DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Todd Monken Hired as Browns HC

BREAKING: The Cleveland Browns are hiring Todd Monken as the franchise's next head coach, sources tell The Athletic. Monken served as Cleveland's OC in 2019, and now returns to take the top job for the Browns

What a disaster.

Shoutout to Memphis....Todd Monken has been freed!

what a disaster

I suppose the consolation prize is that it could have been much worse. He has extensive experience as an OC and has the connections around the league to help assemble a strong coaching staff.

I'm not excited about the hire per se but I'm not really disappointed by it either. I'll sit back and watch how things unfold.

This hire has Haslam's fingerprints all over it. Not a real vote of confidence from Haslam towards Berry.

I get that but can you tell me what team owner in the NFL doesn't have the final say on who the teams HC is or will be?

Cool. Another coach that does not know how to run the ball with a Pro Bowl running back in critical situations.

Okay now we know. Let's give him our support and wish TM the best.

Maybe he will actually be able to run an offense and not have a dolt like Kitchens overriding him. Of course, there’s always the GM and owner to do that. Hopefully, there’s enough of a rapport between himself and Schwartz to allow JS to stay…

So underwhelming... 🤮

Guess we just gotta hope.

There were reports that Schwartz told them no and he was upset that they waited three weeks and interviewed other candidates.

Also heard Scheelhaase told them no

Schwartz may ask to get out of his contract or traded to Pittsburgh as there DC.

If Schwartz stays isn't that what you have been claiming is all the Browns need form the very beginning? And how would the hire of Scheelhaase have really have been any more than that?

The only real difference is that Scheelhaase has ZERO experience even being an OC and he is younger.

This was my least favorite option of the 3. To that end, I think it's really weird that Haslam (much less Berry) is on board with bringing anyone even remotely associated with the Freddie debacle.

That said, a buddy of mine actually had a positive angle.... I guess Monken has a brother who is also a football coach at Army and is credited with helping to turn that program around. Comes from a family of teachers... blah blah blah. Maybe he's the "culture guy" we've been searching for the whole time.


Needless to say, I'm skeptical. I'm also watching for any sort of move from Schwartz to get out.

Congratulations on grabbing the short straw Monken.

This is where I'm at with it. I'm not in the room and I really have no idea. The young guy scared me a bit for reasons I've already articulated but I was open to it. Again, I don't really know. Schwartz seemed like the logical choice but he has his own red flags, also would have been open to it. I don't know Monken at all except what I've read and that's a game of telephone. For better or worse, we need someone with a vision for Shadeur and I'm guessing Monken was able to put together a coherent plan in front of Berry and Haslam. Let's hope anyway.

The truth is, we shouldn't have fired Ski this year. And with Berry still in house, whoever comes on board runs the very real risk of being one and done, swept out with Berry in the next cycle. In fact, my thinking recently has been that next year very well might be a mulligan year. Which is why we should have kept Ski. We'll likely be treading water at QB again and with a rebuilt OL and a few young WR's, we'll end up in the 6-11 to 9-8 territory, looking at a freed up cap in 2027 with DW off the books and (G-d I hope we swing a draft deal) two 1st round picks in a deeper QB draft. If Berry has another home run draft, which one is rare even for good GMs, two in a row is statistically very improbable, then maybe he sticks. But we'll probably get 2-4 starters and 2-4 backups and a few practice squad guys as is a more typical draft. Which won't be enough to greatly change our trajectory with out an answer at QB. And does Haslam sit tight if we're 5-12? So this all may be very temporary.

All that to say, I'm not going to get wound up about what I perceive as the right or wrong choice on this. We already made a critical wrong choice. I just we set up for the next cycle and not become satisfied with muddling along.

J/c:

Now I'm interested to see who the coordinators will be.....

I give him credit for just wanting to step into this mess especially after being here once before! Did something notable change or is he thinking at 60 it’s his one and only shot?

This is, by far, the most underwhelming hire possible. I read the headline and spit out so many "you've got to be f%$^&ing kidding me"s that my wife was in a bit of a panic. 🤣

This "process" has once again become a soap opera that ended in us trying to mitigate damage rather than swing for the fences. I guarantee much of the discussion near the end became the Monken hire preventing Schwartz from going to Pittsburgh. Gar-un-teed.

