After Week 1 of the NFL season, it appeared as if the Cleveland Browns and first-year head coach Todd Monken were dead in the water. Now, after Week 4, the Browns and Monken suddenly seem destined for great things.
In their blowout 34-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars to open the year, Monken's team looked outclassed. But in the three weeks since, the Browns have won three straight one-score games and are tied atop the AFC North with the Baltimore Ravens.
The 3-1 record and wins against the Carolina Panthers, who defeated the Detroit Lions last night, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, who were coming off a win over the Cincinnati Bengals, have lifted Monken directly into the middle of the conversation for NFL Coach of the Year. In fact, Monken is now the favorite, according to BetOnline.
As of now, Monken is at +475 to win the Coach of the Year award, and he is followed by the Las Vegas Raiders' Klint Kubiak (+600), the Chicago Bears' Ben Johnson (+800), the Ravens' Jesse Minter (+1000), and the New Orleans Saints' Kellen Moore (+1100).
Article Continues BelowMonken, 60, had never been an NFL head coach before being hired by Cleveland, although he had spent much of the past 20 years as an assistant.
His first NFL job was as a wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2007 to 2010. After stints at Oklahoma State and Southern Miss, the latter of which as head coach, Monken returned to the NFL to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator. He held the same position with the Browns during the 2019 season before he went back to college to be the OC for Georgia. From 2023 to 2025, after helping the Bulldogs win two national championships, Monken served as the Ravens' offensive coordinator.
Cleveland, which has a long week after playing the Steelers this past Thursday, visits the New York Jets on Sunday.