From 2020-2025, the AFC North did not see a head coaching change across the entire division. For six straight years, it was the same four coaches going toe to toe. Then, in the span of a week, three of the four were gone.
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The Cincinnati Bengals were the only ones to retain their head coach, Zac Taylor, though many believed he also should have gotten the boot. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers replaced long-time head coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin with the promising young Jesse Minter and the proven Mike McCarthy, respectively. The Browns, meanwhile, struggled to find anyone to take their job.
Several of their top candidates dropped out. Eventually, they were left with two options: their own DC, Jim Schwartz, and Ravens OC Todd Monken. They went with Monken, who is getting his first head coaching assignment at age 59. With Minter’s youth and energy and McCarthy’s Super Bowl experience, it is clear Monken was the weakest hire of the group. Former linebacker turned NFL analyst Emmanuel Acho certainly thinks so as well.
“Monken is the clear worst coach in that division. Clear. Jesse Minter has at least commanded a No. 2 defense without a bunch of stars in their prime… So he’s exciting,” Acho said during the latest episode of the Speakeasy podcast.
“Mike McCarthy, even with the Dallas Cowboys, they won 12 games three straight years. Sure, they got to the playoffs, they fell short, but Dan Quinn, I’m looking at you against the Green Bay Packers… Zac Taylor hasn’t done well in a couple seasons… second year, goes to a Super Bowl,” added the analyst.
Monken’s hire also meant that Schwartz was extremely unhappy and is now unlikely to return. After Acho laid out all the reasons to be excited about the other three coaches, he went into why Monken is not exciting for this Browns franchise. Namely, wasting three years with Lamar Jackson at the helm of his offense.
“Todd Monken, what is there to be excited about,” Acho asked. “You have Lamar Jackson and you got bounced? You only put up 17 points in a Championship Game, that’s all you could muster up? With Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry? That’s it?”
Monken did lead some elite regular-season units as the OC with the Ravens. But if you ask anyone in Baltimore about Monken, they will point to his absurd game plans and play-calling in the playoffs as their lasting memory of the man.
The last time Monken was in Cleveland, he was the OC in 2019. The Browns will hope that his second stint goes better than that one did, when Cleveland went 6-10 and had the 22nd-ranked offense.
