On Wednesday, the Cleveland Browns hired new head coach Todd Monken. Monken was recently on the Ravens coaching staff as their offensive coordinator. He’s had pretty good success calling plays as they have had one of the top offenses in football. The only difference is it’s not hard to see that the Ravens have a better and more talented offense than the Browns.

Another interesting thing about Monken is he was one of the oldest first head coaches, as he turns 60 next week. This hire was not really expected from anyone as many people expected it to be the Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz to get hired. 

I’ve been looking to see how people would react to the hire and from Browns fans it hasn’t been so great. Many Browns fans wanted the Browns to hire Jim Schwartz to keep his great defensive mind in the front office or hire a new up and coming coach from the Rams in Nate Scheelhaase. Many fans have called this signing a disgrace and think it was a big mistake by the Browns. I think the only thing that could become a problem right now is potentially losing Schwartz as he has been great for the Browns since he signed in 2023. This could very well happen because after he was told that he didn’t get the job, reports came out that he was visibly upset and was saying his goodbyes on the way out. But Schwartz still has one year left on his contract, and best case scenario would be the Browns somehow convincing him to stay. 

From my standpoint as a Browns fan, I really don’t mind this signing. Look, the Browns have struggled to find a stable offense since their playoff run in 2023, and I think an experienced and offensively-minded coach like Monken could help elevate this offense especially if we can add some good weapons over the off-season too. I’ve also seen many professional analysts say the same things that are not biased Browns fans. I also know the risk of losing Schwartz, but even though he is great, defensive coordinators are pretty easily replaceable.

Also, with the Browns talent on the defensive side of the ball you’d have to be a terrible coach for this defense to not be good.  Another important point to take in is its way more important to find and have a good head coach over a defensive coordinator, so if Monken ends up being good and leads this team to the playoffs at some point, then none of this will even really matter. So although it would be disappointing to lose Schwartz, I think Monken could very well end up being the right hire and hopefully get this team back to playoff level and help elevate this offense again.