The Cleveland Browns finally announced the news regarding their new head coach and decided upon Todd Monken. It was speculated that the Browns would lean towards bringing in an offensive-minded coach instead of bringing in someone who has a defensive background. And that happened.
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The defense has been Cleveland’s bread and butter for these recent years under ousted head coach Kevin Stefanski and the direction of DC Jim Schwartz. In fact, the Browns have always had
a knack for building up the defense. Back in the Marty Schottenheimer years, the defense reigned supreme. But of course, Schotts was a defensive head coach and spent a lot of time and energy on that side of the ball.
The Browns have two quarterbacks who were taken in last year’s NFL draft. Both started games, and each had their good points plus things that need to be worked on. By hiring Monken, these two young men can hopefully take the next steps in their careers and help this offense.
The quarterback room will become Monken’s first thing on his checklist to address. Veteran Deshaun Watson seems to be ready to get back on the field, and both Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders need a helping hand. Who will start under center in 2026 is anyone’s guess at this point. It will be up to Monken to not only solve this, but to make certain that the Browns have a competent signal-caller instead of a revolving door.
Under Stefanski, the Browns started 12 different quarterbacks in the last three seasons.
But who is Todd Monken? What are his qualifications?
Beginnings
Monken is a northern guy but has spent quite a bit of time in the South. He grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, which is a short 45-minute drive due west of Chicago and Lake Michigan.
The Monken name is quite famous in the State of Illinois. His father, Bob Monken, was the head coach at Lake Park High School in Roselle, Illinois, for 30 years. Roselle is a tad Northwest of Wheaton. In all, 13 Monken family members have coached football at the high school, college, or professional levels.
Bob was the most successful. He won conference championships in three different decades. He was one of five brothers who were all inducted into the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Bob’s coaching of a player always centered on high expectations for academics and education. He wanted character over touchdowns. Bob passed away at the age of 86 from Parkinson’s disease in August of 2024.
Bob had three sons of his own. Todd is now the head coach of the Browns. Ted Monken is the DC at Glenbard South High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, (and has been a head coach twice), and Tony Monken is an assistant at Vernon Hills High School in Vernon Hills, Illinois. In addition, Todd’s cousin, Jeff Monken, has been the head coach of Army since 2014 and was inducted into the Millikin Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2013.
Todd Monken played baseball and was the quarterback for the football team in high school. He then attended Knox (IL) College and started at QB for two seasons and center field for his college’s baseball squad. As good as Monken was at QB, he was an outstanding baseball player.
As a QB in 1988, Monken was ranked #1 in the nation at the D-3 level in pass attempts, completions, and completion percentage. He was voted First Team All-Conference and was a Pizza Hut D-3 All-American. Monken set eight school single-game, season, and career records, of which all are still on the record books.
Monken was also an excellent center fielder and great at the plate. There was a question of whether Monken would pursue baseball at the professional level. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Knox and a master’s degree in education leadership at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan.
After his senior year, he went undrafted in the 1989 NFL draft and did not receive any calls for a tryout or mini-camp. Instead, he did what his family has always done: coached.
College/NFL coaching gigs
He began by working as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State for two years. Then he got another graduate assistant position at Notre Dame for another two years, where he worked with Ron Cooper, who was an assistant coach. When Cooper was hired the following year at Eastern Michigan, he recommended Monken for the vacant WR coach job. Monken was interviewed and hired, with added responsibilities of coaching the defensive backs.
In 1998, Monken got his first coordinator job when Eastern Michigan named him their OC.
Two years later, Monken was hired at his first Southern college: Louisiana Tech. He was appointed the RB and WR coach. During this time, Tech was ranked #8 in the nation in passing. That led to another job at a larger program when he was hired as the WR coach and passing game coordinator with Oklahoma State in 2002. He had this position for three seasons and worked with a guy named Les Miles, who was the OC.
In 2005, Miles was named the head coach at LSU when Nick Saban left to coach the Miami Dolphins. Miles contacted Monken to be on his coaching staff and named him the WR coach and passing game coordinator, which were the same duties he performed under Miles at Oklahoma State. In his first season at LSU, the Tigers averaged 374.1 yards per game on offense and 29.5 points per game. The following season, they were ranked #9 nationally in total offense, averaging 33.7 points a game and 417.5 yards.
