Browns president offers strong response to critics who 'pick on' the franchise

Before the Cleveland Browns hired former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as their new head coach in January, reports revealed that the Browns gave head-coaching candidates homework assignments, such as having to write an essay, related to the hiring process. 

During a recent chat with Ben Horney of Front Office Sports, Haslam Sports Group president Dave Jenkins offered a strong response to those stories. 

Why Browns are easy targets for critics

Jenkins insisted that the Browns are simply "real easy to pick on right now," largely because the club hasn't enjoyed a "consistent run of success" under owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

"But like any business, any industry, the more data and information we can have accessible to inform our decision-making, we should be more successful," Jenkins explained. 

Specifically, the Browns have tallied just one playoff win since they returned to the NFL in 1999 following the relocation of the original franchise to Baltimore. That victory occurred in January 2021, and the Browns have more recently been responsible for four losing seasons across the past five years. 

Before word got out that Monken had landed the Browns job, Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase and then-Cleveland defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz were referred to as the favorites for the gig. A subsequent report claimed that Monken "was the 'strong No. 1 choice' of everyone on the search committee," including Jimmy Haslam and general manager Andrew Berry. 

What Browns wanted to find out via the "essays" 

"Asking someone what their football or offensive philosophy is isn’t quite the same as writing an essay," Jenkins added. "We’re going to do background checks. We’re going to talk to people. We’re going to explore references. We’re going to ask what the philosophies are before we make a decision." 

Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer previously noted that Monken "blew everyone away on the search committee throughout the entire interview process" and received the job with the hope that he'll "transform" the Cleveland offense. In the end, Browns fans won't care all that much about how the figurative sausage was made if Monken can lead the franchise to the "consistent run of success" that has eluded it for decades.