Who is Cleveland Browns HC Todd Monken, and what can be expected of him in his first year as a head coach at the NFL level? A lot can be answered by looking back at Monken’s stops as a coach throughout both college and the pro levels. There is also a lot of data out there, including Monken’s past passing rate, that gives us some indication of what the Browns will look like.
On the other hand, at his introductory press conference, Monken gave what we considered a “refreshing take” on whether he is scheme-focused
(as many say former HC Kevin Stefanski was) or fits his scheme around the talent he has on the roster:
Well, that’s a question I get asked all the time, like what system do you run? What is that? And the way I’ll try to phrase it is to score any way possible. I don’t care what it takes to score, it’s about scoring points. I would hate to put some sort of…any type of connotation as to what system that we are, other than playing to our players’ strengths. I think one of the things that our staff, including myself, have been able to do is take advantage of what a player can do and not what they can’t do. Every player in the NFL is elite, and they all have a trait, at least one trait that allows them to, I don’t want to say this – allows them to function, play at a high level. You just got to find what that is and not try to put a square peg in a round hole, taking advantage of what they do. And I think that’s what we’ve been able to do consistently.
At other times during the offseason, Monken has given more of a ‘we are who we are’ style answer to these types of questions.
During Week 1 of Cleveland’s training camp, Monken was once again asked about scheme plans now that he’s had time with the players. The Browns head coach noted that they are still figuring things out, including some of it being dependent on what the quarterbacks like:
Sounds like Monken has a good idea what he likes as a play caller and coach but needs to identify the starting quarterback, and likely the starting offensive linemen, first before solidifying how Cleveland’s offense will be for the 2026 season.
On Thursday, Browns GM Andrew Berry reiterated what Monken has said numerous times about the QB competition: The best-producing quarterback will win the job. The head coach may want to speed that decision up a bit if it is going to move the offensive scheme in a certain direction.
What do you think about Monken’s answer during the first week of training camp? Should the team speed up the QB decision so the rest of the offensive scheme can be locked in, or is waiting for the best QB to show himself the best decision?
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