CLEVELAND, Ohio — New Browns defensive coordinator Mike Rutenberg will wear a headset fit for somebody else. Starting next season — every defensive play he calls will be filtered through a Cleveland fan’s filter
WWSD: What would Schwartz do?
Former Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s shadow has grown an inch per day since the season ended, and it hit another growth spurt after he resigned earlier this month.
Ah! Panic! The Browns lost the man who transformed a bottom-10 defense into the league’s best defense, by EPA per play, from 2023-25. The Browns bungled their plan to pair him with head coach Todd Monken. And now they’re hiring a coach who has never called defensive plays.
How can Rutenberg fill Schwartz’s shoes?
Simple: By leaning on his star players. Same way Schwartz did.
Don’t shoot the messenger, who harbors a ton of respect for Schwartz’s career and Cleveland tenure, but I believe the Browns’ defense can survive — even thrive — despite his exit. Schwartz deserves the credit he received for developing this defense. And he commanded [respect from his players](https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2026/02/denzel-ward-wants-dc-jim-schwartz-back-if-we-can-make-that-happen-ill-be-happy.html).
But by Schwartz’s own admission, his success fell short of working miracles.
“... When it’s all said and done, this is a player’s game,” Schwartz said last season. “I think we can probably make a little too much of people behind the scenes, structure and schemes and calling plays and things like that. This is a player’s game. Our job is to put them in a good position.”
Schwartz did that better than his predecessor, Joe Woods, who was fired after the 2022 season and could serve as a cautionary tale for people who believe that Denzel Ward and Myles Garrett are incapable of playing for a bad defense.
But of the many differences between Schwartz and his predecessor, Joe Woods, this one stands out: Woods schemed against rushing offenses with a defensive tackle group that included Jordan Elliott, Taven Bryan, Perrion Winfrey and Tommy Togiai during his last season. Schwartz schemed against rushing offenses with Mason Graham, Maliek Collins and Shelby Harris during his last season.
The difference in the Browns’ defensive rushing success rate — 25th in Woods’ last year, fifth in Schwartz’s — is reflected by the difference in talent. Add Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger to the mix, and you start to see Schwartz’s point about the players’ game.
Speaking of players, the Browns still employ the best pass rusher of his generation, and I’m betting that Rutenberg knows that next year, the one after Garrett broke the NFL sack record, will not be the time to start dropping him into coverage. All-Pro cornerback Denzel Ward, who was targeted just 3.1 times per game last year, will continue erasing first reads from opposing quarterback’s progressions. As of this writing, Cleveland is still scheduled to rosters nine starters from the league’s fifth-ranked defense by yards per play (Ronnie Hickman and Devin Bush are pending free agents).
One novice’s scheme suggestion: Let ‘em play.
That is, essentially, how Schwartz used to describe his system to reporters. Simplify players’ reads; Amplify their speed.
“We want to be known as a fast defense, and you can’t slow players down with too much (thinking),” Schwartz said in 2024.
If Rutenberg leans into Cleveland’s talent like Schwartz did, he’ll be fine. I know people are worried about his inexperience. He’s never called a defensive play at this level.
But the player’s game favors talent, and this defense is full of it. From Ward to Garrett and Schwesinger to Graham, the defense is in sturdy hands, regardless of the silhouette looming over it.
At the end of every shadow is merely a man. Schwartz’s scheme, by his own admission, served only as structure. It worked — and will continue to work — because of the stars who wear the orange helmets.
Headset fit be darned.
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