Browns Hire Former OC to be New Head Coach
On January 28th, 2026, the Cleveland Browns announced that former University of Georgia and Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator will be their next head coach. Monken was heavily considered to join the Giants as the OC under John Harbaugh, both of whom spent a handful of seasons in Baltimore together. Other candidates for the job in Cleveland, such as Mike McDaniel and Jesse Minter, cancelled their interviews and accepted jobs elsewhere, making it seem as if no one wanted the job in Cleveland. Monken will be returning to the franchise where he served as offensive coordinator in 2019, but this time to lead the entire team.
Monken played QB back in the 1980s at Knox College in Illinois, but started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State in 1989. Monken moved up the ranks, earning a wide receivers coach job with the Jaguars in 2007, staying there until 2010, when he became the OC for Oklahoma State. In 2013, Monken took over the Southern Miss football program and completed an impressive three-year turnaround. He joined a program that went 0-12 the year before, and just three years later, went 9-5 and played in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Monken finished at Southern Miss with a 13-25 record, but got a job in 2017 as the OC in Tampa Bay, working with Jameis Winston and Mike Evans. In 2019, Monken took the OC position with the Browns, further developing Baker Mayfield and producing three Pro Bowlers on offense. After his singular season, Monken joined the University of Georgia as an offensive coordinator under Kirby Smart. In three years at UGA, Monken helped the Bulldogs convincingly win back-to-back National Championships.
In 2023, Monken was hired by the Baltimore Ravens to be their offensive coordinator, to help revamp the offense led by MVP QB Lamar Jackson. Jackson would win his second MVP in 2023 and was robbed of his third in 2024, but the offense still looked dangerous in the hands of Monken and Jackson. This past season, most likely due to injuries, the Ravens' offense found some new struggles that included redzone inefficiencies, ball security, and questionable playcalling in certain parts of the game. Monken will be the 12th full-time head coach for the Browns since the beginning of the 2001 NFL Season. The Browns will be getting a great offensive mind to help guide the developmental process of a young Cleveland team led by Pro Bowl QB Shedeur Sanders, DROY candidate Carson Schwesinger, and DPOY candidate Myles Garrett. A new era of Cleveland football may be beginning, and it starts with Todd Monken.
