Cleveland Browns HC Todd Monken eyes coach with local ties as DC candidate
· Yahoo Sports
There has been a long-held affinity, for reasons not readily apparent, among followers of the Cleveland Browns to draft players or hire coaches who are from Northeast Ohio, played at a school in or near Northeast Ohio, or even just drove through Northeast Ohio at one point in their lives.
The belief is that because they might be familiar with the area, they will “get us” as fans and work extra hard to turn the Browns into a winning franchise.
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That is all silly, of course, but new head coach Todd Monken has, either by design or coincidence, leaned into that with the reported hirings of:
- Assistant offensive line coach Bobby Johnson, who played high school football at Archbishop Hoban in Akron and college football at Miami University.
- Offensive coordinator Travis Switzer, who played college football at the University of Akron.
- Offensive pass game coordinator Danny Breyer, who played college football at the University of Akron.
- Tight ends coach Jeff Blasko, who was a graduate assistant at the University of Akron.
Monken is back at it again today with the news that the Browns have requested permission to interview Jonathan Cooley, who has spent the past two seasons as defensive pass game coordinator with the Carolina Panthers, for Cleveland’s vacant defensive coordinator position.
That is according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Browns have requested to interview Panthers defensive pass-game coordinator Jonathan Cooley for their defensive coordinator job, per source.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 9, 2026
Cooley was requested by Jacksonville last cycle as well. pic.twitter.com/t5YSZE2FcR
Cooley’s résumé reads like a smorgasbord of local goodness:
- A four-year letterman in football at John Carroll University
- Safeties coach at Bluffton University (2012)
- Secondary coach at John Carroll (2013-14)
- Secondary coach at Kent State University (2018)
- Defensive backs coach at the University of Akron in 2019)
All kidding aside, Cooley is by all accounts a defensive coach that is catching the attention of teams around the league. According to a 2025 article on Carolina’s team website, Cooley possesses a “creative muscle that must be stretched, juxtaposed with a complete commitment to football, the obsession becoming the nucleus of everything he does.”
While the article highlights Cooley’s intelligence, something that scares some Browns fans, his ability to marry his smarts with a passion for the game is what sets him apart as a coach, according to cornerback Chau Smith-Wade:
“Jonathan Cooley is going to coach his ass off. He’s going to coach his ass off like he’s one of those guys that is completely invested in his craft, and you could see it day in and day out. Like you see it on his face when he’s talking about ball; he’s almost like insane with it, to the point he loves it so much you would think that he’s crazy, like for real you’re looking at—I’m dead serious, he’s so invested into his craft and football like his capacity for football is out of this world.
“I’ve never met a coach with a football capacity the same as his, his passion or his understanding. And he makes it so simple. He gives the information to you so simple.”
That certainly sounds like a coach who would appeal to players like defensive end Myles Garrett, linebacker Carson Schwesinger, and cornerback Denzel Ward.
In addition to Cooley, the Browns are looking to interview, or have interviewed, Mike Ruttenberg of the Atlanta Falcons, Charlie Bullen of the New York Giants, Aubrey Pleasant of the Los Angeles Rams, and internal candidates Jason Tarver and Ephraim Banda.