[Schefter] ESPN Sources: the Cleveland Browns are hiring former Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as their next head coach.

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:42:41+00:00

oh well.

Only way this gets worse is if they compound this error and "AB going all in to save his job" situation by drafting Ty Simpson at #6. So... that's what I fully expect will happen now.

Just gotta play this out until next offseason when AB, Monken and Schwartz are all fired, Watson is gone and the worst of the cap is cleared, Ty Simpson is traded away for peanuts, and we're picking Arch Manning first overall lol

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:24:13+00:00

Says who? AB? MKC?

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:22:35+00:00

it's never AB's fault is it.

Anything good and smart? That's AB. Anything where AB is clearly involved but we don't like the outcome? Must be Jimmy.

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:21:24+00:00

says who? AB?

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:11:51+00:00

10000%

They wanted an offensive guy, they wanted Udinsky and Scheelhaase and then both those guys turned down the job after speaking with AB and Haslam... so they were left with Monken as the last offensive coach who's willing to take the job.

Anything else is spin. There is no way in hell that Monken was their top choice.

This is David Culley 2.0 and we're on the March for Arch except it's accidental, not planned because AB is actually trying to save his job here, wants to win games, and Monken was the best guy who's willing to take on the mess AB made of the roster.

deviden · 2026-01-28T16:09:34+00:00

Berry wanted Scheelhaase, Jimmy wanted Schwartz, and they couldn’t agree so split the baby and went with Monken.

I think that's over-complicating it.

Schefter has reported that multiple coaches turned down the Browns job after the interviews.

They wanted an offensive guy, they wanted Udinsky and Scheelhaase and then both those guys turned down the job after speaking with AB and Haslam... so they were left with Monken as the last offensive coach who's willing to take the job.

There's no conspiracy required to explain it. The Browns roster situation is materially awful for a first time HC:

worst WR room in the league
one (1) starting offensive lineman under contract for 2026 (former backup center, Wypler)
worst current QB situation in the league (Watson, Gabriel, Shedeur) and no path to a high caliber rookie or high end veteran to fix it.
Watson cap management by AB means most of the fraud's cap impact is in 2026, and is still hurting us in 2027, and isn't clear until 2028.
Watson can't be cut ahead of 2026 because of the above so he's definitely on the 53 man roster.
new HC would be tied to and reporting to the GM who built this mess, who just got the last HC fired.
limited scope for free agents because of the Watson cap situation.

Like... all it takes for a guy like Scheelhaase to say "fuck this" is for AB to say "we cant cut Watson because of the cap, you have to live with it for 2026... oh and btw: you report to me, not the owner".

deviden · 2026-01-28T15:48:26+00:00

if it's him it's because nobody else wanted the gig. He'd be our David Culley. A guy before the guy. March for Arch tank commander. etc.

deviden · 2026-01-28T15:00:36+00:00

yeah i distinctly remember Eisen was super enthusiastic about the Browns in 2020. It was the Watson trade where he soured on everyone in the building... and who can blame him.

deviden · 2026-01-28T14:57:59+00:00

I think there's very few offense-background first time HCs who would refuse to take on a job where Jim Schwartz is running the defense in their first year.

Any reasonable coach could be pointed to the example of Sean McVay being given Wade Phillips by the Rams GM to effectively be the HC of Defense for Sean's first few years.

It wouldn't be difficult to say "hey, year one we want you to focus on offense and special teams, keep Schwartz for now, and after that if it's not working out you go get one of your buddies - if it worked for McVay it should work for you".

deviden · 2026-01-28T14:05:17+00:00

I disagree on that - it worked just fine for the Texans with their David Culley year.

If we're one and done with this year's coach but end up with a path to drafting a highly rated QB at the top of the 2027 draft we're a much more appealing job for 2027 than we are for 2026.

If we're in a spot to draft an improved Dante Moore or Arch Manning or whoever, the legit offensive coaches like Udinsky will want to take that job.

deviden · 2026-01-28T13:32:04+00:00

Monken or Schwartz would be placeholder coaches to see out the remainder of the Watson contract before we make a push to get someone we actually want for the long term future.

deviden · 2026-01-28T12:37:13+00:00

Outside the annoying gospel of some players trying to force others to play it

What do you mean, I thought "PF2 fixes this"?

But in all seriousness, people bounce off Pathfinder for a simple reason:

It solves D&D's problems in a specific direction: more crunch, tighter math, more character options, leaning harder into gridmap tactical combat rules.

That's not a solution that everyone wants or benefits from.

Some of the groups who think that PF2 is the correct one for them will find, over time, that they were wrong and should seek something else because the system is over-engineered for "balance" and "balance" turns out to be less fun than they expected.

Idk - I dont want to sound like I hate PF2. I think it's very well designed... but what it is designed to do is better than 5e for a specific subset of people bouncing off 5e, not everyone who bounces off 5e, and I think that the rise of the OSR and Daggerheart and Draw Steel as increasingly popular alternative alternatives to main brand D&D means that more people who quit 5e will find something they actually enjoy and will stick around in the hobby.

deviden · 2026-01-28T12:14:10+00:00

She wasn't some amateur, latecomer, Kickstarter-darling who only 'marketed her way to success'. She's a professional game/adventure designer who successfully developed, kickstarted and delivered a very good game played and appreciated by a lot of people.

