<\/p>\n
Browns DC Jim Schwartz reportedly left the facility when he learned they passed him over for head coach, but will he return? Cleveland\u2019s leaders aren\u2019t talking about it right now, from the new head coach right up to the owner. The well-respected defensive play-caller is said to have told people he wants out, but he is still under contract. So how did the team handle it while introducing the man they passed him over for, Todd Monken?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think the world of Coach [Jim] Schwartz\u201d, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said. \u201cI think Jim and Jim\u2019s future is a subject for another day\u201d. He added in response to a separate inquiry, \u201cThose conversations are ongoing. We\u2019ll talk about that at a later day\u201d.<\/p>\n
And you\u2019ll hear similar sentiments about Schwartz from GM Andrew Berry and Monken. \u201cThere will be a time for that. But this is not the setting\u201d, Berry said. Contributed Monken, \u201cI think it\u2019s a little inappropriate for me to comment about that at this time\u201d.<\/p>\n
While Haslam\u2019s little anecdote about ongoing conversations is notable, it doesn\u2019t bring us any closer to clarity on whether Jim Schwartz will coach the Browns\u2019 defense. What we do know is that the Browns still intend to run Schwartz\u2019s defense, with or without him. And Monken very much believes they can<\/em> run the system without him.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst off, my anticipation is we\u2019re not going to change the system\u201d, Monken said, referring to the defense that Schwartz installed when the Browns brought him in in 2023. \u201cI didn\u2019t take this job because of Jim Schwartz, I have a lot of respect for Jim Schwartz, as I would hope he has for me. But \u2026 I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d say it, but I\u2019m going to say it. When I was preparing for the Cleveland Browns, I wasn\u2019t trying to chip Jim Schwartz, I was chipping Myles Garrett\u201d.<\/p>\n Basically, Monken is saying that it\u2019s Schwartz\u2019s players that ultimately made his defense tick. And yes, it\u2019s certainly a luxury to have Myles Garrett at your disposal, a shoo-in for his second Defensive Player of the Year Award after breaking the NFL sack record. But Schwartz has also done things with Garrett that his predecessors did not, so it\u2019s not just about the players. I mean, he even helped make Devin Bush look like a starter again.<\/p>\n After coaching the defense for the past three seasons, Jim Schwartz was a strong candidate to replace Kevin Stefanski as the Browns\u2019 next head coach this offseason. Nate Scheelhaase of the Rams was also in the mix, but Monken ultimately landed the job. Having spent the past few years as the Ravens\u2019 offensive coordinator, he did have some history in Cleveland.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t know, quite frankly, what Schwartz\u2019s options are if he doesn\u2019t wish to remain with the Brown. Jimmy Haslam doesn\u2019t have a great history of allowing people out of their contracts. And he has a contract, so if Cleveland wants to keep him, he has an obligation. For now, though, apparently, we can\u2019t talk about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Browns DC Jim Schwartz reportedly left the facility when he learned they passed him over for head coach, but will he return?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cleveland-browns"],"yoast_head":"\n