LSU went from a #43 ranking to a #9 spot in just one season. That caught the eye of Jack Del Rio, who was the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. An interview was set, and he was hired under OC Carl Smith to take the WR coaching job for the fired Steve Walters with Jacksonville.
Monken was now in the NFL, something none of his coaching family had ever achieved.
When Del Rio was fired after the 2010 season, every assistant coach was on their own to find a new job. Monken went back to familiar territory in the college ranks and returned to Oklahoma State as their OC.
In the first season under Monken, Oklahoma State became the nation’s #2 offensive team. They averaged 48.7 points a game and 545.8 yards in total offense. The following season, they maintained their offensive prowess, being ranked #3 in the nation. This group improved their average yards per game (547.0) and had an average of scoring 45.7 points per game.
After the 2012 college football season, the Southern Miss Eagles went 0-12-0 and head coach Ellis Johnson was fired. Monken became the school’s 20th head coach, but went 1-11-0 in his first year. In the second season, the Eagles finished 3-9-0. In 2015, Monken led his team to a 9-5-0 record. Southern Miss ranked in the top 20 in scoring, passing, and total offense. They took first place in the West Division with a 7-1-0 mark and earned a bowl bid, their first since 2011, but lost in the “Heart of Dallas Bowl” 44-31 to Washington.
After the bowl loss, Monken resigned as head coach and returned to the NFL as the OC of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under newly-hired head coach Doug Koetter. The two had coached together at Jacksonville when Koetter was the OC and Monken taught the receivers.
The season before, Tampa Bay struggled to get the ball into the end zone, ranking 20th in points. All of Monken’s teams are known for putting up points on the scoreboard. That was a challenge.
The first year, the Buccaneers ranked #18 in total offense. The following season, they improved to being ranked #9. In Monken’s third season as the OC of the Bucs, they ranked #3 in offense.
Despite all the success on offense, the Buccaneers finished 5-11-0 for the second season in a row, and Koetter was fired. Once again, Monken was unemployed from an NFL team because the head coach had gotten the pink slip.
Remain in the South
Monken already had a name for himself in coaching circles that he could turn around a stale offensive roster and propel it into a league leader. This wasn’t just a one-off, but every college program and every NFL team where he was employed, the offense was transformed.
So, Monken knew he would get another coaching job. Just where? And when?
Monken interviewed for head coaching vacancies with the New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, and the Green Bay Packers, but did not receive a second interview with any of these clubs. However, his agent got a call from Cleveland.
The Browns had just hired Freddie Kitchens as their new head coach. Monken was interviewed and hired to be their OC for the 2019 season. But that one season has been described as a total mess. Seems Monken would have a complete game plan, and then Kitchens would call a different plan on Sunday. Monken’s duties diminished over the course of the year, and after just one season, he left Cleveland, taking the express route.
After a single season, Kitchens was fired. Monken had three coaching tenures with three NFL clubs, and every time the head coach was canned, this left all the assistant coaches without jobs.
The Georgia Bulldogs had turned their football setup around after hiring away Alabama DC Kirby Smart to be their head coach in 2016. As with all good programs, their assistant coaches get plucked repeatedly. They had just lost their OC, James Coley, and were looking for a viable replacement. Monken was suddenly unemployed by the Browns, and Smart set up an interview.
At the time, Monken was 53 years old. Cleveland had hired Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach, who brought in Alex Van Pelt as the OC. For the past two years, Georgia had struggled on offense and needed a remedy. Monken was hired to take over playcalling duties for the Bulldogs and to find methods to increase scoring. They had offensive talent in QB Jake Fromm and RB D’Andre Swift.
Before Monken arrived, Georgia ranked #49 in total offense with an average of 30.8 points a game and 408.9 yards. In his first season in 2020, their offense made improvements to #38 and averaged 32.3 points per game and 424.1 yards per game on average. They finished 8-2-0 and went to the Peach Bowl, defeating Cincinnati 24-21.
