Three Reasons Why Cleveland Browns Coaching Search Failed

The Cleveland Browns announced the hiring of former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as their new head coach on Wednesday, but the feedback has not been very positive.

Many fans are upset about the Browns' hiring of Monken, and here are some reasons the coaching search was a failure.

Monken likely wasn't the Browns' first choice

Browns owner Jimmy Haslam will likely speak during Monken's introductory press conference and say that he was Cleveland's top choice from the beginning. However, that statement probably isn't quite accurate.

If the Browns were interested in hiring Monken, they could have done so three weeks ago after the Ravens season concluded in Week 18. Cleveland could have wrapped up the Rooney Rule process quickly and hired Monken afterward. However, the Browns were eager to bring in Nathan Scheelhaase, the Rams passing game coordinator. They even hopped on a plane and flew out to the City of Angels to interview him on Monday.

Cleveland also had three well-known candidates in the running for the position: Mike McDaniel, Jesse Minter and Grant Udinski and they pulled out of the job.

McDaniel decided to take on the offensive coordinator role with the Chargers, while Minter is poised to step into the head coaching role with the Ravens. In the meantime, Udinski is returning to the Jaguars as their offensive coordinator; although he didn't receive a promotion, he did secure a pay raise.

All three of those candidates, along with Scheelhaase, could have been higher on the Browns coaching list than Monken. However, three of them didn’t want the job, and nobody really knows what happened with Scheelhaase.

Possibly losing Jim Schwartz

Another reason the Browns' coaching search was a failure was the emphasis on keeping defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz around.

Schwartz was a finalist for Cleveland's head coach position, but the Browns made it clear they wanted to retain him as the defensive coordinator, even if he wasn't appointed as the head coach.

Cleveland appeared to push for Schwartz to remain as the defensive coordinator for any head coaching candidates who accepted the job, and Jared Mueller of Dawgs by Nature added that other candidates didn't want Schwartz as their defensive coordinator, via The New York Post.

It seems Monken would be open to bringing Schwartz on board as his offensive coordinator, but Schwartz has other plans.

Since the Browns opted not to hire Schwartz as their head coach, it seems he doesn’t intend to stay in Cleveland.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Wednesday that Schwartz was upset he didn't get the job.

"After the Browns informed DC Jim Schwartz this morning they were passing him over to hire Todd Monken as head coach, Schwartz was visibly upset, said goodbyes in the building and told other coaches he’s not coming back," Pelissero wrote on X.

After the Browns informed DC Jim Schwartz this morning they were passing him over to hire Todd Monken as head coach, Schwartz was visibly upset, said goodbyes in the building and told other coaches he’s not coming back, sources tell The Insiders.

Schwartz is under contract and… pic.twitter.com/GBEct9BRPB
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 28, 2026

Although Schwartz is under contract for next season, he could still decide to step down from his role. Alternatively, another team might hire him as a defensive coordinator and promote him to assistant head coach, allowing him to leave the Browns for what would essentially be a promotion.

The Browns could've kept Stefanski

The Browns probably didn’t realize that their head coaching position wouldn’t be valued after parting ways with head coach Kevin Stefanski.

If the Browns had known they would end up with Monken, they likely would have thought twice about firing Stefanski. He landed the head coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons in less than two weeks after Cleveland let him go.

Even though it's not fair to judge Monken, since he hasn't coached a game as the Browns' head coach, it's clear that Cleveland's head coaching search took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.