Todd Monken didn’t have to wait long to change the conversation in Cleveland. Four weeks into his first season, the man once questioned as a Browns hire is suddenly sitting in the Coach of the Year mix.
The Browns are 3-1 with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, and both Watson and the offense have taken steps forward every week. The attack hasn’t been clean across the board, but Cleveland still enters Week 5 atop a crowded AFC North.
That kind of start has already caught the attention of oddsmakers. Following Cleveland’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, one sportsbook now has Monken in a dead heat with Klint Kubiak and Ben Johnson for 2026 NFL Coach of the Year.
Monken is listed at +550 at BetOnline. Kubiak, who coaches the Las Vegas Raiders, and Johnson, who leads the Chicago Bears, were right there with him as of Friday afternoon. Jesse Minter of the Baltimore Ravens and Kellen Moore of the New Orleans Saints also cracked the top five.
It’s early October, so the award picture doesn’t mean much yet. What it does show is how fast Monken has changed the story around himself and the Browns.
His decision to start Watson brought plenty of criticism, especially from Browns fans. But the results have started to back him up, and the noise around that choice has quieted down.
Monken also wasn’t the popular pick when he got the job. But he didn’t take long to win people over. His energy and blunt style have stood out after five years of Kevin Stefanski’s softer, less direct answers at the podium.
He has pushed his players hard when needed, but the team clearly responds to him. After all the backlash and the risk that came with the Watson call, the mood in the locker room sounds as high as it has been in years.
Still, this is just the beginning. Stefanski won this award twice in his five seasons with the organization, and Monken would be the first to remind everyone that none of this matters if the Browns stop doing the work.
The outside attention will only grow from here, and so will the expectation that Cleveland eventually trips up. The “Browns to be Browns” line is never far away.
For now, though, the bigger story is that the Browns finally look like a team heading somewhere. The locker room has a voice that’s landing, the offense is improving, and Monken is giving Cleveland something it has lacked for a long time: real momentum.
In Other News...
Deshaun Watson Just Gave The Browns Another Unwanted Distraction
The Browns were handed another bit of off-field clutter this week when the NFL fined Deshaun Watson and Quinshon Judkins for an illegal celebration during the game against the Steelers. The gesture, which involved pretending to smoke, drew unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties and added one more item to a season already full of noise around Cleveland.
Watson was fined $14,926 and Judkins $14,397, with the leagues decision coming before the Browns Week 5 matchup against the Jets. It is the kind of small but avoidable distraction Cleveland would rather do without, especially when every week seems to bring a fresh reminder that discipline issues can quickly become part of the larger conversation around this team. [Read more 🡒]
Todd Monken Just Hit A Nerve With Browns Fans Over Minkah Fitzpatrick
Todd Monkens latest comments landed in a part of Cleveland that still hasnt cooled off. The Browns first-time head coach was asked about the high helmet-to-helmet hit Minkah Fitzpatrick delivered on rookie KC Concepcion during the recent game against the New York Jets, and Monken called it a bang-bang play while saying Fitzpatrick is not a dirty player. It was the kind of measured answer coaches usually give in the moment, but in this case it immediately stirred up plenty of frustration from Browns fans already primed to see the play through a different lens.
Fitzpatrick was not ejected, though he is expected to be fined for the illegal contact, and that only sharpened the reaction around Monkens defense of him. For Cleveland supporters, the issue is not just the hit itself but the memory attached to the player delivering it, which made the coachs choice of words feel especially touchy in the aftermath. In a rivalry that already carries enough baggage, this was a reminder that even a routine postgame explanation can turn into its own storyline. [Read more 🡒]
Ben Roethlisberger Just Handed Browns Fans The Perfect Reminder
Ben Roethlisberger found a way to stir the pot again, even if it was in jest. On a recent podcast, the former Steelers quarterback made a joking comment that suggested he had never lost to the Browns, a line that immediately invites a fact-check in Cleveland, where the franchise has beaten Pittsburgh multiple times and owns a more recent playoff win than its old rival.
For Browns fans, the bigger takeaway might be the reminder that Pittsburghs long-standing mystique has been chipped away more than once in this matchup. Cleveland has won five straight home games against the Steelers, and Roethlisbergers uncertainty about labeling any team a true contender entering Week 5 only adds to the feeling that the AFC Norths old assumptions no longer hold up the way they used to. [Read more 🡒]