When the Baltimore Ravens face the Cleveland Browns during their two meetings in the 2026 season, the Ravens will see a familiar face on Cleveland’s sideline. Todd Monken, who served as Baltimore’s offensive coordinator from 2023 to 2025, has taken over as the Browns’ head coach.
Monken didn’t just up and leave Baltimore for a division rival, though, he was assisted out the door when the team fired former head coach John Harbaugh. However, the 60-year-old coach was able to land his first NFL head coaching job because of his work the last three seasons with the Ravens.
The Browns head coach makes that clear everytime he’s asked about Baltimore, and he especially gives a lot of credit to Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. In a recent interview with the Baltimore Sun, where Monken reflected on his time with the Ravens, he once again expressed that he wouldn’t have the job in Cleveland if it wasn’t for Jackson.
The head coach explained that he also texted the same thing to Jackson, when the quarterback sent him a congratulatory text for being named the Browns head coach. Monken also revealed that after he thanked Jackson for their last three years together, he jokingly told the quarterback to “go f— yourself,” and that Cleveland is “going to blitz you every third down.”
Todd Monken thanked Lamar Jackson after getting Browns job, then immediately turned to a competitor
Monken was, of course, just having fun with the new dynamic that he has with his former quarterback, but there was certainly some truth in the joke. Cleveland will be coming after Baltimore, and Monken, tasked with turning around the perennially bad Browns, will use whatever knowledge he has of the Ravens to try and get wins against them.
The only knowledge Monken will really have is about the players, because Baltimore has a brand new staff after the previous regime failed to meet expectations. Monken spent most of the interview talking about how things unraveled in Baltimore last season, and his biggest message was that no one did a good enough job.
With swirling rumors about Jackson’s relationship with the previous regime turning sour, Monken didn’t pull back the curtain much to confirm or deny anything, but he expressed that things had run its course. Being careful with his words, the former Ravens offensive coordinator said, “It was just time. Everything has a shelf life.”
Now, after creating magic together for three years, Lamar Jackson and Todd Monken will be on opposite sidelines. The two annual meetings will look a lot like the text thread between the two: there will be love and respect for each other, but that won’t lessen their competitive fire.
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