EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsFormer Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who resigned from his position in February after being passed over for Cleveland's head coaching job, explained his decision to step down."They passed over me with all the success that we had and the ability to develop players, our best players had their best years, all those different things. And that was a decision they made," Schwartz told the "Ryan Ripken Show" on Tuesday. "They wanted to go with an offensive guy. They chose Todd [Monken]. I'm fine with that. They can make decisions that they want to make, but they can't expect me to stay on board for that."Anybody that's in any business, you get passed over for a promotion when you've done a really, really good job in your job and you think you were in line for that promotion, it's time to go. And Todd deserved his own guy. A forced marriage isn't going to work in the NFL."Schwartz, 60, spent the past three seasons as the Browns' defensive coordinator and was one of the finalists to replace Kevin Stefanski as head coach after he was fired. Cleveland, though, ultimately hired Monken, who served as the Baltimore Ravens' offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. It marked the second time that Schwartz had been passed over for the Browns' head coaching job; he also came up short in the 2020 cycle that ended with Cleveland hiring Stefanski.Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has said he wanted to keep Schwartz within the organization, but Schwartz decided to resign with one year remaining on his contract."Having command of the players and having command of the locker room, all those things are extremely important," Schwartz said. "And I didn't feel like I could do my job after getting passed over for the head coaching job. It sort of just put me in a tough position, 'Hey, we want you to listen to this guy, but we didn't want to make him the head coach.'"To expect me to stay and to be on board for that, that's just a tough situation, and it wouldn't have been good for me, and it wouldn't have been good for Todd."Schwartz had a five-year run as the Detroit Lions' head coach from 2009-13 and compiled a 29-51 record. In Cleveland, he led one of the best defenses in the NFL in his three years on the job. Myles Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year twice and set the league's single-season sack record this past season. Linebacker Carson Schwesinger was also named the 2025 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year.Ten days after Schwartz resigned, the Browns hired former Atlanta Falcons assistant Mike Rutenberg to be their new defensive coordinator.
