It took Todd Monken over a decade to become the head coach. The Cleveland Browns head coach has worked in many different roles. Former NFL player Cecil Shorts played under Todd Monken during his time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Despite his one-year stint with Tampa, Monken made a lasting impression on Shorts. He spoke about it candidly on the 92.3 The Fan podcast.

"He's real, straightforward and honest. He's a guy that's a straight shooter, I think y'all seen that in the media," said Shorts. "He just tells it how it is. For a player, that means a lot, because I can trust him. Whether I like what he says or not, he's going to be 100% real."

Shorts' confession on the 92.3 The Fan podcast also shows his admiration for the fact that Monken can stay apolitical. He even conferred the title of "best receiver coach" on Monken.

Shorts recorded just 11 receptions for 152 yards in the 2016 season under Monken. However, that didn't take away how much admiration he had for the current head coach.

Even Browns insider Mary Kay Cabot has openly praised Monken's immaculate emotional and player-first leadership aspect of coaching.

Speaking for Cleveland.com, Cabot said, "I do think that Todd will get plenty out of his players with his style. And not just because he’s old school, but because he’s a warm guy. He wears his emotions on his sleeve and I think the players are really, really going to like that about him."

A clear example of this was how Monken has openly discussed offensive struggles in Cleveland.

He has further insisted penalties and poor execution were unacceptable, taking full accountability on himself, something that many believe former head coach Kevin Stefanski was unable to do.

Recently, Monken also shed some light on the quarterback training situation at camp.

Todd Monken gives the inside scoop on quarterback training

As we close in on the 2026 NFL season, the curiosity is building around the top two Cleveland quarterbacks - Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson.

As such, it has become important to know who is getting more reps at camp. Todd Monken revealed what's exactly happening at the Browns camp.

Speaking on The NFL's Insider, here's what Monken said.

"With the way it was going to turn out Shedeur was gonna get more reps," said Monken. "It was set up in a way for us to have a look at all of them. The plan was for Shedeur to have a few more reps but led Deshaun and Shedeur both have reps with the ones. It will change each day."

Monken had earlier stated that he would select his QB1 after minicamp. That plan was later dropped in June, when he refused to name a QB1.

"I really don't know," said Monken, according to Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot. "I'm not going to name a No. 1 . Chances are, I will not."

So now the bulk of the onus lies on him to decide who he picks among these two quarterbacks. Cleveland plays their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 13. Hopefully by then he will have his answer ready.

Do you think Todd Monken did the right thing by not naming his first-choice quarterback? Let us know through your comments.

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Written by

Sourav Ganguly

Edited by

Kalp Thaker