“I really don’t give a sh-t,” Monken said on the second day of Cleveland’s offseason program. “I mean, it had nothing to do with me. They moved the meeting. I didn’t miss it, I was just trying to get a sweet haircut. I mean, that’s what I was trying to do. And then they moved the meeting. Now you can blame that I should have been at the meeting when they moved it up, and my a– would have known that’s when it was. Yeah, okay, I gotcha. And was it disappointing? Bet your a– it was disappointing. Waited my whole life to be a head coach, and I’m not in the head coaches’ picture?”
Despite being in the coaching field since 1989, this is Todd Monken’s first year as an NFL head coach. But when his big moment came to pose with the other 31 coaches at the league’s annual meeting, he was MIA, and now we know why. During the three-day event in Phoenix, Arizona, Monken skipped the coaches’ meeting to get a haircut.
He thought he could make it in time for the head coach photo, as the NFL’s agenda listed it for noon Pacific time. Right after his haircut, he bumped into the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach, Liam Coen. When Monken suggested they rush to the venue, Coen informed that the group photo had already been taken. Despite the soft frustration, the Browns’ head coach wondered whether the league could have used artificial intelligence to include him.
But he knows it doesn’t work like that. Meanwhile, Monken faced some tough times on social media for his accidental absence, with netizens brutally trolling him. The Los Angeles Rams head coach, Sean McVay, also couldn’t make the photo, but he mostly got away with it. Saying the fiasco will go “under the bridge,” Monken made it clear he won’t dwell on the could-haves and should-haves.
Here’s the exchange. Btw, the cut still looks fresh, coach. https://t.co/Qdrd0T2HIE pic.twitter.com/ITZjqPfaS4
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) April 8, 2026
Instead, he wants to focus on winning games for his team. Judging by how things went in the 2025 season, Cleveland has to get its offense back on track. While the team had one of the most powerful defenses, they were among the last on the other side of the ball. It was mostly because of their unstable quarterback room. Addressing his team for the first time, Todd Monken shared a clear message.
Todd Monken sets the record straight before the offseason workout
On Tuesday, the Browns began their voluntary offseason workout program at CrossCountry Mortgage Campus in Cleveland. Following an underwhelming 2025 season, the team dismissed Kevin Stefanski and handed the charge to Todd Monken. The latter previously served as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator and led his team to perform better offensively than their AFC North rivals.
As he was meeting his new team for the first time, Monken wanted to make an impact. He shared a brief yet powerful message, setting the expectations before the team starts offseason training.
“We’re in the development business and the winning business, point blank period,” Monken said.
Meanwhile, the team plans to divide its offseason program into three levels. Coaches will conduct meetings with players and focus on building their strength and conditioning. The Browns will also organize a voluntary minicamp from April 21-23 after finishing the first phase. In the second level, which will last for three weeks, the players will take the field. However, the team will limit its workouts to individual or group drills.
Following the second phase, the team’s rookie players will attend a minicamp from May 8 to May 10. Finally, all players will enter the third four-week-long phase and undergo a ten-day practice session and OTAs. While the league doesn’t allow live contact during these programs, players can still practice 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills. Meanwhile, they will carry out OTAs in three stretches from May to June. After its conclusion, all players must attend a mandatory three-day minicamp starting June 9.
Todd Monken shared his thoughts on how he views these offseason workouts.
“There’s nothing like being around the players,” Monken said. “Everything we do is the development of players. That’s how we get to where we’re at in the coaching profession. So, it’s awesome being around them. But it is our job to put together an offseason program that makes them want to be here from a development standpoint, from a connection standpoint, from a schematic standpoint. For them to want to be here, that’s our job as an organization, as a coaching staff – that they get something here that they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
Monken made it clear he was energized by the group that showed up. The 2026 season will reveal whether things have changed.
