BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns entered their offseason immediately looking for a change in leadership, firing Kevin Stefanski after six seasons as head coach, the day after the season finale in Cincinnati. General manager Andrew Berry immediately began the search for a new head coach and found their guy in Todd Monken, according to league sources.
Monken, 59, was the Browns' offensive coordinator in 2019 under then-head coach Freddie Kitchens. He comes from the Baltimore Ravens, where he was the team's offensive coordinator.
"We are very excited to name Todd Monken the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns,” Managing and Principal Partners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “Todd is highly intelligent, and his experienced, innovative offensive mindset has been at the forefront of constructing productive and successful offenses at the NFL and collegiate level over the last 20 years. 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. We welcome Todd, Terri, and the rest of the Monken family back to the Browns and look forward to him establishing the winning culture that will lead our team to the success our fans so deserve.”
Over his 36-year coaching career, Monken has worked around the NFL and collegiate teams. From his start at Grand Valley State to the NFL, Monken has held roles as a position coach on both offense and defense, an offensive coordinator roles and one head coaching stint at Southern Miss from 2013 to 2015.
Monken left the Browns after Kitchens' sole year as head coach, becoming Georgia's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He rejoined the NFL in 2023 with the Ravens and in his first season went 13-4 as the AFC's top seed in that year's playoffs.
Last January, Monken signed a contract extension with the Ravens following his work to lead Baltimore's offense to a No. 1 rank and quarterback Lamar Jackson to his best statistical season.
“Todd has a varied and diverse background that we found as a particularly appealing match for our team at this stage in its life cycle,” Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Andrew Berry said in a statement. “He has a direct, demanding, and detail-oriented leadership style that will create a great incubator for a young team. His successful offensive track record at both the pro and college level with a variety of offensive systems and QB skill sets will allow maximum flexibility as we make several, long-term investments on that side of the ball. The lessons he learned from John Harbaugh and Kirby Smart as well as his demonstrated track record turning around Southern Miss have shown us that he has a full understanding of what the position requires and the capacity to execute. We cannot wait to get started and we welcome Todd, Terri and Travis to Cleveland.”
Cleveland had interviewed 10 candiadtes including Monken, for the position before making their decision, with four candidates receiving second interviews. Former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski withdrew themselves from consideration, McDaniel just before his second interview and Udinski three days after his. Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter also withdrew himself from consideration just before his second interview, taking the Ravens' head coaching role hours later.
With Monken taking the position as the Browns’ new head coach, the next step is building the staff around him. That has already begun as league sources confirm to News 5 that in his first move as head coach, Monken is expected to bring Ravens offensive line coach George Warhop to the Browns in the same position.
Warhop, 64, began his coaching career in 1983 at Cincinnati as a student assistant. Warhop has coached in the NFL for 30 years as an offensive line coach, a position he had with the Browns from 2009 to 2013.
Now with one hire under his belt, Monken will face the challenge of hiring coordinators to his staff. Special teams coordinator Bubba Ventrone is not expected to be retained on Monken's staff and is coveted by other teams in the NFL, according to league sources. The Browns already were in need of a new offensive coordinator after Tommy rees followed Kevin Stefanski to his new job with the Falcons. But Monken may also need to replace defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
A finalist for the head coach position, when Schwartz learned the Browns were opting for Monken over him, he was disgruntled, numerous sources said. Schwartz left the building with the expectation that he would not be returning to the organization,
Schwartz is under contract this season, so it is a fluid sitiuation but there is rising belief in Berea that he will not return, despite Monken being open to retaining him as DC.
That means the Browns may be hiring three new coordinators for next season while deciding who they will retain and replace in other coaching positions across the staff.
Still, throughout the process, the Browns were adamant about retaining Schwartz in the organization in some capacity, whether that was as head coach or in the DC role.
“Absolutely. Great coach," co-owner Jimmy Haslam said when asked if he wanted Schwartz to remain with the Browns.
News 5 anchor Rob Powers asked fans how they felt about the hire:
