The Cleveland Browns decided to go with Todd Monken as head coach, passing over defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz who had been with the team since 2023. That set in motion Schwartz’s departure from the franchise, despite the 60-year-old having a year left on his contract.
Days after Monken was introduced, Schwartz resigned.
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During a Tuesday appearance on the “Ryan Ripken Show,” Schwartz said he wasn’t upset about not getting hired by the Browns after Kevin Stefanski was fired, but he wasn’t planning on sticking around.
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“They passed over me with all the success that we had and the ability to develop players, our best players had their best years, all those different things. And that was a decision they made,” Schwartz said. “They wanted to go with an offensive guy. They chose Todd. I’m fine with that. They can make decisions that they want to make, but they can’t expect me to stay on board for that.
“Anybody that’s in any business, you get passed over for a promotion when you’ve done a really, really good job in your job and you think you were in line for that promotion, it’s time to go. And Todd deserved his own guy. A forced marriage isn’t going to work in the NFL.”
Under Schwartz the Browns were a top-five defense in terms of total yards allowed in two of his three seasons, including No. 1 in 2023. Last season, the unit featured five-time All-Pro and single-season sack record-holder Myles Garrett and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger, and allowed the fourth-fewest total yards per game (283.6) and had the third-best pass defense with 167.2 yards allowed per game.
The Browns would hire Atlanta Falcons defensive passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg as its new defensive coordinator.
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Schwartz was also in consideration for the Browns job in 2020 when he was with the Philadelphia Eagles, but ultimately Stefanski was hired.
Browns owner Jimmy Haslam wanted to keep Schwartz in the organization, but Schwartz felt resigning was the best outcome because it would be the best outcome for all parties.
“So I made the decision to resign, and I have to sit out this year as a result, but I think anybody that’s been in any business when you’ve done a good job when you mentioned those numbers — we weren’t one of the best defenses in three years,” Schwartz said. “We were the best defense in three years. And the decision they made, that’s their decision.
“But to expect me to stay and to be on board for that, that’s just a tough situation. And it wouldn’t have been good for me, and it wouldn’t have been good for Todd. So it was best for him to get his own guy in there, and to move forward with him, as opposed to just having an arranged marriage, and having me there, and maybe having some players more loyal to me than him. It can just be a bad situation.”
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