It all came together in 2021.
Georgia ranked #9 in total offense with a pro-spread scheme. The team finished 14-1-0 and 8-0 in the SEC. This group had WRs George Pickens and Ladd McConkey, QB Stetson Bennett, TE Brock Bowers, RBs Zamir White and James Cook, OG Justin Shaffer, and kicker Jack Podlesny, who scored 137 points, which led the conference. However, they lost to their nemesis, Alabama, 41-24, in the SEC Championship Game for their only loss.
Georgia also had a dominating defense, which some experts have viewed as one of the greatest defenses in college football history. DE Travon Walker was selected first overall in the NFL draft, and five Georgia defenders were taken in Round 1.
Four teams made the college football playoff. Georgia took care of Michigan 34-11 in the semifinal and then beat Alabama 33-18 in the National Championship Game.
And his final season at Georgia was simply dominant. In 2022, the Bulldogs won back-to-back National Championships.
Monken’s offense led the country in total net yards (7,517) and total points scored (616) during an undefeated 2022 season that ended with another championship. The offense ranked #5 and averaged 41.1 points a game and an incredible 501.2 yards per game in total offense. In the college football playoffs, Georgia squeaked by Ohio State 42-41 and then beat TCU 65-7 in the Championship Game. They finished their season 15-0-0.
The Baltimore Ravens hired Monken to be their new OC when longtime assistant Greg Roman resigned after the 2022 season.
Since Monken left Georgia after the 2022 season to become John Harbaugh’s OC with the Ravens, their program has not won another title. Every Georgia fan wants Monken to return.
Revamping the Ravens
Baltimore had always spent most of their energy on the defensive side of the ball, and required QB Joe Flacco and then QB Lamar Jackson to kinda figure things out on offense. Every year, their draft picks were about 75% defensive players.
Immediately, Monken installed a more passing-oriented offense in Baltimore. And there was a lot of talent on that side of the ball that fit around Jackson: RB J.K. Dobbins, TE Mark Andrews, WR Sammy Watkins, OTs Ronnie Stanley and Morgan Moses, and kicker Justin Tucker.
By this time, Monken was a 34-year coaching veteran. He had transformed every offensive group except the Browns that one season under Kitchens. He took college programs to new heights and won championships.
Before hiring Monken, the Ravens had interviewed 14 candidates throughout a thorough process that had wide-ranging organizational involvement.
In 2022, Baltimore was ranked #28 in total offense. After Monken took over, the offensive effort improved to #6. In 2024, the Ravens were ranked #1. This past season that slipped to #16.
In 2024, his offense was ranked #1 in multiple categories.
Coaching style
Monken is a teacher. Like his father, he is more concerned with learning and character first, then what happens on the football field. He wants his players to succeed on the gridiron, but mostly in life.
He has a type of experience and tenacity that he brings to the table. Monken’s approach to the game, as well as his ability to teach concepts, invariably gets the best out of his players. He has built a coaching career and become known as a very successful offensive coordinator and head coach on the professional and collegiate levels.
Players enjoy competing for Monken. He has leadership abilities and coaching acumen, with a proven track record for taking a program and designing an offensive system that allows players to be successful.
Monken’s scheme is based upon a flexible, matchup-based system that uses player strengths rather than forcing them into an inflexible arrangement. He is not only a system guy, although he might have some preferences. He doesn’t design schemes for players that aren’t on the roster, but rather he looks at his roster talent and tailors his playbook to fit their talents. He will attack defenses based on their structure and tendencies rather than forcing one system on every opponent.
He likes to isolate linebackers in coverage. He requires good pass-catching tight ends. He has to have accurate passers. And he must possess a solid offensive line.
His thinking centers on six aspects of the game: Limiting negative plays, zero turnovers, positive third-down efficiency, a high percentage of Red Zone scoring, explosiveness, and employing athletic quarterbacks.
Monken transforms offensive groups. Everywhere. Every time.
The effort and success he had with the Ravens and Georgia illustrate that Monken can adjust style without losing identity.
