Todd Monken’s History With Browns Points Towards Both Success and Shortcomings

Todd Monken has coached in Cleveland before. How did it go? Depends on who you ask.

Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken on the field before the game against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Browns have ended their long head coaching search, settling on the candidate that many did not expect.

The new Browns head coach will be former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken was announced earlier today, beating out Rams pass game coordinator Nathan Scheelhaase and Browns current defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Monken has been the offensive coordinator for Baltimore for the past three seasons, from 2023 to 2025, where he was a finalist for AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2023. Before Baltimore, Monken guided the Georgia Bulldogs' offense to back-to-back national championships. 

Monken has coached for Cleveland before, though, being the Browns' offensive coordinator in 2019, where Freddie Kitchens was the Browns coach.

Monken's success with the Browns

In 2019, quarterback Baker Mayfield passed for his Cleveland-high in passing yards with 3,827, along with 1,000 + receiving yards from Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. 

The Browns' rushing attack flourished under Monken, as Nick Chubb rushed for the second-most yards in the NFL with 1,494. The Browns ranked 12th in the league in rushing yards per game, along with being fourth in rushing yards per play. 

The main difference between now and 2019 is that in 2019, Kitchens was the play caller for Cleveland, which led to frustrations from Monken. Monken cited that Kitchens would go off the gameplan that was set from Wednesday through Saturday.

Monken's shortcomings with the Browns

This could be the reason that even though Mayfield passed for his Browns career high, the Browns ranked 22nd in the league in passing yards per game and in EPA per pass.

While with Cleveland in 2019, Monken’s frustrations with how Kitchens called the offense led to Monken reportedly making comments to opposing coaches about how much of a “mess” the Browns were.

Those comments were not towards the team and were more Kitchens specific. So they did not come into play during the hiring process for the Browns' front office. You do have to wonder what Monken thinks of Cleveland now and how it is a better situation for him to come back and lead the team. 

It could say a lot that now, seven years later, Monken is back, with a whole new offense, and possibly a new defensive coordinator. Monken’s 11 years of coaching in the NFL, leading perennial rushing attacks in Baltimore that were ranked either first or second in the league in the past three years, will hopefully bring Cleveland some offensive consistency.