The Cleveland Browns are once again searching for a new head coach after deciding to move on from Kevin Stefanski after six seasons. The new hire will be the 12th head coach the Browns have employed since the onset of the 21st century; Stefanski’s six seasons with the team was the longest tenure of any Cleveland HC since Sam Rutigliano coached the team from 1978-1983.
As has been highly reported, the Browns are high on two candidates: their current defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz and Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhase.
But a third name has emerged as legitimate candidate for the role: Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who served as the Browns OC back in 2019.
According to NFL insider Adam Schefter, Monken is square in the mix for the job.
“While Nate Scheelhaase and Jim Schwartz have been primary focuses of the Browns head coaching search, Todd Monken is a name still square in the mix as well,” Schefter wrote. “The team has closely tracked him this entire search. He previously served as the team’s OC in 2019, knows Cleveland well and is a prime candidate.”
Cleveland’s Unique Interviewing Tactics May Be Hurting Them
Inside information has come out on the Browns’ interviewing strategy, and it is certainly interesting.
NFL insider Tom Pelissero revealed that Cleveland is requiring candidates to go through three phases of pre-interview “homework,” including a personality test, a cognitive test, and several long-form essay questions regarding the job itself. That’s all just a baseline for their three-hour zoom interview with each candidate.
After plenty of coaches have been quickly proven ineffective with the Browns (see Hue Jackson or Freddie Kitchens), they’ve transitioned to a data-driven operation when it comes to hiring their coaches.
“They are a data-driven operation in Cleveland, and so they spend an extraordinary amount of time gathering data on their coaching candidates,” Pelissero said on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “You’re talking about taking a personality test, you’re talking about writing an essay. You’re talking about completing homework assignments going into both the first and the second rounds of interviews.”
So far, it seems that this method has pushed away several candidates, who weren’t willing to spend all that time focusing on one job when they had interviews with multiple other teams.
Monken’s Track Record and Potential Fit in Cleveland
So, with what seems like the final three candidates in contention for the Browns HC job, Cleveland has three unique options to explore. Monken and Schwartz, both 59-years-old, offer plenty of experience; Monken on the offensive side of the ball, Schwartz on the defensive side. If it comes down to these two coaches, it’ll likely be a matter of which side of the ball Cleveland values more.
Scheelhase on the other hand, is just 35-years-old, and would offer much more youth a relatability to the players. He is also an offensive minded coach, with more experience at the college level than the NFL. Prior to his two seasons with the Rams as their pass game coordinator, he was an offensive staffer at Iowa State and the University of Illinois for eight years.
Cleveland has several different avenues it can go down at this point, now it comes down to which one they deem will be best for the future of the organization.
