If there is one thing that is certain about Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken, it is that he’s very comfortable in his own skin. Getting his first opportunity at 60 years old, Monken isn’t about to pretend to be something he’s not.
While that may not always come across in a positive manner, especially when talking to the media, it has certainly worked with the Browns players. It has also allowed Monken to seek advice that other coaches might not be willing to ask for.
After getting hired by the Browns, Monken reached out to Sean McDermott, who had been fired by the Buffalo Bills less than two weeks before. The two shared a conversation that resonated with McDermott.
McDermott recently revealed what struck him about Monken, saying he was impressed by his vulnerability in seeking his input.
“I didn’t really know Todd well. I knew his work, but I had never really interacted with him. Funny story. So, he reaches out this past, I believe it was early March, and he was really curious about my first team meeting in 2017 in Buffalo. And that’s not something I’ve ever been asked before as a head coach in my nine seasons in Buffalo, or just a question that people are vulnerable enough to ask. We get asked questions about scheme and leadership and so on and so forth, but Todd reached out, and he wanted to know about my first team meeting. He had heard about it, and really how I connected the building and made sure everybody valued each and every department, not just the football departments, and it really just struck me, and this is not about me, it’s about Todd. What struck me about it was how vulnerable one has to be to reach out to a peer about a question like a team meeting, especially when he just got his job, and he’s about to go into his first team meeting with his new group,” McDermott said.
After being hired by the Bills, McDermott would conduct a team-bonding exercise in which a player would address his teammates and tell them something about their life and their journey. It helped establish a foundation that resulted in eight playoff appearances in his nine seasons, though never reaching the Super Bowl wound up costing McDermott his job.
McDermott said Monken has shown that when a coach behaves as his true self and can show a sense of humor and humility, the buy-in from the players will increase. That has proven true with the Browns, who, for example, did not express any pushback to his controversial decision to name Deshaun Watson as the starting quarterback.
Monken also has an edge to him, and he knows how to play the us-against-the-world card. McDermott said Mike Tomlin dropped a gift into Monken’s lap with his mocking comment about the Browns after their Week 1 loss, and he has used it to rally his team, which has won three in a row since then.
Monken can only hope to be as successful with the Browns as McDermott was in his time with the Bills, and the former coach believes he is off to a very good start.
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