{"id":719443,"date":"2026-01-31T16:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/719443\/"},"modified":"2026-01-31T16:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:36:15","slug":"giants-john-harbaugh-tried-talking-todd-monken-out-of-taking-browns-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/719443\/","title":{"rendered":"Giants’ John Harbaugh tried talking Todd Monken out of taking Browns job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jan. 31, 2026, 10:01 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

The New York Giants<\/a> are still rounding out their coaching staff under head man John Harbaugh. One piece that many insiders thought was a given was the offensive coordinator position, where Harbaugh’s man in Baltimore, Todd Monken, was reportedly coming up to New Jersey to assume the same role.<\/p>\n

But Monken threw Harbaugh and the Giants a curveball this week when he accepted the head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns<\/a>, leaving the Giants in a lurch to pore over a very weak candidate pool.<\/p>\n

The Giants and their fans weren’t the only ones surprised by Monken’s decision. Harbaugh admitted he was stunned as well.<\/p>\n

“I tried to talk him out of it,” Harbaugh told NJ Advance Media<\/a>. “That\u2019s my job, right? I really thought he was coming with us, but Cleveland was in there all along, and he had been there before in 2019 as the offensive coordinator, so they knew him, and he wanted this opportunity. He got it, and I\u2019m happy for him. I\u2019m really kind of proud of him, but we\u2019ve got to go to work.”<\/p>\n

The work won’t be easy. The candidate pool is less than eye-popping. Jim Bob Cooter and Shane Day are in the mix, as well as two former Giants backup quarterbacks-turned-coaches in Davis Webb and Alex Tanney.<\/p>\n

Expert NFL picks: Exclusive betting insights only at USA TODAY.<\/a><\/p>\n

Harbaugh isn’t limiting himself to veterans, however. He says sometimes a first-time coaches are the way to go.<\/p>\n

“Proven guys are always probably the most interesting, but then proven guys also have scars,” he said. “Sometimes people don\u2019t want to live with the scars. But if you don\u2019t have any scars, you haven\u2019t been in any fights.”<\/p>\n

At the moment, there isn’t a clear favorite. One person of interest, LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr., who was Jaxson Dart’s offensive coordinator in college at Ole Miss, could still end up making the jump to the NFL with the Giants.<\/p>\n

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