Mike Florio

It felt destined that Jim Schwartz wasn't going to be there after Todd Munkin got the head coaching job when Schwartz was one of the finalists.

It was immediately reported that Schwartz was livid, and he was saying he's not coming back.

They went through an awkward tug-of-war for a few days, maybe a full week, trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

And the way it was reported by NFL Network, he's resigning with the expectation he won't coach in 2026.

That suggests to me there was some sort of a negotiated compromise where maybe they'll pay him

for this year and he won't go become a defensive coordinator with another team until next year because if you're under contract and he was for one more year you can't just quit and go coach another team they held his rights he didn't want to stay with the Browns and I think Todd Munkin when you've got a guy that was that close to being the head coach I don't think you want Munkin to be or Munkin doesn't want Schwartz to be the defensive coordinator

because then that just undermines him.

It makes it harder for him to have any authority in the locker room.

The defense could line up behind Schwartz.

The offense could line up behind Munkin, and you could have more dysfunction in Cleveland, which has kind of been the name of the game for the past several years in Cleveland.

So I'm not surprised by the outcome.

I'm a little surprised Schwartz isn't going to be able to coach anywhere else this year.

The Raiders had emerged as a potential destination for Schwartz.

I still think he's going to get paid by the Browns to not coach the team this year.

relationships, it's familiarity, it's what is the head coach looking for, what kind of a system do they want to run.

The way that Munkin explained it during his introductory press conference the other day, he's attracted to the players, not the scheme, and the players are going to dictate the scheme.

Now, I think Schwartz had a lot to do with it.

They finished number one overall in 2023, and they were just one yard per game behind the Texans for the top defense in 2025.

So they're just going to have to make a good decision here, and it all comes down to

who Munkin is comfortable with, but they're starting their search now.