Browns hire Todd Monken as head coach? What experience does Cleveland’s 19th HC have?

The Cleveland Browns were one of three teams that came into the day without a head coach for the next season along with the Arizona Cardinals and the Las Vegas Raiders. As of this afternoon, the Browns have ended their coaching search after naming Todd Monken their new head coach.

Monken the man in Cleveland

Monken and the Browns agreed to terms to make the former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator head coach on Wednesday afternoon. Monken spent the last three years with the Ravens in which he saw the team, led by Lamar Jackson, go to the playoffs in two of those three years.

“[Monken] 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,” said Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement.

After spending a brief stint in Cleveland as the Browns offensive coordinator in 2019 under Freddie Kitchens, he returns to Cleveland as the head coach. Monken was not a part of new Ravens head coach Jesse Mitner’s plans for Baltimore in the future, and the Browns came swooping in to bring him back to Cleveland.

A long history of coaching

Monken’s coaching career began in 1989 when he was a grad assistant at Grand Valley State. He went from Eastern Michigan for his first real coaching job, coaching DBs and WRs in the 1990s. By 2002 he signed with Oklahoma State to be the passing game coordinator and coach of the WRs, before leaving for LSU for the same position. He made his NFL debut as wide receivers coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2007-2010 before returning to Oklahoma State for a year.

He got his first head coaching gig with Southern Miss from 2013-15, but then moved back to the NFL becoming the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Bucs from 2016-18. His time in Cleveland was short lived, and he would go to Georgia University where he would help the Bulldogs win back to back titles in 2021 and 2022. The Ravens came calling in 2023 and he would serve as the offensive coordinator for three years.

The Browns have been to the playoffs just three times since the turn of the century and in the time they have seen 11 different full time coaches come and go, second only to Las Vegas. Kevin Stefanski was one of the longest tenured coaches in Cleveland, but a five-win season this year followed a three win season last year saw his run come to an end. Now Monken takes over a team with one of the best defenses in the league, led by Myles Garrett, but the offensive side is a mess. There is no clarity as to the direction the franchise wants to go with their QB situation, with Deshaun Watson set to return next year and join Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders in a quarterback competition.

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