Not surprising.

And he's leaving anyway.

Honestly, if you could turn back the clock and draw up the worst-case scenario when considering firing Stefanski, we're watching it right now.

Give your wife a kiss and a hug, you will need her late September/October when things get ugly.

It’s really hard to understand the Browns thought process in this rodeo (if there were a process…) …

If that report is true "Ya got trouble, my friend, right here. I say, trouble right here in River City".

People wondered if they had a plan when they fired Stefanski to which the answer is now obvious.

"Plan? We don't need no stinking plan!"

Just thinking out loud, maybe Todd can get Snoop Huntley in here for a real QB competition?

Maybe the Browns offense now will actually be able to score
More than 20 pts a game and be a threat vertically
Stefanski was so in love with the horizontal passing schemes

Losing Schwartz would be bad. Not unsurmountable, but given his success and how he had the D playing and the players believing in themselves... Hard to replace.

we waited a long time for this underwhelming choice..

What's worse, we may lose Schwartz

I gotta call BS on this or the report about Haslam insisting Schwartz be retained.


Either Haslam was forcing HC candidates to retain Schwartz, or he made a hire that was clear would make Schwartz walk. It can't be both.

Pro Bowl QB vs Pro Bowl QB.

I'll take the attitude I always take and say let's see how things work out with Monken. However, I don't like hearing about the situation with JS. I was hoping things would work out and he would stay. Things could work out or maybe we shot ourselves in the foot, again.

OR

Pro Bowl QB vs Pro Bowl QB vs Pro Bowl QB (if we're counting Watson)

I'm not sure I could be more underwhelmed at this hire.

Schwartz leaving now would be the funniest thing this year, however.

Looking back at the 2019 season (and I know, he didn't call the plays) we were 22nd in both yardage and scoring.

And I forgot about the tidbit where Monken was telling opposing coaches we sucked before the games...


Nothing like greeting the opposition every Sunday with tales of your own team's dysfunction.

You're making the assumption the owner isn't stupid.

You forgot to mention the lack of any resemblance of discipline.

The Parade of Disaster continues....
The Parade of Disaster continues.

I just saw a graphic on Colin Cowherd that is quite interesting. It said and there were 10 examples, that when a HC is fired and the team promotes a coach on the existing staff to HC it never works out. Only one HC had a winning record and that was 35-33 not too great. Maybe we made the right decision. Time will tell.

I really hope Todd Monken really works out. If the Browns lose Jim Schwartz, it sure is not starting out well. Right now, seems like adding yet another layer to the dysfunction. I like hiring the older coach with more experience than the young guys. This franchise is not ready for a young guy to cut his teeth on this job. I would have preferred Jim Schwartz. His defenses performance over the last few years I thought warranted a promotion. I hope they can bring him back into the fold some way. I had heard Monken is a non-nonsense kind of coach and if he and Schwartz who is much the same can work together maybe just maybe this hire and the n nonsense approach can change the Browns culture. Camp cupcake has to change. Even Stefanski was much harder and tougher last year's training camp.

While this is an underwhelming hire, I am relieved that Schwartz did not get the head coaching job, he is just not a head coach and I do not care if he coached the Lions, he had the opportunity to improve the Lions and making the Lions into a winning team and he failed to do so and his head coaching record is 29 wins and 52 losses which is terrible but I am really hoping that Schwartz will stay as defensive coordinator, I heard he is upset that he did not get the head coaching job so I would not blame him if he leaves but the players wants Schwartz to stay so we will see what happens

This is exactly what I suspect will happen and posted as much in a previous thread.

My guess is this hire lasts one, maybe two years and the Browns are back starting all over again with a new GM and HC search.

Haslam cannot get out of his own way and has an uncanny ability to make situations go from bad to worse. It's quite remarkable!

The Packers are hiring Bobby Babich, the former Bills DC. Source said he's replacing Ryan Downard and he will have the defensive passing game coordinator title.

Matt LaFleur interviewed Babich for the Packers DC job the last time before hiring Hafley.

Look who is going after Schwartz

Another thing is we hired a coach who has seen us more than a few times from the opposite sideline. This will give him a unique view of our team.

