BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns' new staff under recently hired Head Coach Todd Monken is coming together, and on Monday, Monken landed his defensive coordinator, set to hire Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg for the position, league sources confirmed to News 5.
Rutenberg, 44, has over 15 years of NFL experience, beginning his coaching career with UCLA in 2006 before joining the NFL in 2013 as a player personnel intern in Washington.
Over the years, Rutenberg has spent time as a defensive backs coach, defensive assistant and assistant linebackers coach with the Jaguars, passing game specialist with the 49ers, linebackers coach with the Jets and most recently, defensive pass game coordinator with the Falcons.
The Browns cast a wide net to replace former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who gave the organization his letter of resignation a week after the team passed him up for the head coach position, a role he was a finalist with Monken for. The decision left Schwartz disgruntled, and he wanted out, so while under contract with the Browns, he opted to resign and likely sit out from coaching in 2026.
Among the candidates the Browns considered for the defensive coordinator were internal candidates, linebackers coach Jason Tarver and safeties coach Ephraim Banda, as well as external candidates: Panthers defensive pass-game coordinator Jonathan Cooley, Rams Assistant Head Coach and Pass Game Coordinator Aubrey Pleasant, and Texans defensive passing game coordinator Cory Undlin.
Heading into the decision, Undlin, Tarver and Rutenberg were the top three, with the Browns narrowing it down to Rutenberg on Monday.
During his introductory press conference, Monken was asked about the possibility of Schwartz leaving and his expectations for the defense if Schwartz didn't stay.
Monken made it clear that whoever was running the defense would need to keep the same scheme Schwartz employed, which saw the Browns' defensive unit ranked in the top five in a number of statistical categories last season and allowed star pass rusher Myles Garrett to thrive and break the NFL single-season sack record.
“First off, my anticipation is we’re not going to change the system. Very difficult to go against – not planning on changing the system. We’re built for the system that they’re in currently. And I’m not going to get into staffing, because that’s not at this time to get into that. But they can be rest assured that we’re going to keep the same system. We’re still going to let them attack; we’re still going to let them play free. I can’t see any other way," Monken said.
Rutenberg, who has extensive experience with linebackers, comes to a team with a high-ceiling linebackers corps led by Carson Schwesinger, who is entering his second year following a Defensive Rookie of the Year performance in his debut season. Rutenberg showed how successful linebackers can be under his guidance during his time with the Jets, helping Quincy Williams earn First Team All-Pro and Team MVP honors and C.J. Mosley become one of just 11 players since 2000 with 150 tackles in at least two consecutive seasons (2022-23). It saw the Jets' defense become the only unit in the league to rank in the top five of total defense in three seasons, 2022 to 2024.
Monken was tasked with replacing all three coordinator roles upon his arrival as head coach, and after previously hiring Travis Switzer as offensive coordinator and Byron Storer as special teams coordinator, Monken has now filled the three major positions.
It comes at the right time as Rutenberg and the other new staffing additions have a little time to get together and discuss plans for the 2026 season, just ahead of the NFL Combine, which takes place Feb. 23 to March 2.
