The New York Giants have been hard at work early on this offseason, as they look to find a way to take a step forward after another disappointing campaign in 2025. The team’s ability to hire former Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh as their new leader has been viewed as a major win, and he has quickly begun assembling his coaching staff.
Ever since he got hired, the expectation was that Harbaugh would be bringing Todd Monken, who was his offensive coordinator in Baltimore, with him to New York. That changed when Monken was surprisingly hired as the Cleveland Browns‘ new head coach, and it doesn’t sound like Harbaugh was thrilled to have missed out on his top offensive coordinator candidate.
John Harbaugh Tried to Dissuade Todd Monken from Taking Browns’ HC Gig
The Browns’ head coach search was a bit of a mystery, and while Monken was in the running right up until the end, he was never believed to be the frontrunner for the job. Instead, he emerged from seemingly out of nowhere to land the gig, and that threw a major wrench in Harbaugh’s plans with the Giants.
While the Ravens’ offense has had its ups and downs during Monken’s three years as the team’s offensive coordinator, Harbaugh valued his longtime colleague’s experience on that side of the ball. And yet, it was Monken’s prior experience with Cleveland, where he worked as its offensive coordinator in 2019, that ended up helping him get his first shot at being a head coach in the NFL.
Now, Harbaugh has been forced to adjust on the fly and begin looking for new offensive coordinator candidates to join him in New York. It’s clear, though, that if he had his way, Monken would be his guy, and he even revealed that he went as far as to attempt to dissuade him from accepting the Browns’ job.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” Harbaugh said, per Bob Brookover of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “That’s my job, right. I really thought he was coming with us, but Cleveland was in there all along and he had been there before in 2019 as the offensive coordinator, so they knew him and he wanted this opportunity. He got it and I’m happy for him. I’m really kind of proud of him, but we’ve got to go to work.”
John Harbaugh Working on Finding New Offensive Coordinator
GettyFormer Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh reacting in the middle of an NFL game against the New York Jets.
Monken can’t be faulted for Cleveland’s head coach opening, nor can Harbaugh for attempting to do whatever it took to bring his right-hand man along with him. Now, they will be competing against each other as they attempt to get their new teams off the ground in the 2026 campaign and beyond.
While Harbaugh has already hired Dennard Wilson as his defensive coordinator, the search for an offensive coordinator has only just begun in the wake of Monken’s big move. Candidates are being identified, and a decision will likely be made in the near future, but it’s fair to wonder how different things would have been if Monken didn’t wind up with the Browns.
Giants HC John Harbaugh Reveals True Feelings on Todd Monken Taking Browns Job