00:00Todd Munkin standing on business for two straight days now. We're getting clips from This Is Football
00:05podcast from Kevin Clark. Yesterday it was his thoughts on Shador, it was his thoughts on
00:11potential breakout players in 2026. Today's clip was Todd Munkin on, well again I'll say it again,
00:19standing on business. I mean obviously your physicality, your effort, and your execution
00:24pop off the tape because that has nothing to do with what scheme you run. The way I like to
00:29say
00:29it is as much as I love winning and I hate losing, I despise football. Like absolutely despise that
00:38it doesn't look like you want it to look like. Like where it's just like you got 10 on the
00:42field,
00:42you got 12, you're up against the clock, you don't have effort that you look for, it doesn't even look
00:49like you've practiced. There's nothing worse than that because it's a reflection of you. That is you
00:55out there. When Jimmy and Dee sign up, sign my check with my name on it, sign a check with
01:00my
01:00name on it, they expect a kick-ass football team. And my job is to prove them right every day.
01:04When
01:05I got paid at the last place I was at, they expected a kick-ass offense. And that was my
01:09job
01:09to try and prove that every day. All right, I'm a grown man. All right, I understand as a, you
01:15know,
01:15I'm a father, I'm a man, I'm a civic man in this, in the communities and whatnot.
01:20So I, I understand. They're like, yeah, talk is cheap, right? The second he said, I despise
01:27bleepy football. Oh man, do we fist pump on that one? Listen, Todd Munkin, we'll see how many games
01:34they win this year. He's got me right there. I feel like he's speaking directly to me. He's like,
01:40no, we got to practice hard. We're going to play sound football because I despise crap football
01:45right here, right there, Todd. It's been really easy to like Todd Munkin to this point before those
01:49reasons. Like if you're for any casual Browns fan, like he definitely talks the talk. I think this
01:55was a, I don't know if this was, I don't know if you guys talked about this on the show,
01:58but I know
01:59Ken and Lama talked about it. Like the idea of like, is this, does this feel very Freddie
02:04Kitchens to you? Or it's just like, he's saying that, no, no, no, you're getting no, don't even put
02:09it. I'm sick of that name. I am not saying that he is Freddie Kitchens was not a serious NFL
02:14head coach. Todd Munkin was a, is a respected football man and a respected man of the community
02:20and the horse community. So I agree. Like, here's the thing. I, I found, I found that conversation
02:24disingenuous because I think we, the difference is we have no, we had no evidence that Freddie
02:29Kitchens would do anything remotely well as a football coach with Todd Munkin. Like we have,
02:34we have evidence of him at multiple levels of football, multiple teams in football, doing
02:39these things, executing these things, at least on the, as far as being an office coordinator
02:42goes like running meetings, have it. So he has the experience being an adult. I'm just surprised.
02:47Like, I, and I don't know, like I I've been the person banging the drum since he got hired
02:54that everyone, everyone was so quick to say, this is the worst hire in this cycle. And I was the
03:00one
03:01person who said, are we sure about that? And everyone, there's all these people also assuming
03:05he's a one and done coach. He's going to get fired. When he's sitting there talking about like
03:10how he hates bleep, bleepy football. And he's, he's talking about building the offense and how
03:16his job every day is to give, to build a football team and build an offense that the Haslam's are
03:22proud of when they sign his checks. Like I think, yes, he's right, but doesn't he, he has to have
03:29some understanding that that's going to take some time. And the, the, the people above him,
03:34the Haslam's Andrew Barry, they have to have some, some understanding that that's going to take
03:38some time. That's actually, real quick, that's the beauty of hiring a 59 year old first time
03:42head coach who this is very likely going to be his only crack at doing this job. I guarantee you,
03:48he's not thinking this is going to take time. He's not worried. He's not thinking three years
03:52plan. He's thinking about let's get in there and let's try and win as quickly as possible
03:56because one bad note and I could be a one note head coach. I think Todd Munkin knows that more
04:01than
04:01anyone. Well, I think he has the confidence to believe that he can get this offense turned around
04:05enough in the first year that it's competent and doesn't look like last year and that they're
04:10more competitive. But I also, I mentioned it earlier, like he was asked by some giants reporter
04:15at the annual meetings about how close he was to going to New York. And so he knew he had
04:20other
04:20opportunities and he had to weigh those against the Browns job and made it sound like at least that
04:25that was a true decision for him. It wasn't just, well, this is the first chance I'm getting to be
04:29head coach. So I'm taking it. So I think he still goes into this thing strategically understanding,
04:33like this wasn't going to be a one year fix or a quick fix. Like it's going to take multiple
04:38years, multiple drafts, multiple roster tweaks to get to that point. So while I'm inspired by
04:44what he's saying and I agree, like, um, you know, he's going to do his damn, try his damnedest to
04:49get
04:50this thing looking like not non bleepy football this year. I love that. We keep calling it that.
04:55Um, I also think I, I'm, I'm, I am accepting the fact that like year one might not be the
05:01way he wants
05:01it. So he should have another year to sort of figure that out. So, but I think what's interesting
05:05is you can have a losing record and still play non non bleepy football. Cause what he's talking
05:12about, like, yes, you can. Absolutely. There are well-coached teams that just don't have enough
05:17talent to win. And so you can tell, like one of the things that I think was so frustrating the
05:22last
05:23two years, at least offensively, the Browns have NFL talent in that room and they didn't get the right
05:30mix of building a system or the right mix of coaches or the right mix of coaching, getting
05:36through to players. And that, that stymies everything that, that stymies your ability
05:41to be functional on offense. That stymies your ability to develop talent on an entire side of
05:46the ball. And I'm not trying to put it all on Kevin cause there were extenuating circumstances.
