CLEVELAND, Ohio — Mike Rutenberg has never called an NFL defense, but he brings 16 years of high level NFL experience to the Browns, and an elite defense background.
On Monday, Todd Monken hired the former Falcons passing game coordinator to replace Jim Schwartz.
Rutenberg, 41, was hired from a pool of three finalists including Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver and Texans passing game coordinator Cory Undlin. He was the only one without NFL coordinator experience, but impressed Monken during their day-long in-person interview on Sunday.
He replaces Jim Schwartz, who resigned Feb. 6 after being passed over for the head coaching job in favor of Monken. Schwartz and Monken were the two finalists for the job, and the Browns chose Monken because of his stronger plan for elevating the offense to an elite level.
nken also interviewed the Rams’ Aubrey Pleasant, the Panthers’ Jonathan Cooley, the Giants’ Charlie Bullen, the Falcons’ Mike Rutenberg, and Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda for the job. Of that group, only Tarver and Undlin had NFL coordinator experience, with Undlin having called the Lions defense in 2020.
_This post will be updated._
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