Jason Tarver, Cory Undlin and Mike Rutenberg are the 3 finalists for Browns defensive coordinator

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Browns are down to three finalists for their defensive coordinator job, a league source told cleveland.com.

They are Texans passing game coordinator Cory Undlin, Browns linebackers coach Jason Tarver, and Falcons passing game coordinator Mike Rutenberg.

Undlin and Rutenberg both interviewed in person this weekend, including Rutenberg on Sunday.

Of the three, Undlin and Tarver both have NFL coordinator experience, which could put them in the top two.

Undlin, who won a Super Bowl under Jim Schwartz with the Eagles in 2017, served as defensive coordinator of the Lions in 2020, and Tarver was Raiders defensive coordinator from 2012-2014.

Monken is expected to hire his replacement for Schwartz in the next day or two.

Undlin and Tarver both have extensive experience working under Schwartz, meaning the Browns’ premier defense would be able to pick up where it left off. Undlin served as defensive backs coach under Schwartz in Philadelphia from 2016-2019, including during the Eagles 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. The defense accounted for the fourth-most takeaways (31) and interceptions (19) leaguewide that season. In Undlin’s first year in Philadelphia (2015), the Eagles were one of five teams to have three defensive backs register 10-plus passes defensed on the season.

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Tarver has served as the Browns linebackers coach the past six seasons, including the last three under Schwartz.

In those three seasons under Schwartz, the Browns ranked first in a number of key categories including total yards per game, opponent first downs allowed per game, third down percentage, fourth down percentage, total passing yards per game, first downs per pass attempt and most team tackles for a loss.

The Browns also rank third in team sacks and are tied for second with eight defensive touchdowns.

Cleveland ended the 2025 regular season once again toward the top of the league, allowing the fourth-fewest total yards per game at 283.6 yards and third-fewest passing yards per game at 167.2 yards. The Browns also finished third in the league with 53 sacks and set the franchise record for sacks in a season. DE Myles Garrett broke the NFL single-season sack record with 23 sacks.

The Browns have also gone 45 straight games without allowing a 300-yard passer, the longest active streak in the NFL and the longest streak by any NFL team since the Colts went 52 games from 2005-08.

Undlin has spent the past three seasons as Texans’ pass game coordinator, including his first season in 2023 when he was instrumental in Houston blowing out the Browns, 45-14, in the wild card round. Two of Undlin’s defenders got pick-sixes off Joe Flacco in the third quarter to break the game open.

In 2025, Undlin help guide the Texans to No. 1 overall in total yards allowed with 277.2, including No. 6 against the pass with 183.5 and No. 4 in run defense with 93.7. They were also No. 2 in scoring defense with 17.4 points allowed. They were tied for seventh with 47.0 sacks and tied for third in the NFL with 19 interceptions. The Browns were tied for 16th with 11.

Rutenberg, the Falcons defensive pass game coordinator, joined Atlanta in 2025 after spending four seasons (2021-24) as linebackers coach for the New York Jets, and brought 15 years of NFL experience to the club.

In his time in New York, Rutenberg was part of the only defense in the league to rank in the top five of total defense in each of the three seasons (2022-24), finishing fourth in 2022 before finishing third in both 2023 and 2024. Over the three seasons combined, the Jets’ defense ranked No. 1 in total defense (305.7 yards per game), No. 1 in passing defense (183.5 yards per game), No. 5 in tackles for loss (269), No. 8 in sacks (136) and No. 9 in scoring defense (21.1 points per game). In addition to finishing third in total defense in 2024, the Jets were fourth in passing defense, allowing only 192.6 yards per game while ranking seventh in sacks per pass attempt at a rate of 8.25 percent.

The Browns no longer have Schwartz, but they might end up with one of his trusted assistants, or another defensive coach who’s a rising name in the game.

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