God, we are the best at not figuring things out before we act. I thinkI've figured out our brand of dysfunction: lack of top down communication. A classic!

So... was there a conversation with Schwartz during the process to gauge his feelings on if they hired someone else? Did they approach him before Monken to get his feeling about Monken? Did they really sense that he was going to be fonzi about the hire and be willing to stay? What gave them that feeling? Why does this all sound like it was surprise to Schwartz? Was he led on? And now, why it's a surprise to the team that he's unhappy and walking? It was made clear in earlier articles that whoever they picked needed to sign on with Schwartz but they didn't get the Schwartz's sign-on?

All preventable self-owns. We will never go anywhere with this owner. He can't even see his own incompetence and no one around him is filling in the obvious competence gaps. This will not end as long as he's running things.

Meh

Don't you mean it can't be both at the same time? It would make sense that AFTER some of your top candidates start dropping out like flies you may, at some point decide to change your strategy. I don't like the idea of losing Schwartz but it became painfully obvious trying to cram him down the throat of coaching candidates or only considering candidates he would embrace working with wasn't working.

Well Jim Schwartz is under contract for another year. If he wants to continue coaching, he must do so for the Browns in 2026, retire, or another team trades for him. That really is his only options at this point. If the Browns want to retauin him they do not have to release him for nothing. Kind of like the Garrett situation last year. The Browns for 1 more year hold all the leverage.

If JS does leave , I hope he doesn’t, but if he does is there someone on the D staff that can step up and take DC and keep the D pretty much the same?

It's worked out plenty of times.....Walsh>Seifert, Madden>Flores, Noll>the chin just off the top of my head.

When is the last time a team traded for a defensive coordinator? I cannot remember but I doubt any team is going to trade for a defensive coordinator

Then unless the Browns relieve him of his DC duties, he will be our defensive coordinator in 2026 or he retires.

Or the Browns could just honor his wishes and allow him to leave. Of course if they want to add insult to injury they could force JS into a marriage he hates being in. I don't see how anything productive could come from that.

Who says he is going to retire? Schwartz might go to another team

Unless the Browns release him from his duties or ei fire him as they did Stefanski and there are financial ramifications that the Browns would owe him for the 1 year remaining on his contract so that he can only get out of his contract by a promotion like taking a Head Coaching role. A lateral move like taking a Defensive Coordinator role with another team would require that team to trade for him.

How? He's under contract with the Browns. The very conversation you just quoted is discussing his options. Try and keep up, bud.

Just out of the kindness of their hearts!!!! If they do they would owe him $$$ for releasing him of his contract. Maybe if he forfeited that $$$ but I doubt he would do that. If another team like Pittsburg wanted to hire him do you allow him to go there for nothing? That is not good business.

No, for the commonsense reason he just stated. I don't understand people being appalled by the very process in which over 90% of these cases work out lol.

wow.

It's safe to say Schwartz is out.

I agree with Schwartz. he deserved this promotion. He was the best hire this franchise has ever made and they did not reward him for that.

We literally sabotaged our entire search by telling every prospect Scwartz had to stay. Now he tells us to GFO.

There is no way / no how you could ever sell this 30-year script to Hollywood. Never. You'd have a better chance selling E.T. as a documentary.

So funny people are getting worked up Jim Schwartz.
Very good DC . But let's not act like his defenses were historically
Setting records or reminding us of the 85 Bears. And he was a under .500 HC.

Pretty much.

Jimmy should have fired beady-eyed Berry.

The fallout of this is losing Schwartz. Now we have both sides of the ball to fix, if in fact Schwartz leaves. Sometimes initial reactions change after a few days, but I have a feeling they won't in this case.

The happenings over this last month or two have cemented a feeling I have milled around for the last couple of years. After 19 seasons as a season ticket holder I am not going to renew for a 20th year. lol...See comment above about initial reactions.

There are a lot of reasons involved, not all football related.

When I first got them, I was traveling up to 5-6 games a year for several years and figured I might as well get season tickets. 20 some years later I am going up to maybe 4 games a year. Might as well just go back and buy tickets online.

I see we're going to do haikus every five posts. Here's mine.

Wisdom bought in cans,
Beer breath fuels his sports talk rage—
Browns' dullest prophet.

