After six seasons and two playoff appearances, the Cleveland Browns decided to fire Kevin Stefanski this offseason and begin the search for a new leader. That search came to a close Wednesday, Jan. 28, when the Browns hired Todd Monken to be their next head coach.
Cleveland poached Monken from their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, where he served as offensive coordinator for the last three seasons. Though Monken will be a first-time NFL head coach at age 60, he has a dense football background. He’s been the Jacksonville Jaguars’ wide receivers coach, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, and he has experience at the college level as well. Monken was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Kirby Smart’s powerhouse Georgia Bulldog teams that won back-to-back National Championships in 2021 and 2022.
Monken was Cleveland’s offensive coordinator in 2019, though play-calling responsibilities fell to Head Coach Freddie Kitchens. After conducting Baltimore’s offense and elevating their rushing attack with Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry, Monken is now returning to Cleveland, this time at the top.
Monken will inherit the one of the best defensive players in football, Myles Garrett, who is fresh off a record-breaking 23-sack season. On the offensive side of the ball, he will have a decision to make at quarterback, with Shedeur Sanders entering year two and Deshaun Watson returning from an achilles rupture. Sanders threw for 1,400 yards, seven touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in five games last season, earning a controversial Pro-Bowl nod. Watson has not played since 2024.
Known for his tendency to run the ball during his time in Baltimore, Monken will have intriguing young options in Cleveland’s backfield. Quinshon Judkins’ promising rookie season ended prematurely due to a gruesome right leg injury, but he is expected to be ready for training camp in July. Running back Dylan Sampson of Tennessee filled in nicely in Judkins’ absence and proved his ability to scramble and make plays outside of the pocket. A thin wide receiver room could be a point of emphasis in Monken’s first draft as Cleveland’s head coach.
The Browns’ 24-day search for a new face of the franchise saw them interview 10 different candidates, and Monken was the first name they requested to interview. Cleveland also looked within the building and considered Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz. Other targets included Jaguars’ Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski and the Los Angeles Rams’ Pass Game Coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase, but both offensive minds will stay with their current teams. Instead of heading in a younger direction for the head coach position, the Browns went with Monken in the hopes of propelling Cleveland back to contention in the AFC.
The Monken hiring closes the book on Stefanski’s tenure in Cleveland. Stefanski’s crowning achievement came in 2020 when he led the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002 and their first playoff win since 1994. Stefanski, who had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the Browns’ first playoff game, watched from his basement as Cleveland jumped out to a 28–0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild card round and won with a final score of 48–37.
It looked like the Browns had finally found a long-term answer in Stefanski, who was named the 2020 AP Coach of the Year. However, the Browns never got back to the divisional round, missing the playoffs four out of the next five seasons. Cleveland traded quarterback Baker Mayfield and signed Watson in 2022, and while his playoff win won’t soon be forgotten in Cleveland, Stefanski ultimately could not overcome such disastrous front office decisions. He was able to win last season with quarterback Joe Flacco but drew criticism from fans and media this season for his refusal to play Shedeur Sanders even as Dillon Gabriel was clearly overwhelmed with NFL defenses. The Browns fired Stefanski a day after the 2025 season ended, and he has since been hired as the next head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.
Cleveland will be glad to see Monken on their sideline next season not only because of his playcalling potential, but because he will no longer be a thorn in their side when they play the Ravens. During his time in Baltimore, Monken won four of six meetings against Cleveland, and his offense put up an average of 30.3 points per game in those matchups.
In Monken’s first season as offensive coordinator for Baltimore, the Ravens led the league in rushing yards per game, and Jackson won the MVP for a spectacular dual-threat season. With Monken in his ear, Jackson threw a career-high 41 touchdowns the next year and finished second in the MVP race behind Josh Allen. 2025 was a step back for the Ravens’ offense and the team as a whole, but Monken’s impact on a team’s ability to score is clear. Cleveland is banking on that résumé and the possibility that Monken can unlock the Browns’ offense.
