Cleveland Browns fans weren’t overly excited when the team announced it was hiring Todd Monken as the next head coach, but he is quickly winning everyone over even before the first preseason game. It becomes clearer by the day that there is a reason why the front office ultimately chose him, and it’s not just because of his decades of experience building great offenses.
Monken wears his heart on his sleeve and is a legitimate culture shifter, which is exactly what this team needs after decades of futility. He has spoken at length about prioritizing the future without compromising the present and wanting to build something that remains in place far beyond his tenure as head coach. He wants the Browns to become a team that other teams look to as an example for how to build a contender.
While speaking with the media on Wednesday, Monken touched on the kind of messaging he has been preaching to his squad. By the sound of it, he is going to have these guys running through a brick wall for him every Sunday.
“We all are crazy a little bit of what’s important to us. It’s our job as coaches to confront anything that gets in the way of winning football. That part of it is going to frustrate me when we don’t, including myself. I hope I do a good job of owning that when I’m not on point and I feel like I have over the years. I owe it to the players for what they want out of their careers and what we want out of our team that we should fight like hell to be perfect in everything that we do. If that’s crazy, then I just feel like that’s my job,” said Monken.
"We all are crazy a little bit of what's important to us. It's our job as coaches to confront anything that gets in the way of winning football games. We ought to fight like hell to be perfect." #Browns HC Todd Monken on the video of his message to the team https://t.co/nxAzGhxgnV pic.twitter.com/a1r6Y8hzI5
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) August 6, 2026
How can you not love hearing this if you’re a Browns fan? Say what you will about hiring a 60-year-old with no head coaching experience, but perhaps what he doesn’t know about head coaching will be a strength. His offensive acumen is undeniable and there is no question he is going to do everything he can to hold his players accountable and demand greatness out of them.
We won’t know how he handles in-game adjustments and all the nuances that come with those 60 minutes every Sunday, but so far he is checking all the boxes. There is a buzz in the building that hasn’t been there for years, which isn’t easy to do when you don’t even know who your starting quarterback is.
There is no shame in being a little crazy for the right reason, and it looks like everyone is responding well to Monken’s particular brand of crazy so far.
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