Todd Monken happy with start of offseason program, hopes to establish 'a team that nobody wants to play'

BEREA — Todd Monken kept his message "real simple" in his first team meeting as an NFL head coach."We're in the development business and the winning business. Point blank, period," he said he told the team.Monken, 60, started coaching in 1989. He got his first NFL job in 2007.He's been with lots of teams and run plenty of meetings. The one Tuesday when the players reported for the first day of the voluntary offseason program carried extra weight."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," he said Wednesday. "But getting up in front of the room, no."Monken inherited a team that won eight games over the last two years. He's charged with fixing an offense that averaged 15.2 points and 16.4 points in those failed seasons.He has a clear vision of what he wants the team to look like."It ought to pop off the tape. That we're smart. We're physical. Unbelievable effort," he said. "And our execution should pop off the tape. That doesn't matter what play we're running. That identity should be there."What are we trying to establish? A team that nobody wants to play."The Browns made the playoffs in 2020 and '23 under coach Kevin Stefanski, but the 27 years since they've been back have been mostly about losing and dysfunction. The organization has one playoff win to go with 10 coaches and 42 starting quarterbacks.Monken had a simple solution for altering the perception."What changes everything? Winning changes everything. I told the coaches that the other day," he said. "It's pretty fricking simple."Having a quality quarterback also helps a great deal. Whether Monken has one remains to be seen.He was handed Shedeur Sanders, Deshaun Watson and Dillon Gabriel and plans an offseason competition to determine the starter. It began Tuesday with all three in the building."I was fired up. I thought all three guys were bright-eyed, wanting to learn," Monken said. "You couldn't ask for a better start in that QB room."The Browns will take the field for a voluntary three-day minicamp April 21, and Monken said he doesn't know who will take the first repetition."No, not really, because there's enough there of all three," he said. "There's enough there to really like Deshaun and the way he plays. There's enough there to really like the way Shedeur played at 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. Then we'll be willing to switch that. We can flip that any given day to how we see fit that gives us the best chance to develop our players."Monken would like to have a QB1 established by the start of training camp, even if the competition continues. He would prefer to load up the presumptive starter with first-team repetitions to get ready for the season.But evaluating the quarterbacks and establishing a firm depth chart is tough when practice time is limited in the offseason and there is no tackling."So you really don't get a real feel for their athleticism, ability to escape and play-make," Monken said. "That's probably one of the hardest things over the years when you have athletic quarterbacks you go, 'Eh, this guy looks a little better in seven-on-seven.' Yeah, well the game isn't seven-on-seven. It absolutely isn't."It's, 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 we would want that ball in their hands."Monken said he was pleased with the turnout for the start of the program."It's awesome being around them, but it is our job to put together an offseason program that makes them want to be here," he said. "From a development standpoint, from a connection standpoint, from a schematic standpoint, that's our jobs as organizations and coaching staff. That they get something here that they couldn't get anywhere else."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 it's voluntary, but I was fired up with the guys that were here. It was a great start."Here's the video. https://t.co/XKsedrvraG pic.twitter.com/LI4Qm6GyMu— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) April 8, 2026https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsNFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett wasn't in attendance. He wasn't expected and traditionally doesn't attend much of the program. He's got a busy life and a routine he believes prepares him best for the season."If you asked every coach in the NFL would they like every player to be there, of course," Monken said. "I think there's certain parts of what we do from a connection standpoint that I think is important to be here. Hell, I've been part of a team since I've been 5 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."NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger and cornerback Tyson Campbell reported and started to learn what new coordinator Mike Rutenberg expects."I just want to be able to do as much as I can and get better and I think the place for me to do that is here," Schwesinger said. "And obviously we have Rudy here and a lot of new coaches and so I think it's important to get to meet them as well and understand them. And I was excited too to be around all the guys again and see them and be able to work with them.""This is where we build character, this is where we build culture and this is where we can build those good habits that'll lead us into playing in late January, hopefully in February for the Super Bowl," Campbell said.Schwesinger appreciated Monken's opening message."It was great," he said. "A lot of it's just about the mindset of this team and how we're going to play and the goal here is to go win the Super Bowl. That's the end goal and that's what's been established and I'm looking forward to working towards that."The post Todd Monken happy with start of offseason program, hopes to establish 'a team that nobody wants to play' first appeared on BrownsZone with Scott Petrak.