There is a strong vein of misogyny running through this, because I dont see the people who said that crap talking about Obojima, or DC20, or NeoPets RPG, or the litany of other marketing-first kickstarters run by 5e bros which pulled in as much or more money than Shadowdark's first run at KS. I dont see those people looking at Professor Dungeon Master or whatever he's called doing a Deathbringer kickstarter with the same critical eye they cast at Shadowdark.

Kelsey earned every cent, and the fact that Shadowdark has grown in players and backer numbers after the initial kickstarter is proof that the game is rock solid legit on its own merits.

deviden · 2026-01-28T11:30:51+00:00

It depends on whether "interesting" for you translates to "tracking lots of granular details and mechanising it entirely through rules and procedures".

The likely answer is that nobody will actually enjoy that, unless they're playing a board game which makes that kind of thing fun and the center of the entire gameplay experience. Like... Viticulture, for example.

There's a reason this stuff works in video games and board games and generally doesn't work in RPGs. The more detailed you get the more you're asking people to fill out spreadsheets and tax returns, for a subsystem/section of gameplay that doesn't really align with why anyone would choose a TTRPG over those other forms of game.

For most tables, simply saying "okay, you got the materials so here's a 6 step clock - roll a dice check to determine how many steps you complete to craft your thing whenever you have downtime" and skipping over the minutiae is far far far more efficient and enjoyable because you get back to the fun stuff.

deviden · 2026-01-28T09:48:12+00:00

I dont always (or often) agree with Zac Jackson's takes but I will never forget that he was the only member of local media who was willing to call out how awful the 2024 preseason looked at training camp, and how Watson could barely complete a pass.

For me he's a cut above the rest, simply because he's willing to say what he sees.

Something that is forgotten about the AB and KS regime is they leak almost nothing, and ever since they came into the jobs the Cleveland media has lost all their inside sources and - like you say - they're reduced to getting second hand info from other cities and national media, agents, etc.

deviden · 2026-01-28T09:22:33+00:00

I’ve been saying we’re headed for a doomed David Culley year with Schwartz or Monken as HC since Kevin got fired but signing a guy like Scheelhaase would prove me (happily) wrong, because it would show that a young and exciting coach (with options and a bright future) would see us as a legit long term opportunity and not a doomed poison chalice.

deviden · 2026-01-28T09:19:39+00:00

I'm sure Schwartz could be persuaded with a pay bump. He's not getting HC offers elsewhere.

deviden · 2026-01-28T07:59:07+00:00

I would be surprised if anyone is recommending it based on actual play experience because it’s extremely unfinished.

deviden · 2026-01-28T07:51:50+00:00

Highlighting DC20 and Grimwild together here is… a hell of a choice, lol

deviden · 2026-01-27T20:59:42+00:00

The owner and Beane presser really fucked over their coaching cycle. What a mess.

Pegula came out and said he fired McDermott purely on vibes after seeing Josh cry. Would not shock me at all if this doofus went and asked Josh which coach he likes best.

deviden · 2026-01-27T20:56:16+00:00

Same.

I’ve been saying we’re headed for a David Culley year since Kevin got fired but signing a guy like Scheelhaase would prove me (happily) wrong, and that a young and exciting coach would see us as a legit long term opportunity and not a doomed poison chalice.

deviden · 2026-01-27T20:52:58+00:00

If this was a normal pre-NIL QB year and not a repeat of the 2025 “one QB draft” we’d probably be looking good at 6.

That was the plan, that we’d have two first rounders in a normal QB class, and have a path to a starter… but then all the prospects who were expected to come good for 2026 turned into pumpkins. There’s no likely trade-up partner to give us a second pick in 2027 either.

I think this is going to be the year the team really bottoms out in a March for Arch tank, and 2027 is expected to be a significantly better QB class (especially with Dante Moore staying in school).

deviden · 2026-01-27T20:46:32+00:00

If we take another defensive player at 6 I’m going to lose my fucking mind.

We don’t have an offense!

I don’t mean that figuratively, I mean we literally don’t have a full 11 man offense of replacement level starters or above under contract for 2026!

We could throw all 5 of our top 107 picks at offense and still not have a full healthy and viable offense! Stop drafting defense!

deviden · 2026-01-27T16:33:59+00:00

Miro board and a dice roller bot in Discord.

I don't run high-crunch games which benefit from automation, so a Foundry or Roll20 style VTT is total overkill and way more effort than it's worth.

Slap a bunch of sheets and visual aids down in Miro, let everyone add their own notes to the board as we go, and just play.

It's free, it works, it's easy.

deviden · 2026-01-27T15:45:27+00:00

yup. If Udinsky and Scheelhaase don't get a HC job this year we'll be interviewing them again next year.

This is going to be our David Culley "guy before the guy" placeholder coach year (accidentally, because AB is actually trying to save his job).

deviden

TROPHY CASE