The narrative around Cleveland Browns first-year head coach Todd Monken has changed hundreds of times over the course of this year. Now that Monken has his first win under his belt and his personality was on full display in his postgame press conference, perhaps fans and media members will be a little more patient and let this whole thing play out instead of questioning why he was hired in the first place or labeling him a lame duck or sacrificial lamb one-and-done head coach.
It’s encouraging to see the team starting to adopt his personality a bit, and that trend should only continue if they keep winning games. A few more wins and nobody will be labeling him as a potential one-and-done head coach, which sounds like the last thing on Joe Thomas’ mind.
During a recent appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Cleveland’s legendary former left tackle raves about Monken’s personality. He is a fan of the culture being built and is a big believer in Cleveland’s new leader overall.
“He believes in toughness, hard work, honesty, accountability, and I think you’re starting to see it already,” said Thomas.
"He believes in toughness, hard work, honesty, accountability, and I think you're starting to see it already."@JoeThomas73 on the culture Todd Monken is building with the Browns. pic.twitter.com/FvlOb4pUix
— Jim Rome (@jimrome) September 25, 2026
All of those things are traits we heard about Monken as soon as he was hired. Former players who played under him all raved about his honesty and accountability, and you would have been hard-pressed to find anybody who doubted his ability as a leader.
The doubt stemmed from the fact that he had never been a head coach before, and while he is certainly still learning, there is a lot to love through two games. The team came out much improved and extremely prepared in Week 2 after the stinker in the season opener.
All of the traits Thomas listed are exactly the kinds of characteristics this organization needs. They’re exactly the things Monken has preached since day one, and as he has said previously, it’s going to be fun to see this roster continue to take shape in his image.
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