There remained little clarity as to the status of Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz as Pro Bowl Sunday arrived in the NFL, though the team is making considerable strides filling out the staff otherwise.
The most recent news broke Sunday morning, as Browns brass conducted an interview with former Baltimore Ravens assistant Daniel Stern for a major role on Todd Monken’s new staff.
“#Browns are interviewing former #Ravens assistant Daniel Stern as associate head coach, league source says,” Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported via X on February 1. “He would play a huge role in game/clock/situational management/coach’s challenges. It would be a key hire for the Browns.”
Daniel Stern Proved Leader in Competence Across Multiple Areas of Ravens’ Operation Over Last Decade
GettyNew Cleveland Browns head coach Todd Monken.
A graduate of Yale University, Stern spent the last decade as a member of the Ravens staff, the last two filling a position the team dubbed “director of football strategy/assistant quarterbacks coach.”
“In addition to assisting Tee Martin in a room led by two-time league MVP QB Lamar Jackson, Stern assists with the playbook, call sheet, opponent analysis and self-scouting,” the Ravens wrote on their official team website heading into the 2025 season. “He also is responsible for scripting situational periods of practice and advising head coach John Harbaugh on in-game clock/game management and coaches’ challenges.”
“Since 2019, Stern has been charged with studying game management, situational football and the NFL playing rules/officiating, advising Harbaugh and the team in these areas,” the Ravens continued.
Stern’s general football competence across multiple areas helped Baltimore exist perpetually as one of the highest-functioning organizations in the league, as the Ravens made the playoffs in six of Stern’s 10 seasons with the franchise and finished with losing records only twice during that span (8-9 in both 2021 and 2025).
Jim Schwartz Wants Out of Cleveland After Browns Hired Todd Monken as Head Coach
GettyDefensive coordinator Jim Schwartz of the Cleveland Browns.
Monken ran the offense for the Ravens since 2023, during which span Jackson made two Pro Bowls, earned first-team All-Pro honors twice, won one of his two MVP awards and finished second in the race for a third.
Cleveland hired Monken as the team embarks on an offensive rebuild without a clear answer at quarterback and with deficiencies across the roster on that side of the football. The reasoning for doing so is clear, but it has not come without fallout — namely in the form of the unhappiness of Schwartz.
Schwartz has led the only elite part of the organization, the defense, for the past three years. It finished first in the league in 2023 and fourth overall in 2025. He was a finalist for the head coaching job in Cleveland this cycle and told people in the building that he didn’t plan to return in 2026 after the Browns chose Monken over him for the top job.
The problem for Schwartz is that he remains under contract, so while there is likely interest in him around the NFL as a defensive coordinator, the Browns would have to release Schwartz from his deal or trade him for a transition to take place. Schwartz could always quit, but he wouldn’t be free to do so and pursue other opportunities in the league immediately unless Cleveland allowed it.
The Browns have been clear since the beginning of their search that they wanted to retain Schwartz, either as defensive coordinator or as the new head coach.
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