the Bengals - and the rest of the division - that means six games per season against teams with new leadership and potentially new philosophies.
Monken brings more than three decades of coaching experience to the table, with a résumé that spans both college football and the NFL. Since 2016, he’s primarily worked as an offensive coordinator, including a three-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a one-year run with the Browns back in 2019. After that, he helped lead Georgia’s offense at the collegiate level before spending the last three seasons with the Ravens.
Now, he returns to Cleveland - a team he previously worked for under then-head coach Freddie Kitchens. That was before the arrivals of Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry, so the organization has changed significantly since Monken’s first go-around. Still, it’s an interesting full-circle moment, considering Monken’s previous tenure in Cleveland wasn’t exactly a highlight of his career.
The Browns’ coaching search, by all accounts, was far from smooth. Several high-profile candidates either declined to interview or pulled out of consideration entirely.
That list reportedly includes Mike McDaniel, Grant Udinski, Jesse Minter (before he accepted the Ravens job), and Chris Shula. For a team looking to reset and reestablish itself, that's not the kind of response you want from potential hires.
Part of the hesitation may have stemmed from the Browns’ reported desire to retain defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, regardless of who took over as head coach. That kind of stipulation can be a deal-breaker for candidates who want to build their own staff from the ground up. According to reports, the Browns even considered promoting Schwartz to head coach late in the process - a sign of how chaotic the search had become.
Now, after being passed over, Schwartz is reportedly on his way out. And if the reports are accurate, he didn’t exactly leave on the warmest of terms.
It’s a tough situation all around. The Browns are still dealing with a complicated salary cap picture, especially with quarterback Deshaun Watson’s contract looming large.
There’s no clear answer at quarterback behind Watson, and the team isn’t in a great position to land a new starter this offseason. Combine that with the uncertainty around the coaching staff, and it’s easy to see why this job wasn’t a hot commodity.
In the end, Cleveland landed Monken - a coach with a strong offensive background and plenty of experience, but also someone who wasn’t at the top of many candidate lists. Whether this move brings stability or adds to the Browns’ long-running coaching carousel remains to be seen.
One thing is certain: the AFC North just got a lot more interesting. And in Cleveland, the offseason drama is already in midseason form.