The Cleveland Browns entered the offseason as one of several teams needing a new head coach to lead their sidelines. The Browns parted ways with former head coach Kevin Stefanski following an up-and-down tenure, though he quickly found a new home with the Atlanta Falcons.
Cleveland had a lengthy interview process with several candidates, though they ultimately landed on the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Monken beat out candidates like Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, who were considered favorites for the job because of their youth and offensive acumen.
This marks Monken’s second stint in Cleveland, as he previously served as the franchise’s offensive coordinator in 2019. Now, Monken will be tasked with reviving a Browns team that is desperate to compete in the AFC North again. The front office will need to revamp the roster in order to give Monken a legitimate shot at turning the team around, so free agency and the 2026 NFL Draft will be major inflection points of the offseason.
Head coaching jobs are hard to come by in the NFL, though it doesn’t mean that every landing spot is as desirable as others. The same can be said across all professional sports, as leading a team requires several factors to go right to be successful.
The Athletic recently ranked the hardest coaching jobs in world sports, and the Browns were among the top.
“Cleveland has repeatedly failed in their attempts to find the right quarterback. Since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, they’ve had 42 starting quarterbacks — by far the most of any team in that time. The 2023 Browns had five starting quarterbacks, the 2024 Browns had four and last season’s team had three. There have been at least three different starters 12 times in the post-1999 era. The constant carousel at quarterback and in the head coach’s office has not helped anyone. Add in an aggressive but meddling ownership group and a pile of immature draft picks and the Browns warrant a spot here. The next head coach, Todd Monken, is vying to be the one to end all the mess. Good luck to him,” Jackson wrote.
As Jackson laid out, Cleveland has largely struggled to find the right combination of quarterbacks and head coaches to lead the organization. Even the 2025 NFL season serves as enough proof that the Browns need a hard reset in some ways, given how things have gone.
The 2026 NFL season will be interesting to watch because Monken has a tough task ahead getting this roster to compete weekly.
Hopefully, he’s the head coaching answer Cleveland’s been searching for as they need to start establishing some continuity.
NEXT: Browns Not Viewed As Ideal Spot For Veteran QB
