CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have hired one of their former coordinators to be the team's head coach.
However, it is not the one some people expected.
The Browns hired Todd Monken as the franchise's 19th full-time head coach on Wednesday, wrapping up a three-week search. He replaces Kevin Stefanski, who was fired on Jan. 5, the day after Cleveland finished a 5-12 season.
This is Monken's first NFL head coaching job after 11 years in the league
as an assistant. He spent the previous three seasons as Baltimore's offensive coordinator.
“He is an outstanding leader and has a clear vision to lead our team as a strong communicator who values trust with his players but also accountability and preparation. In our committee’s exhaustive reference work on Todd, his commitment to player development was evident, and his tough and straightforward coaching is respected by the players and the coaches he’s worked with, putting our team in a position to succeed while developing our players to maximize their talents,” owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement.
Monken was the Browns' offensive coordinator on Freddie Kitchens’ staff in 2019. There was growing sentiment though that defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz had emerged as the favorite, especially as the list of candidates thinned out.
Schwartz has been the architect of one of the league’s top defenses the past three seasons.
Cleveland led the league in total defense in 2023 and ranked fourth this season as Myles Garrett had 23 sacks and broke the NFL single-season record.
He is under contract to Cleveland for one more season, but is expected to look elsewhere after being passed over.
Losing Schwartz would be another blow to the Haslams, whose tenure since buying the Browns in 2012 has been known more for dysfunction than building a winning organization.
Monken is the seventh coach hired by the Haslams. The previous six compiled a 73-139-1 regular-season record, the second-worst mark in the NFL.
The Browns were 5-12 this season and 8-26 the past two years. Stefanski — who was hired as Atlanta’s coach — had a 46-58 record. He was a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year and led the Browns to the playoffs in 2020 and ’23.
After announcing Stefanski’s firing, Jimmy Haslam bristled over the narrative that the Browns are a dysfunctional organization. However, the coaching search ended up having more people withdraw their names from consideration than finalists. Cleveland interviewed 10 people for the opening with four — Monken, Schwartz, Grant Udinski and Los Angeles Rams pass coordinator Nate Scheelhaase — getting second interviews.
Udinski withdrew his name from consideration on Monday after a second interview to remain in Jacksonville as offensive coordinator.
The Browns had second interviews scheduled with Mike McDaniel and Jesse Minter before both canceled. McDaniel, who was Miami’s coach for four seasons, will be the Los Angeles Chargers’ offensive coordinator while Minter was hired as Baltimore’s head coach after two seasons directing the Chargers’ defense.
Monken, who turns 60 on Feb. 5, first interviewed on Jan. 10 and had a second interview on Jan. 20. He had also interviewed for Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator opening and was tied to the New York Giants offensive coordinator spot after John Harbaugh was hired as the coach.
After Cleveland, Monken went to the University of Georgia from 2020-22 and was the offensive coordinator when the Bulldogs won the national title in 2021 and ’22.
The Ravens were second in the league this season in rushing yards per game (156.6 yards) and 11th in scoring, averaging 24.9 points per game. Baltimore was the league’s top-ranked offense in 2024, when it became the first team in NFL history to have at least 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in the same season.
Monken also has worked in Jacksonville (2007-10) and Tampa Bay (2016-17). He was the head coach at Southern Mississippi from 2011-13 and had a 13-26 record.
The biggest task for Monken will be trying to find a quarterback and a sustainable offense.
Stefanski started a league-high 13 different quarterbacks during his tenure, including seven over the past two seasons.
The Browns thought they had their quarterback in 2022 when they released Baker Mayfield and acquired Deshaun Watson from Houston for five draft picks, including three in the first round.
Instead, the trade for Watson has set the Browns back.
Watson has played in only 19 games. He has gone 9-10 as Cleveland’s starter with 19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and an 80.7 passer rating. He did not play this season while rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon. Watson practiced for three weeks last month, but was not activated to the roster.
Jimmy Haslam said during the league meetings last March that the Browns “took a big swing and miss” with the Watson trade and that “we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
Shedeur Sanders started the final seven games, going 3-4. He faced growing pains, including a makeshift line and missing the leading rusher and receiver for the last two games.
Whether Sanders convinced the Browns that he can start next season will be debated in the coming months.
This season's Browns joined the 1968 Buffalo Bills as the only teams in the Super Bowl era to have rookies lead the team in passing, rushing and receiving yards.
Cleveland has the sixth and 24th overall selections in April’s draft.
“Let me just say this, the next 120 days are crucial for the organization,” Haslam said on Jan. 5. “We’ve got to find the right head coach. We’ve got to be efficient again in free agency. We have 10 draft picks, including two No. 1s. We have four picks in the top three rounds. And we’ve got to get really good players who are really good people again. We’ve got to be opportunistic if trade opportunities come along. We are solely focused on having a great 120 days so we can start winning games around here.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
