The Browns have found their Jim Schwartz replacement.
Cleveland is hiring Falcons defensive pass game coordinator Mike Rutenberg as its defensive coordinator, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported Monday.
The need for a new defensive play-caller arose in the wake of head coach Todd Monken's hiring, when Schwartz, upset by being passed over for the job, eventually elected to resign following three seasons as the team's DC.
Thus, Rutenberg steps into the driver's seat on D, a 44-year-old in his first defensive coordinator role.
He got his start in the NFL coaching ranks as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Jaguars in 2013. He worked in Jacksonville through 2019 and held defensive assistant and assistant linebackers coach titles during his tenure, as well. Rutenberg then served as a passing game specialist for the 49ers in 2020 and the Jets linebackers coach from 2021-24.
He played a key role in helping Atlanta's passing defense last season, and the Falcons' shutdown ways early in the year likely caught Cleveland's attention.
It took eight games for the Falcons to allow an opponent to crack 200 passing yards in a game, and they notably frustrated Bills quarterback Josh Allen during a prime-time upset over Buffalo in Week 6. Though the defense regressed over the back half of the campaign as the season got away from Atlanta, it still finished 13th in passing yards allowed.
Rutenberg takes over a unit that ranked third in that category, one flush with talent at every level. The Browns have both the reigning Defensive Player of the Year in pass rusher Myles Garrett, who broke the single-season sacks record, and the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year in linebacker Carson Schwesinger. The back end is led by five-time Pro Bowl cornerback Denzel Ward.
Monken, referencing the playmakers Cleveland enjoys on that side of the ball, recently said he plans for the defense to take a similar schematic approach compared to Schwartz's.
It'll be up to Rutenberg now to deploy such a scheme and keep the Browns defense one of the preeminent terrors in the NFL.
