The Cleveland Browns entered the 2026 offseason in search of a new head coach for the first time since 2020 after moving on from Kevin Stefanski after six seasons, two playoff appearances, and a pair of NFL Coach of the Year trophies.
General manager Andrew Berry interviewed 10 candidates, ranging from the young (30-year-old Grant Udinski) to the old (59-year-old Todd Monken), the familiar (Mike McDaniel) and the fresh face (Nate Scheelhaase), to internal candidates Jim Schwartz and Tommy Rees.
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Berry eventually landed on Monken, which, while possibly the correct choice, had the ripple effect of irritating Schwartz to the point where he decided it would be better to sit out the year than come back to coach Cleveland’s defense for a fourth season.
Schwartz was a guest on the Ryan Ripken Show on Tuesday in an interview that covered a wide range of topics, including how things went down in the final days of Schwartz’s tenure with the Browns and what it was like coaching Myles Garrett.
In his three years in Cleveland, Schwartz oversaw a defense that was tops in the league in numerous categories, which is likely why the Browns were willing to interview Schwartz for the head coaching position 13 years after he was let go by the Detroit Lions after going 29-51 in five seasons as head coach.
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But the Browns were keen on hiring a head coach who could fix the offense, and once they landed on Monken, Schwartz knew it was time to go:
“We had a lot of success on defense, and the Browns made a change at head coach and passed over me, even with all the success we had, and the ability we had to develop players, and seeing our best players having their best years.
“That was their decision; they wanted to go with an offensive guy and chose Todd, and I’m fine with that. But they can’t expect me to stay on board after that. In any profession, if you get passed over for a promotion when you have done a good job and you thought you were in line for the promotion, it is time to go.”
Schwartz has been in the NFL since joining the Browns as a personnel scout in 1993, and all those years taught him that trying to come back as defensive coordinator would not be good for anyone involved:
“Todd deserves his own guy (as defensive coordinator), as arranged marriages don’t work in the NFL. I didn’t think I could do my job after being passed over, as it would put me in a tough position in the locker room and on the field, where they would want the players to listen to me, even though I was passed over as head coach.
“It wouldn’t have been good for me, and it wouldn’t have been good for Todd, with maybe some players being loyal to him and some being loyal to me. I was disappointed about it, but my experience told me it was a situation that wouldn’t work.”
As for Garrett, who won Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2023 and 2025, and set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 last season, Schwartz had nothing but praise for the player who was traded to the Los Angeles Rams on Monday:
“Myles is one of the most gifted players who has ever played in the NFL. I’ve coached a lot of guys in 33 years, and two guys who stand out the most are Calvin Johnson (who Schwartz coached in Detroit) and Myles Garrett, as they did things big guys should not be able to do.
“It was a challenge practicing with Myles because he could destroy the offense, and they had a tough time completing plays. Every single game plan (from the opposition) started with ‘we are not going to let Myles Garrett beat us.’ When the whole game plan is to stop Myles Garrett, and he still sets the record for sacks, that tells you how special he is.”
It’s a good interview and worth the time to listen, with Schwartz coming on at around the 35-minute mark. Schwartz does not come off as bitter, which is nice, but it would also be nice if he were still running Cleveland’s defense to see what he could do with some of the new pieces, including defensive end Jared Verse, is coming over from the Rams as part of the Garrett trade.
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