Mike Rutenberg left Kevin Stefanski's defensive staff in Atlanta as pass game coordinator to succeed Jim Schwartz as Browns defensive coordinator.
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
Mike Rutenberg is the new Browns defensive coordinator, ending a search that lasted 10 days after Jim Schwartz resigned from the NFL’s fourth-ranked defense in 2025.
It’s the break of a lifetime for Rutenberg, 44, a 16-year veteran assistant coach, most recently as pass game coordinator of the Atlanta Falcons, who’s never called plays in the NFL.
And with the job comes the challenge and pressure of filling the big shoes of Schwartz and earning the respect of the players who publicly lobbied for the former defensive coordinator to succeed Kevin Stefanski as head coach.
Rutenberg was the choice of the Browns over two other finalists -- internal candidate Jason Tarver, Browns linebacker coach, and Cory Undlin, pass game coordinator of the Houston Texans.
When Todd Monken was introduced as new Browns head coach on February 3, he said, “My anticipation is we’re not going to change the [Schwartz defensive] system. We’re built for the system that they’re in currently.”
For that reason, Rutenberg was considered the longshot of the three finalists.
Tarver, who’d been a coordinator with the Oakland Raiders, was probably Schwartz’s top aide the past three seasons with the Browns. Undlin worked under Schwartz with Philadelphia when the Eagles won the Super Bowl in the 2017 season and also worked under Houston coordinator Matt Burke, a Schwartz protégé who runs the same system.
Thus, Rutenberg’s surprise hire raised the question of who made the final choice – Monken or GM Andrew Berry?
Peter John-Baptiste, Browns chief communications officer, responded in a text that while Berry worked with and supported the head coach in the hiring process, it was “Todd’s decision. He is in charge of hiring the coaching staff.”
Most of Monken’s offensive assistants followed him from the Baltimore Ravens.
While Rutenberg never worked in Schwartz’s system, per se, he has been exposed to some of the same philosophies that Schwartz espoused in making the Browns’ defense one of the top five units over the past three seasons.
Rutenberg’s formative education in the NFL came mostly under Robert Saleh, first as co-assistants with Jacksonville and then with San Francisco when Saleh was defensive coordinator and with the Jets when Saleh was head coach.
When Saleh was fired by the Jets, Rutenberg stayed on as pass game coordinator under Saleh protégé Jeff Ulrich, and then he followed Ulrich to the Falcons in the same capacity. Rutenberg coached defensive backs and linebackers in stints as a position coach before taking on pass game coordinator duties.
Both Saleh and Ulrich believe in attacking the quarterback essentially with fast, four-man fronts, like Schwartz, and playing the run on the way to the passer. Saleh preferred playing mostly zone in the secondary and Ulrich favored man-to-man, like Schwartz.
Last year, the Falcons ranked second in sacks with 57; the Browns were third with 53. The Falcons created pressure by blitzing 33.4 percent of the time – second-highest rate in 2025. Schwartz’s defense was seventh with a 28.3 percent blitz rate.
Overall, the Falcons were ranked 15th in yards allowed (Browns were fourth), 24th in rushing yards (Browns were 16th), and were tied with the Browns and Vikings for 11th in total quarterback pressures – a number including sacks, hurries and quarterback hits.
The Falcons were 19th in allowing 23.6 points per game; the Browns were 14th at 22.3
The Falcons were seventh with 16 interceptions and the Browns were 17th with 11.
The Falcons held opposing quarterbacks to a passer rating of 88.4 and the Browns were at 90.0.
Rutenberg is a native of Washington, DC, and broke into the NFL as a personnel intern with the Redskins in 2003. The next two years he served as administrative assistant to head coach Joe Gibbs.
After coaching stints at UCLA and New Mexico State, Rutenberg returned to the NFL for good as assistant defensive backs coach with the Jaguars under head coach Gus Bradley. The following year, Saleh joined the Jaguars as linebackers coach and that began Rutenberg’s association with Saleh.
When Saleh was hired as Tennessee Titans head coach this year, Rutenberg was a candidate to be his defensive coordinator. But Saleh hired Bradley.
Rutenberg attended Cornell University of the Ivy League and played linebacker on the school’s sprint football team.
Rutenberg joined the 49ers as pass game specialist under Saleh in 2020 after Joe Woods left the 49ers to join the Browns as Stefanski’s first defensive coordinator in 2020.
So now the Browns have poached Rutenberg from Stefanski’s defensive staff with the Falcons.
A club source said that most, if not all, of the defensive assistant coaches under Schwartz are expected to stay. That would help Rutenberg keep in place the systems that worked under Schwartz.