The Cleveland Browns need a new defensive coordinator and the latest reports state that a not-so-popular name could be on the radar to join Shedeur Sanders‘ team and the rest of the newly-formed coaching staff.
According to Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated, “With Browns DC Jim Schwartz now out, as we said last week, Texans Passing Game Coordinator Cory Undlin becomes a key name to watch. Undlin was with Todd Monken in Jacksonville in 2009 and 2010. Will be interesting to see if the Raiders pursue Schwartz next week.”
Undlin wasn’t in the mix for any team during this year’s coaching carousel, but he was the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator in 2020, where his defense ranked dead last in yards and points allowed. After that, Undlin was the pass game specialist for the 49ers in 2021 and since 2023, Undlin has been the defensive passing game coordinator under DeMeco Ryans in Houston.
Undlin would reunite with Monken… and the Browns
As Breer pointed out, Undlin worked with Todd Monken during the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Jaguars. However, before that a young Undlin was a defensive assistant for the Browns. After his first year with the team in 2005, he was promoted to secondary coach and assistant special teams coach for the 2007 NFL season. In 2008, the Browns promoted Undlin to be the defensive backs coach.
The Browns’ secondary ranked 24th in passing yards allowed in 2007, and in 2008, they became the 14th-ranked passing defense. That is a noteworhty improvement, but the defense was never elite. However, Undlin’s best job has been his most recent with the Texans, as they had the sixth-best passing defense in 2025, making Undlin a desirable name for Monken to bring into his coaching staff.
The Browns already had a great passing defense
Under Jim Schwartz, the Browns had one of the best defenses in the NFL. In fact, they had the winner of Defensive Player of the Year (Myles Garrett) and the winner of Defensive Rookie of the Year (Carson Schwesinger). However, even though they played in the front seven, the secondary was great too.
The Browns had the third-best passing defense in the NFL. Hence, if Undlin gets hired, he will inherit a very good unit to compliment what Monken can do with Shedeur Sanders on offense.