Head Coach Todd Monken (4.8.26)

Would you be willing to share with us what your sort of opening message to the team is at the start of this offseason program?

“It was real simple. We’re in the development business and the winning business – point, blank, period. That’s what we’re in.”

 

Did it feel any different, Todd? I know you’ve done it before and stood in front of the team, but first time NFL head coach, did it feel any different yesterday?

“It felt different preparing for the meeting – the time that it took to make sure you’re on point with the message and for the guys to feel that message. But getting up in front of the room? No.”

 

Do you have any update on Joel Bitonio’s plans?

“I do not.”

 

Are you happy with the turnout so far at the offseason program?

“It’s our job…we all know that the off season is voluntary. It is. So first of all, there’s nothing like being around the players. Everything we do is the development of players.That’s how we get to where we’re at in the coaching profession. So it’s awesome being around it. But it is our job to put together an offseason program that makes them want to be here from a development standpoint, from a connection standpoint, from a schematic standpoint. For them to want to be here, that’s our job as an organization, as a coaching staff – that they get something here that they couldn’t get anywhere else. Could they get stronger somewhere else? Yes. Could they get faster somewhere else? I guess. Can they get connected with their team? No. With their coaches? No, absolutely not. Can they get what we’re doing schematically? Absolutely not. But we understand that it is voluntary. But I was fired up at the guys that were here. It was a great start.”

 

I know at the combine you mentioned that working with John Harbaugh, that he was all about the work at this stage of the offseason. Can you expand a little bit more on some things you took away from working with him in that regard and how maybe it is important in designing this year’s program?

“Use every minute of every day. It’s all about winning. That’s what we do. I mean, within the rules, use every minute of every day, every resource that we have to help develop our players and develop our systems that allow us to play clean and play fast.”

 

Obviously this part off season workouts is about teaching the new playbook. For you, do you have maybe a philosophical approach that you’re trying to get in terms of not just development but instillation and teaching these guys what you’re looking to get when you are able to get out on the field?

“First off, phase one ought to be more about their individual techniques, irrespective of the playbook. For each position they have their own playbook. In terms of what it should look like, the blocking techniques, the terminology that goes with that, their drills, once we get on the field, because it’s going to carry over within a certain route concepts. You might have the same route that shows up three times, four times. How do we get proficient at that one route, that one blocking technique. What we’re asking to do on defense, it’s really more fundamentals than anything in the first couple weeks. Then we start to get into more scheme, playbook and then we get to go on the field with them. Because it’s hard to really install too much of the offense without being able to go out there with them. It really is a little bit more difficult. And again, it doesn’t matter if they know what to do, but they can’t do it, right? Like I think a big one for me is…and our players have to take some onus and some memorization in terms of the playbook. Ultimately our coaches should not be in charge of, just to give an example – teaching someone the history of a gun. How was a gun made, right? Where did it come from? Ultimately we want to teach them how to fire it. And that’s what we want to do as coaches. I want to teach them formations – they can study that – motions, shifts, how we get aligned, memorization. We want our coaches to be able to coach how to do it and show it visually.”

 

Todd, you had said that yesterday was going to be the first time you were able to coach the quarterbacks on the playbook. Were you pleased with where they were coming in on the first day of the program in terms of, maybe, picking up concepts and that sort of thing?

“What we got into, for sure. I mean each day they’re going to gain more and more information of what we do and what we expect. I was fired up, you know, I thought all three guys were bright eyed, wanted to learn. I mean you couldn’t ask for a better start in that QB room.”

 

Todd, there’s much ado about nothing with the coach’s photo last week.

“Yeah, so why are you asking it?”

 

Sean McVay wasn’t in there. Do you ever think that’s… 

“I can’t comment on Sean McVay.”

 

Do you feel like you got a disproportionate amount of bluster for that?

“Oh, I didn’t, I really don’t give a s***. I mean, nothing to do with me. I mean, they moved the meeting. I didn’t miss it. I was just trying to get a sweet haircut. That’s what I was trying to do. And then they moved the meeting. Now you can claim that I should have been at the meeting when they moved it up and my a** would have known that’s when it was – yeah, okay, I got you. And was it disappointing? You bet your a** it was disappointing. Am I allowed to be head coach if I’m not in the head coach’s picture? You think with AI they could have done that quickly and got me in there? But no, it’s the way it is. It’ll be under the bridge. And what will matter most is how we move from here and do we win or not. Ultimately none of that will matter.”

