The Cleveland Browns are looking for a new head coach to replace the recently fired Kevin Stefanski, and the team has already requested an interview with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

While it’s just the first of many interviews to come, the Browns really need to be careful with what they do with Monken after the latest report from Ravens beat writer Jeff Zrebiec.

Zrebiec, of The Athletic, is as dialed-in as they come when it comes to a respective beat, and he confirmed the rumors of friction between Monken and star quarterback Lamar Jackson. He says Harbaugh often served as the “buffer” between Monken and Jackson due to personality differences.

“Plus, the dynamic between Harbaugh, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and star quarterback Lamar Jackson had grown awkward, particularly this season when there seemed to be weekly confusion about whether Jackson would or wouldn’t practice. Harbaugh was often the buffer between Monken and Jackson, whose personalities didn’t always mesh.” – Jeff Zrebiec, The Athletic

How would Monken handle Shedeur Sanders’ personality?

Sanders, without a doubt, is his own man. He marches to the beat of his own drum and clearly goes about things his way. This is in no way an indictment of Sanders’ character; it’s just simply being mentioned.

If Monken clashed with Jackson to the point where Harbaugh had to come between the two of them, then it’s almost guaranteed that it will happen with Sanders. And in this hypothetical, there would be no “buffer” to help them since Monken would be calling the shots. While there’s no guarantee Sanders is the Browns’ starting quarterback under a hypothetical Monken as head coach, he showed enough in 2025 to at least warrant competing for the starting job.

That, in itself, is enough reason to raise a red flag, because it could start to lean more toward the subjective side than the objective side in the evaluation and assessment. There’s also the fact that Jackson is an accomplished superstar, and while Sanders has potential to be a starter, he hasn’t fully shown it yet.

An unestablished player clashing with a head coach is a recipe for disaster.

Cleveland has to figure out its quarterback situation, and Sanders is a viable option. Therefore, everyone needs to be on the same page in order to figure it out and avoid screwing up a potentially good opportunity.

Other Ravens players took issue with Monken’s approach

Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han also reported players felt Monken would abandon game plans mid-game, and he was viewed as standoffish and wouldn’t collaborate.

“Those sources, who had direct knowledge of how Monken ran the offense, said players felt the Ravens worked on a specific game plan during the week only to abandon it mid-game, creating chaos and confusion,” Han reported Tuesday. “They also viewed Monken as increasingly standoffish and unwilling to collaborate with players.”

This is information the Browns must take seriously, regardless of their past relationship with Moken.

Monken still makes sense, but the new information is certainly something to consider

The Browns could be inclined to go with an offense-minded head coach to keep the good things going in Cleveland. Jim Schwartz is under contract for the 2026 season, so the only way the Browns lose him is to a head coaching job. If the Browns hire an offensive specialist, keeping Schwartz intact as the defensive coordinator is nearly a lock. There’s zero reason to fix what isn’t broken with Cleveland’s defense — and to make a significant change to a group that plays at a contending level. 

Schwartz wouldn’t be happy with a defensive-minded coach coming in and implementing his system. No veteran coach is going to stand for that. That makes Monken one of the Browns’ key interview requests at this point. Monken has had success at both the college and pro levels — and he spent a year in Cleveland. If the Haslam family wasn’t fond of him from the first time around, he wouldn’t be linked to the job. 

Monken would be a veteran offensive mind paired with Schwartz, a defensive mind, to run the Browns. Cleveland has been connected to five names for its open job so far — and three of them are on the offensive side. The current Ravens assistant should be taken seriously for this job, in what would be his second time interviewing with the Browns to be their head coach. 

Either way, the Browns have some digging to do, and they need to take the right steps afterward.

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