1. Monken joins the Browns from Tampa Bay, where he helped orchestrate the best passing offense in the league. The Buccaneers also boasted the third-best total offense in the league despite alternating between Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick as their starting quarterback. Both quarterbacks posted career highs in completion percentage and quarterback rating under Monken this year, and Fitzpatrick also threw for the most yards per attempt of his career. Monken, much like new Browns coach Freddie Kitchens, is an aggressive play-caller. He was recently quoted as saying, "I like having fun. I don't know why it has to feel like such drudgery all the time. Who needs more 5-yard plays? How can we be explosive? That's what the game is about, man. People like big plays. I like big plays." Kitchens proved during his brief tenure as offensive coordinator he's also an advocate for chunk plays. Adding Monken to the mix assures that offensive meetings will be flooded with creativity.
2. Monken's background is largely grounded in the college game, where he's spent 23 of his 28 years as a coach. He's a disciple of the Air-Raid offense, the pass-heavy attack Baker Mayfield mastered at Oklahoma, but Kitchens said Monday the Browns will retain their system from last season and Kitchens will still call plays. Kitchens commended Monken for choosing the Browns over other teams that would've given Monken more offensive autonomy, saying good coaches choose jobs for the reasons he believes Monken chose the Browns. Namely, opportunities for winning and coaching with other great coaches. And even though Monken won't be calling plays or implementing his system, his background is significant to the Browns' efforts to tailor their playbook for Mayfield.
3. The Monkens are a football-obsessed family. Todd's cousin Jeff is the head coach at Army, and 10 other Monkens have coached football. "Football is our family's life," Nancy Monken (Todd's Aunt) said in 2013 when Jeff took the Army job.
4. Monken, a native of Wheaton, Illinois, is a member of the Knox College Hall of Fame. Monken played both football and baseball at Knox, and he earned Division lll All-American honors in 1988, his junior season. During that season, Monken ranked first in pass attempts, completions and completion percentage. The Knox website also described him as a "strong-hitting and excellent-fielding outfielder."
5. Monken is already familiar with the AFC North. He coached against all four teams in 2018, and while the Buccaneers finished 1-3 in those contests (the lone win coming against the Browns), Monken's unit averaged 432 offensive yards in those games and every loss was by one possession. Again, he produced these results while juggling two starting quarterbacks.