 

The reason I ask is that there’s this perception around the Browns, like, what can go wrong will go wrong. People always read the worst into what happens here. How can you guys change that perception?

“Winning. It changes everything, right? Winning changes everything, right? I told the coaches that the other day, right? Or playing well. How does a player stop the narrative? Play well. How do we stop the narrative on offense? Score. How do you stop the narrative about not winning? Win. It’s pretty freaking simple, right? I mean, is that not in life in general, right? There’s a narrative out there that you’re not a good husband. Well, change. Be a good husband, right? All that’s part of it, right? Change the narrative. Become that. That’s what we have to do. It’s real simple.”

 

Todd, how important, since most of these guys never met you before, how important is it for you to make a good impression on them so they know who you are on that first meeting you had?

“Ultimately, I wanted them to know what our goals are and what we’re here for as coaches. That’s it. It’s really simple. I said at the beginning, what business are we in? We’re in the development business of our players – to help them aspire, to achieve all of their dreams that they’ve ever worked on. There’s nothing more exciting for a position coach than to take a player and develop them and then down the road, they get paid, they get a second contract – be it here or somewhere else. That says I helped. There’s nothing like that. Just like coaching, there’s nothing like building a plan, a system that you can play fast offense, defense, special teams, and it shows up on the field. That part of it, that’s all it is. We’re in the development business and the winning business and anything that gets in the way of those two things have to be confronted and eliminated. That’s it, at the end of the day. Whatever your goals are doesn’t matter in life, right? You want to be a great Christian, you gotta eliminate anything in your life that stops you from being a great Christian. Being a great father, being a great husband – you have to eliminate those things that stop you from your goals and aspirations. That’s our job.”

 

Todd, with the draft a couple weeks away, from your aspect, how do you split your time between having the guys here and then working and preparing for the draft stuff?

“Oh, well, it’s starting to pick up a little bit here in the next couple weeks. It’s fine, nothing hard – just takes some time. That’s all it is. We were ready for the guys to come back. So there’s not as much preparation that I’ve needed for the first two weeks in terms of meetings. So that allows us to kind of be able to dedicate some time with the draft. But we’re going to have that veterans minicamp, the voluntary minicamp, which is awesome, by the way. That we get a chance to get out there with them. It’s interesting to go right from phase one to phase three, basically. But I think it’s awesome we get to go out on the field and get a little bit of advanced look to our guys, especially it’s leading up right to the Draft. You think about that, you get a couple of days before you lead into it. It’s a little that you get to see, but you get at least an idea that leads into that. But it’s not been hard.”

 

Jimmy Haslam mentioned that, you know, he didn’t think that Myles (Garrett) would be here because he’s usually not here for the offseason program. But that he’s proven that he doesn’t necessarily really need it. Again, I know it’s voluntary, but do you feel like he’s sort of on a different level and might not need to be here for something like this?

“Well, first of all, as I’ve said before, this is voluntary for our players to be here. I think if you asked every coach in the NFL, would they like every player to be there for that? Of course. I think there’s certain parts of what we do from a connection standpoint, you know, that I think is important to be here. From a schematic’s standpoint, from a work standpoint, not so much. And it is our job to make it to where the guys want to be here. Not just by the job, but by their development, by the comradery, by being part of a team. And hell, I’ve been part of a team since I was five years old. There’s nothing like it. I wouldn’t miss it because that’s me, that’s how I’m wired. But it is voluntary. Myles will be ready, I’m not worried about Myles.”

 

This has been a team that I think probably the last six years has ranked 20 or worse in penalty yardage over the last few years. How do you coach that out of a team?

“Well, I think you show it, you teach. And you make sure that on a daily basis it’s emphasized.”

 

Todd, we’re supposed to hear from Quinshon (Judkins) in a little bit, and I know he’s working his way back from a tough injury, but seeing what he did his rookie season, how excited are you to get to work with him? And what do you think he can add in this offense?

“Wow. I was a big fan when he came out. I mean, it was a good draft last year for running backs. I mean, there was a good number of talented players that you could envision them having great NFL careers. And he’s no different.

What you saw in film last year is a player that loves football, refuses to go down. You know, he’s hard to bring down. He plays behind his pads, he drives his legs on contact. He’s got a charismatic smile. And I haven’t been around him practicing yet. But I can’t wait. I can’t wait to get him out there, get a chance to work with him.”

 

Todd, when it comes to kind of figuring out the identity of this team, and who you guys are going to be, do you know that now? Does that have to develop over time? When do you kind of figure that out?

