Shedeur Sanders has found familiarity in the unfamiliar. Sanders spent his entire college career playing exclusively under his father. Originally committed to Florida Atlantic coming out of high school, he changed course and followed Deion Sanders to Jackson State after his father was named the program’s head coach. So, even though navigating a coaching change is a new experience for the Browns QB, he’s seemingly loving life under new head coach Todd Monken.

“Seems like something familiar I was used to,” Sanders said with a grin. “It seems like a guy that I’m real familiar with. So I enjoy it. I definitely like his expectations he has for us. He gives you no choice but to be great or get out of the way.”

Both Monken and Sanders are highly driven football minds who share a mutual dedication to develop players. Deion Sanders, in particular, instilled a coaching style that was built around holding people accountable, according to Harvard Business School’s senior lecturer of business administration, Hise O. Gibson.

“Deion reminds me of military officers I’ve served under because of the clear way he communicates and the unapologetic way he holds people accountable,” Gibson said. “He tells people what he wants. They communicate back to him what they heard. Then he maneuvers about the environment and observes if what he said is actually happening, and if it’s not, he goes back to follow up. Not one of his subordinates feels micromanaged, which is bizarre.”

With this method, Shedeur Sanders emerged as one of the top signal-callers in college football. In fact, a few weeks ago, Deion said he wanted to meet Monken and speak about the best way to coach his son, whom he coached all the way through college. In response, Monken also showed enthusiasm in meeting Dieon.

“I’m open anytime he wants to meet,” Monken said. “… I really am looking forward to it. I got a ton of respect for him, and I got a ton of respect for Shedeur because all he has done since I’ve been here is work. That’s all he has done is compete.”

Shedeur is currently competing against Deshaun Watson. Even though Monken planned to have a decision in hand by the team’s spring practices, no determination has been made yet. And when Sanders was asked about it, he declined to share his stance on where things currently stand.

“I don’t think I’m a judge. I’m not a judge,” Sanders said.

Todd Monken Still Undecided on Browns’ QB1

For the Cleveland Browns, their quarterback situation has been the biggest talking point this offseason. Adding more uncertainty to the discussion, head coach Todd Monken shared he hasn’t named a starting quarterback between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders and will hopefully have an answer at the conclusion of mandatory minicamp.

“Once we get to the fall, we’ll have to dissect the reps how we see fit,” he said. “I just don’t see it after the way Shedeur has played and Deshaun’s played. They’ve both played well enough to earn the right to compete to start.”

Although Watson and Sanders have shared first-team reps during the OTAs, the first day of the three-day minicamp saw Sanders handling all first-team repetitions in 11-on-11 drills. On the other hand, Watson worked with the second-team offense. Monken stated that Watson will take the first-team reps on Wednesday, with both quarterbacks sharing starting reps on Thursday.

For now, the Browns quarterback battle remains unresolved. But if OTAs are any indication, Shedeur Sanders is making a strong case to be Cleveland’s starter in 2026. The familiarity with Monken’s demanding style could be the edge he needs to finally cement his place under center.