The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Source: Monken, Wilks to join staff
Freddie Kitchens, taking his first swing as an NFL head coach after eight weeks as an offensive coordinator, is building an experienced staff of assistants.
Todd Monken, the offensive coordinator for the Buccaneers the past three years, will have the same duties with the Browns, a league source confirmed late on Jan. 13. Steve Wilks, the head coach of the Cardinals in 2018 and the defensive coordinator of the Panthers in 2017, is the Browns’ new defensive coordinator.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to announce hiring both coordinators.
The Browns are expected to make the announcements official early Jan. 14. A noon news conference is planned to introduce Kitchens as the Browns’ 17th full-time head coach since 1946 and their ninth since 1999.
The Buccaneers were 5-11 and last in the NFC South in 2018, but offense wasn’t the problem. They finished third in total offense, averaging 415.5 yards a game. They were 12th in scoring and averaged 24.8 points a game.
The Browns, with Kitchens calling plays only the last half of the season, were 20th with an average of 22.4 points a game. They averaged 23.8 points a game the second half of the season.
Monken, 52, began his coaching career at Grand Valley State in 1989. He was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame and also coached at Eastern Michigan, Louisiana State, Oklahoma State and LSU before spending four years as the Jaguars wide receivers coach frim 2007-10.
Monken returned to Oklahoma
State in 2011 and 2012 as the quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, which means he coached former Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden. He was the head coach at Southern Miss from 2013-15. After going 1-11 and 3-9 he led the Golden Eagles to a 9-5 record in 2015 and a berth in the Heart of Dallas Bowl where they lost to Washington, 44-31.
Wilks, 49, began his coaching career as defensive coordinator at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C. in 1995. He was head coach at Savannah State in 1999 and made college stops at Illinois State, Appalachian State, East Tennessee State, Bowling Green, Notre Dame and Washington before breaking into the NFL as the Bears’ secondary coach in 2006. He has also coached defensive backs with the Chargers and Panthers.
Carolina finished seventh in team defense in 2017 and 10th in points allowed (20.4) with Wilks as defensive coordinator.
The Browns are also expected to make official the hiring of former Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer for the same position.