At some point people need to consider the long term ramifications of their actions. Let me explain what's not good business. Showing every coach on every level in the NFL that you are a team that will hire a new HC and then force a DC that doesn't want to work under the new HC to stay. They've already shown that they wanted to force a new HC to only have control of the offense and keep the current DC. That disaster didn't end well.

As if the Browns didn't have enough trouble in the hiring process at HC this time, actions like that will make it even harder the next time.

These people live in the business world. They understand contracts. Just like Garrett he had no real leverage. The Browns could have forced him to fulfill his contract, and they then could have franchised tagged him after that. People can yell and complain but that is business. I would expect them to work out a resolution with JS. Money talks. Ask Garrett. But if you think he is valuable you do not let value just walk out the door for nothing. Maybe a team thinks enough of him as a DC they are willing to trade a draft pick for him? Do you want to lose that opportunity. JS is angry and he has a right to be angry but at the end of the day he is a professional and he will either honor his contract or work out some kind of resolution to leave. I doubt the Browns or any other team that feels they have something of value will pay someone of value to just walk out the door. That is plain silly.

[s][/s]It wasn’t an attractive job because no matter what the frenzied media says or helps promote the Cleveland Browns have NO quarterback and only the smallest sliver of hope for getting one soon. This guy has a pretty decent offensive track record and adequate DCs are out there but…QBs, at least really good ones, are rare as rocking horse poop.

Show some class, release JS amicably, get the heck out of the new guys way move on.

How much value do you think a disgruntled DC being forced to stay under his contract is worth? They can't force the players on defense to repond to the way you are treating their coach.

The Browns can force him to stay under contract. They can't force him to be on the sidelines or at practice as the acting DC.

Just an idea

Promote Tarver to DC and trade Schwartz.

That is about the best I can come up with.

When have you ever heard of any NFL team trading for an OC or DC?

Jimmy and his GM will offer PITT Schwartz and their 1st for Aaron Rodger’s…

Never but as we all know our Cleveland Browns are unprecedented. We don't follow trends we set them!!!!!!

They certainly do and most of them are not positive.

Doesn’t matter Pit we are the league’s TRENDSETTERS!!!!!!! Most of the teams in this league look to us to plan their strategies!

While I believe they use the Browns as an example of how not to plan their strategies. They feel if that's what the Browns did, do the opposite.

George was Cleveland's offensive line coach from 2009 to 2013 under head coach Eric Mangini.

George better get to work immediately! He’s got some work to do!

George better pray for an infusion of talent on the OL. To accomplish his work he will need something to work with.

Maybe we could package Schwartz with Deshaun Watson to sweeten the return on a trade.

Schwartz is not getting traded, name a team that traded for a defensive coordinator? I will wait

Yeah right, no team would trade for Watson's contract

Clearly the internal communication between the general manager and JS hasn’t been honest enough. Interviewing several outside candidates without securing the DC position of the matter is incompetence, there’s unfortunately no other word to use.

The trust in the owners are probably down to zero but the more interesting question is how this will affect Andrew Berry’s future power in the organization? Someone has failed in this process and it will again cement the Browns reputation as a dysfunctional organization.

Uhhh, no. To use a tired cliche, players are soldiers, coaches are commanders. No one is under the player. The coaches are field management. When a manager/ commander goes bad, get them out of the building as fast possible. You want a toxic situation, booby traps and turd sandwiches at every turn? Force a prideful and disgruntled field manager to stay and do your bidding.

I like the hire

There were lots of Browns fans complaining about Stefanski

The game day thread executed Stefanski in all kinds of ways

Fans wanted him to give up play calling and be fired

Why ? Because the Browns ended up last in the division too many times under his tenure.

Now the Browns hire a guy who came from the team that usually was the AFCN champions

Yes, I will be glad to give this coach a chance

He might not be who you wanted and you may say bad things about him because of that.

I do recall how many times fans have said they wish the Browns were like the Ravens

The Browns got a coach from a divisional rival who most of the time lead the AFCN

This could be a great hire from his time scheming against the Bengals and Steelers

Schwartz D lost games also, you can use the O sucked and couldn't score points card

Now the Browns bring in a guy who has lots of O experience and who is known for being hard to scheme against

I'm excited to see what happens

Surely I wasn't excited the last two seasons

Jmo