By the time the Cleveland Browns got all the way down their list of possible head coaches after firing Kevin Stefanski, they came to former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken — a man who had just been fired himself.
Largely thought of as the NFL’s worst head coach hire of the offseason, Monken was a human punching bag since he was hired — mainly over his decisions at the quarterback position in going with hated veteran Deshaun Watson over 2nd-year quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Monken has spent the 1st month of the 2026 season proving he’s much more than anyone thought as a head coach — the Browns are somehow 2-1, and ESPN is already calling Monken the frontrunner to win NFL Coach of the Year.
“You do not have to sanction the Browns’ insistence on starting Watson to appreciate the job Monken is doing in his first season as a head coach,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote on September 28. “If anything, being saddled with that wreck of a quarterback situation and managing to go 2-1 in September is a feather in his cap. For much of training camp and the preseason, Monken was insisting things about his offense and his quarterbacks in news conferences that didn’t make a lot of sense to those of us who aren’t there every day. But it seems clear that he’s making sense inside the building … If the Browns finish with a winning record and make the playoffs, I can’t see how the coach of the year race is even close.”
Opportunity of a Lifetime for Monken With Browns
Getting hired by the Browns is nothing short of the opportunity of a lifetime for the 60-year-old Monken.
“The Browns are hiring former Ravens OC Todd Monken as their new head coach,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X on April 6. “After an exhaustive search, Cleveland lands on Monken, who previously worked with MVP Lamar Jackson. Todd Monken has extensive experience tutoring QBs and designing offenses, and that was as important as anything. The Browns have a new head coach.”
Super Bowl-winning Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was fired on January 6 after 18 seasons. One major sticking point was that Harbaugh refused to fire Monken, who has been Baltimore’s offensive coordinator since 2023.
Harbaugh was hired as the head coach of the New York Giants and Monken was projected to be his offensive coordinator before news of the Browns hiring him broke.
Monken previously worked for the Browns in 2019, when he spent one season as their offensive coordinator.
“Isn’t this the same offensive coordinator who forgot, on numerous occasions, to get Derrick Henry the ball?” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said after Monken was hired. “You’ve got to be kidding me. He’s the head coach?”
Monken Drove Wedge Between Jackson & Harbaugh
There are only 2 head coach openings left after Monken was hired by the Browns with the Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals still without head coaches.
Monken was at the heart of the issues that led to the Ravens firing Harbaugh after 13 playoff appearances and one Super Bowl win, after he seemed to drive a wedge between Harbaugh and Jackson, a 2-time NFL MVP.
According to a report from ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Jamison Hensley, the relationship between Monken and Jackson soured in 2025 after 2 successful seasons, including Jackson winning NFL MVP honors in 2023.
When Harbaugh met with Ravens ownership after his team was eliminated from the playoffs with a Week 18 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, he reportedly balked at being told to fire Monken in order to keep his own job.
Former Ravens Assistant Called Frontrunner for NFL Coach of the Year