The sentiment around Todd Monken being hired as the next Cleveland Browns head coach wasn’t great when the news first came out. The front office waited longer to make a decision on a new coach than any of the other teams in the market for one, and when Monken was the name GM Andrew Berry finally landed on, a lot of Browns fans were underwhelmed.
There were a lot of accomplished former head coaches and exciting up-and-coming coordinators taking meetings, so a 60-year-old with no head coaching experience wasn’t a lot of fans’ first choice. Nobody is saying that now that Monken has had a few months to start shaping the team in his image, and a lot of doubters have changed their minds and can’t wait to see what he has in store for this offense.
Cleveland.com’s Dan Labbe recently spent plenty of time in the facility to observe practice, and he is now fully in Monken’s corner. He recently appeared on Afternoon Drive on 92.3 The Fan and noted that Monken is showing that he is exactly what this team needs.
“I’ve been really impressed because I think this is exactly what this team needs right now. They need a guy that’s going to make them be on the field, that’s going to make them practice,” said Labbe.
"I've been really impressed because I think this is exactly what this team needs right now. They need a guy that's going to make them be on the field, that's going to make them practice."
➡️ @dan_labbe w/ @JPeterlin and @VulinecJake on observing practices under #Browns head… pic.twitter.com/9EJX3I1X6V
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) June 11, 2026
As excited as the fans are getting about the team, Monken himself is even more excited about the kind of offseason his team had. He recently talked about how pleased he was with the productive and outstanding offseason the guys on his roster had and he raved about the work and the camaraderie he saw in the facility.
Given how bad this team has been for a few years, and really for the last few decades, it did need someone like Monken, who is innovative, yet stern and demands a lot from his players. It appears like everybody has bought in so far, and hopefully that momentum can carry over through the next few weeks until training camp gets underway.
Monken is coming across to be much different than Kevin Stefanski was in just about every way. That’s what you want when going through a regime change.
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