“Well, I mean, the identity of your team should never change. Now, your methods that you get to and what it actually looks like is different. As coach used to say, principles are set in stone, right? I mean, it ought to pop off the tape. You know, that we’re smart, we’re physical, unbelievable effort, and our execution should pop off the tape. That doesn’t matter what we’re running, what play we’re running, that identity should be there. What are we trying to establish? A team that nobody wants to play.”

 

Todd, you’ve talked so much about wanting to sort of have the quarterback figured out, going into training camps so you can sort of distribute the reps. Do you have a similar thought process on sort of where guys are going to be slotted on the offensive line? I understand you might even add somebody during the draft or multiple people in the draft, but is that kind of goal, in the spring time to get to a point where you kind of know what that looks like going into training camp?

“I think that’s true. I think the hardest part is for everybody that’s here is external to us and our staff. That’s what’s hard. Defensively, it’s a little easier with the staff we have back. But offensively, whether we brought someone from the outside or they were already here on the previous roster, we haven’t really had a chance to work with them yet and get out there, which we’ll have a better idea in a couple of weeks. But we do have to, and you’re right, we’ll have to have a depth chart. We’re going to have to line up in two weeks. We’re going to have to roll a first unit out there and there’s some past history that plays in that and a little bit of guesswork on where they’re at and what we’ve seen up till this point in the classroom. And maybe a little bit of what we’ve heard, I mean, that all goes into it, but eventually it’ll all work itself out. Whatever the number of reps – I said it a week ago – it doesn’t eliminate the competition. It just doesn’t. I mean, it’s players decide who plays. I don’t decide who plays. The players decide that.

It’s not where they start, it’s where they finish, it’s where they end up.”

 

Can you talk to us about when you faced Carson last year and do you envision his role changing at all with Rudy in charge of that defense?

“I remember being in the draft meetings at the place I was previously talking about Carson. I obviously didn’t know him as the offensive coordinator, but I remember them speaking of what his superpower was, who he was, and then to see it when we played against him was impressive. Run, chase, hit, very instinctual, loves football, outstanding leader, all of those things and you’re like, well, they’re right. I’m damn glad he’s a Brown.”

 

Todd, as you approach this quarterback competition, what kinds of things are these guys going to be sort of scrutinized on, graded on as you go through these, even these first two weeks when you can’t necessarily be outside or inside, wherever, coaching them up, hands on. What goes into this and then how heated do you think this battle is going to be as you move through the spring?

“I think, like, almost every position on your team is going to be a heated battle. Every year is a new year. It resets every year. I don’t care where you are. Whether it’s your offensive or defensive systems. Whether it’s players you have to reset in the offseason. So there’s heated competition everywhere. From a quarterback’s perspective, it’s a little bit more difficult just because their number one job is to get us in the end zone. And that’s a little bit harder to really drill down. A couple of different reasons why. One is you’re not playing any games. You don’t have pads on. No one’s live. So you really don’t get a real feel for that athleticism, ability to escape and playmake. That’s probably one of the hardest things over the years when you have athletic quarterbacks, like this guy looks a little better at seven on seven. Yeah, well, the game isn’t seven on seven. It absolutely isn’t. Who makes plays? Who’s got an inner toughness to move the offense and get us in the end zone? And then ultimately, who does the team believe in? And usually that correlates. The team’s going to believe in the guy that gives us the best chance to score and win. And when the game’s on the line. Whether it’s third downs, fourth downs, two-minute, that they feel comfortable like we would want the ball in their hands.”

 

You mentioned the importance of tape. And it’s not about where you start, it’s about where you finish. That being said, going through all the tape, getting these guys, these quarterbacks in the building, do you have an inkling of who will be leading in reps to start out?

“Are we talking about quarterback? No, not really. Because there’s enough there of all three. I mean, I think we’d all be able to say that. There’s enough there to really like Deshaun, the way he plays, and there’s enough there to really like the way Shedeur played the back end of the year. And there’s enough early in the year from Dillon that is playing the position at a very high level. It’s been brought up a lot more to me than really what I think about, other than, yeah, someone’s going to have to start off first and someone’s going to go second, someone’s going to go third, and then we’ll be willing to switch that. That’s easily on a daily basis, what we see, just like any position that’s not set in stone, that’s something we can flip. Just like the practice phase, we can flip that any given day to how we see fit that gives us the best chance to develop our players. Now, how they go about it, how they study, how they take care of their body, how they manage our team, how they lead, those are set in stone. Those are non-negotiables.”

 

 

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