05:51He didn't fire AVP. There's, there's a lot of things that got to where they were, but like,
05:56it's so funny, like while we're having this conversation, cause it's easy to go. Like when
06:00Kevin would, when, when Kevin would spouse, uh, spout endless cliches, people go, who cares
06:05when? And, and, and, and at the end of the day, that is all that matters in the NFL. You
06:10can talk like Dan Campbell, but if you coach like Freddie kitchens, your ass is going to
06:14be out of here very quickly. But I, but this, the opposite goes the true, by the way, we loved,
06:19we, we had no problem with a cliche Kev until he stopped winning. But right now in the absence
06:26of a team that I think is, you know, probably not winning the Superbowl next year, it doesn't
06:31hurt to have someone that is relatable. It's somebody that when they talk rhymes with the
06:35truth. And listen, I don't know what I think they can be a 500 ish kind of team. If everything
06:42went right next year, right? I've, I've said I could see seven or eight wins and maybe nine
06:47years, especially if Shador hits, but I'll tell you this, if the Brown ceiling is seven wins,
06:53Todd Munkin can get them there. I don't look at him as a guy who is, is a, you know,
06:58if
06:59they win five games next year, I'm going to think to myself, that's a five win team.
07:02That's just the way it is.
07:04Listen, my, my, my main point wasn't to undermine the way that Todd Munkin has approached this
07:10to this point or like the way he talks.
07:12Several people have said that's what you're trying to do.
07:13Because I think it's great what he's saying. And I think he actually does have the ability
07:17to like translate that into like in the building and to his players. It's not just talk.
07:22But yeah, like I, that's all at the root of his entire message since he's been here,
07:28right? Has been my goal is to come in and assess what does this guy do? Well, what does this
07:33player, what makes this player effective or what elite trait does this guy have? And how
07:38can I tap into that? So if that's the thought process, then yeah, absolutely. Like he should
07:42be theoretically getting the max out of those, those players and, and allowing this team to
07:48reach its full potential. I think that certainly is manageable for him. I'm looking
07:52forward to it. Cause I think, I think this is all very refreshing and I personally don't
07:56think it's just all talk. I think this is like, he, he knows how to put his money where
08:00his mouth is.
08:01I think the, the frustrating part of losing the last couple of years is you were losing
08:06without identity. You were losing in a finesse way, right? You were losing. And it felt like
08:12everybody running in different directions or nobody pulling in the same direction. I think the
08:17thing I like about Todd Munkin is listen, I could be wrong. This could be a team that has
08:23a top five pick next year, but what I, I don't think you're gonna be able to say they're soft.
08:27I do think you're going to be able to say, here's what the identity is. And that is how
08:32you start to build something. And so I think that's where like, I, you know, I have no problem
08:39if people keep listening to Todd Munkin and waiting because we're stunned by the Freddie
08:43Kitchen thing seven years ago. Keep waiting to see if we get a Freddie Kitchens here.
08:48There's one thing. Okay. Yes. He's guys. He's saying the things you need to say, right?
08:53Yeah. I don't want to be a crappy football team. Yes. Physicality matters. Yes. The way
08:58you practice matters. Like I understand that we've completely devalued what a football coaches
09:04coach says in 2026, but guys, this is why we love Dan Campbell in Detroit. It's why we've
09:10been thirsting after that guy for the last couple of years. And is that enough? Yes.
09:15I think being relatable for Todd Munkin year one should be enough for Browns fans. Cause
09:20we haven't even had that. Yeah. I just think, listen, as much as I believe in the message
09:25here, I sounds like you're flip-flopping. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm going
09:29back to what I said originally, which is like, I still think that it's, it's something that
09:33we, we need to give the proper grace to like, I don't think this is a one year fix. I
09:38understand
09:38what you're saying. And like I said, I agree that in, in theory, if, if what he's saying
09:43is, is true, that he, his goal is to get the max out of all the players that he has
09:47that
09:47should lead to more wins in 2026. Yes. But I also think like the grand vision he has for
09:54this offense is a multi-year thing. I don't think that all just gets done in, in one year
09:59and that he's like, what I would, what I would say is this, his goal is to not play
10:06that style of football. You just don't want to say bleepy football. I just want to change
10:09it up a little bit. Can I, can I, can I accept something in functional football? Yeah. That's
10:14the goal this year. Cause I think if you have functional football on the offensive side of
10:17the ball, that's, that is growth. Cause you haven't had the last two years. I think you
10:21can get that. But I also think like, there's going to be a ceiling to that. Cause the talent
10:25is still not totally there yet. Even with the players, how many offenses in the NFL
10:29don't have a ceiling on one side of their ball or both, you know what I mean? Like, because
10:34I think you're thinking, Hey, it's a, it's a goal. Like let's, you got to take that first
10:38step. I'm just, yes. But I'm saying like to get to the, the, the place where Munkin's
10:42talking in that, in that clip, like I'm in this beautiful offense. That's just like running
10:50up and down the field, scoring a lot of points. Like we've seen with some of these
10:53teams that are true Superbowl contenders. And yes, like I think Munkin knows how to
10:56get you to that point. I just don't think in year one, we're going to be there when
11:00there's a lot of new faces. So you're saying the Browns aren't being Superbowl contenders
11:03year one? Yeah. Wow. But I don't think they're playoff contenders. I don't like, I, I think
11:09it's, I think it's a moderate thing. My whole point is like, I understand where he's talking
11:13about with this, with this clip and where he wants to get to. I just don't. And I think
11:17you're going to see signs of that, but I don't think you're going to be there
11:19necessarily in year one.
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