Michigan is still in the thick of its head coaching search with no clear candidates rising to the top of the board for both the school and fans. However, a report from FootballScoop on Wednesday revealed Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken is being vetted by Michigan, making him potentially a new horse in the race.
Monken is a coach that not many people pointed to as Michigan’s coaching search began, but he does have a lengthy resume and some good reasons why might make sense for the
Wolverines, beyond simply being a part of the Harbaugh-Ravens pipeline.
Although it was over two decades ago at this point, Monken does have some ties to the midwest, as he got his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State back in 1989. He moved into the FBS ranks in 1991 serving as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame, before ultimately moving to Eastern Michigan where he served multiple roles from 1993-99.
In the 2000’s, he bounced around various offensive assistant roles between the college and pro games, and ultimately earned his first head coaching job in 2013 with Southern Miss. Over three years, he only mustered a 13-25 record, but had taken over a program that went 0-12 the year before his arrival. His last season was hist best, leading the Golden Eagles to a 9-5 record and winning C-USA coach of the year honors.
Since leaving Southern Miss after the 2015 season, Monken has served as the offensive coordinator at a couple stops, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, and University of Georgia where he was a part of National Championships in 2021 and 2022. While with the Bulldogs, he helped develop Stetson Bennett into one of the nation’s better quarterbacks and oversaw Brock Bowers’ and Ladd McConkey’s development into first and second-round NFL Draft picks, respectively.
In his current role with the Ravens, he’s operated what’s been one of the NFL’s most prolific offenses, particularly on the ground, and helped lead Lamar Jackson to an MVP award in 2023.
As one of the better and more experienced minds in football, Monken could help bring a shot in the arm to a Michigan offense that’s been middling for the past two seasons. Furthermore, he’d be quite helpful in the development of Michigan’s young offensive stars like Bryce Underwood and Andrew Marsh. He’d also have some tools to work with in the run game with Michigan’s stout offensive line and Jordan Marshall, Savion Hiter, and potentially Justice Haynes at running back.
Beyond his offensive chops, Monken has worked alongside great coaches like John Harbaugh and Kirby Smart, while serving a vital role on winning teams in college and the pros. Even if his experience as a head coach wasn’t exactly dominant, he’s likely learned more about building a winner in the time since then that could be put to good use now.
Finally, with as many stops as he’s had across the college and professional ranks, it’s likely he’s built quite the network for himself and would be capable of building a solid staff around him with the financial resources that Michigan could provide — something that might not hold true for some of the younger candidates for Michigan’s job.
While it might not be the sexiest name in the world, Todd Monken has a wealth of experience and has been a part of numerous winning organizations — assets that could be beneficial for the Michigan football program.
