Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken has put in the time to find a replacement for the departed and petulant Jim Schwartz as the defensive coordinator of his first NFL staff.
Monken considered both internal options – Jason Tarver (linebackers coach) and Ephraim (safeties coach) – along with a healthy list of external candidates, including Jonathan Cooley (defensive pass game coordinator for the Carolina Panthers), Charlie Bullen (interim defensive coordinator for the New York Giants), Aubrey Pleasant (assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams), and Cory Undlin (pass game coordinator for the Houston Texans).
But there can be only one to fill the role, and that is reportedly going to be Mike Rutenberg, who spent last season as defensive pass game coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons.
That is according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Prior to his time in Atlanta, Rutenberg spent four seasons as the linebackers coach for the New York Jets. He also spent six seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, starting as an assistant defensive backs coach (2013 to 2015), before moving up to a defensive assitant role (2016 to 2017) and then as an assistant linebackers coach (2018 to 2019).
The one part of Rutenberg’s resume that stands out is the year he spent with the San Francisco 49ers as their defensive passing game specialist in 2020. That season, as well as the time he was with the Jets, Rutenberg worked with Robert Saleh, who is now head coach of the Tennessee Titans and was interested in Rutenberg as defensive coordinator before hiring Gus Bradley.
Saleh’s defensive principles share similarities to the system that Schwartz ran with the Browns, so that should hopefully make for a smooth transition with Rutenberg in charge.
The reported hiring of Rutenberg rounds out the coordinator positions, with Monken expected to Travis Switzer as offensive coordinator and Byron Storer as special teams coordinator. Those hirings have not been made official by the Browns, but all signs point to them being the ones that Monken wants to work with.