NFL Head Coach Hiring Update: 4 of 10 vacancies filled as of Tuesday

Jeff Hafley’s hiring in Miami is one of four jobs filled; here’s where the state of the hiring cycle stands.

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Tuesday morning has arrived, and another NFL team has decided on its new head coach. Overnight, the Tennessee Titans locked in on Robert Saleh, the former New York Jets head coach and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, to lead them into the future. Saleh’s will be the fourth new hire of this year’s head coaching cycle, leaving six openings left to go.

Reportedly, the Titans were down to two final candidates: Saleh and Matt Nagy, the former Chicago Bears head coach and longtime Kansas City

Chiefs assistant. Ultimately, Saleh gets the job of leading last year’s number one draft pick, Cam Ward, and a Titans team that has bounced back and forth between offensive and defensive-minded coaches for some time.

Now that the Titans have made their decision, let’s take a quick spin across the entire league as a reminder of where each team that has or had a head coaching vacancy currently sits.

New Coach In Place

New York Giants: John Harbaugh

After being the first team to reportedly decide on their new coach, the Giants finally announced John Harbaugh’s hiring just a few hours ago, early on Tuesday morning. He is set to give his introductory press conference at 12 noon Eastern Time.

Harbaugh, of course, was let go by the Baltimore Ravens after they failed to make the playoffs this season, and once he was available the Giants immediately zeroed in on him as their preferred option. He is reportedly getting a contract worth about $20 million per year over five years.

Atlanta Falcons: Kevin Stefanski

Atlanta has hired Stefanski as their new coach after the Cleveland Browns fired him after the season. Stefanski reportedly interviewed with at least three other teams, including the Giants and Ravens, and he will be charged with retooling a Falcons offense that features Bijan Robinson and Drake London as the team’s key playmakers.

The Falcons conducted numerous interviews, including talking to Harbaugh, former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, and former Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, among others.

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley

Speaking of Hafley, the former Packers defensive coordinator is the first first-time head coach in this cycle, with the Dolphins announcing the decision to hire him on Monday afternoon. He is the second big name that the Dolphins hired away from Green Bay, joining new GM Jon-Eric Sullivan in south Florida.

Miami fired McDaniel later than most other non-playoff teams who made their decisions; they did so on Thursday, January 8, a day before officially bringing Sullivan on board.

Tennessee Titans: Robert Saleh

Late last night, the Titans locked in on Saleh, with the two sides reportedly now working out final details on his contract. The Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan after just six games this season, playing out the string under interim coach Mike McCoy.

Hafley interviewed with Tennessee as well, as did Nagy, Eric Bieniemy (also from the Chiefs), Jesse Minter (the Chargers’ defensive coordinator), Harbaugh, McDaniel, and former NFL head coaches Brian Daboll, Jonathan Gannon, and Mike McCarthy. It appeared that Saleh, Nagy, and Hafley were the finalists for this job, and shortly after Hafley locked in with Miami, the Titans made the move to close the deal with Saleh instead.

Teams Still Interviewing

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals unsurprisingly fired Jonathan Gannon after the conclusion of the regular season, and they have also lost offensive coordinator Drew Petzing to the same job with the Detroit Lions. Arizona has interviewed several candidates so far, but they missed out on Saleh, who was reportedly set to be the first candidate to have a second interview on Tuesday.

Here are the names of those who have interviewed with the Cardinals so far:

Thomas Brown (Patriots OPGC)
Matt Burke (Texans DC)
Jeff Hafley (former Packers DC – hired by Dolphins)
John Harbaugh (former Ravens HC – hired by Giants)
Vance Joseph (Broncos DC)
Klint Kubiak (Seahawks OC)
Mike LaFleur (Rams OC)
Raheem Morris (former Falcons HC)
Jesse Minter (Chargers DC)
Matt Nagy (Chiefs OC)
Robert Saleh (former 49ers DC – hired by Titans)
Arthur Smith (Steelers OC)
Chris Shula (Rams DC)
Anthony Weaver (Dolphins DC)

Baltimore Ravens

One of the more surprising moves this offseason was the Ravens firing Harbaugh after an 18-year tenure. Harbaugh helped lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl XLVII win after the 2012 season, when he beat his brother Jim’s 49ers 34-31, and is now locked in to lead the New York Giants.

Baltimore is taking its time, reportedly just completing a first round of interviews on Sunday. They also missed out on a potential serious candidate, having planned to bring in Stefanski for another meeting this week. The Ravens’ interview list contains a ton of names, but some of the most interesting and leading ones include the following:

Joe Brady (Bills OC)
Anthony Campanile (Jaguars DC and former Packers LBs coach)
Brian Flores (Vikings DC)
Klint Kubiak (Seahawks OC)
Mike McDaniel (former Dolphins OC)
Jesse Minter (Chargers DC)
Jim Schwartz (Browns DC)
Davis Webb (Broncos QBs coach)

Buffalo Bills

This opening was one of the big shocks of the offseason, with Buffalo surprisingly announcing the firing of Sean McDermott on Monday morning. In 9 years with the Bills, McDermott’s teams have gone 8-8 in the playoffs, but never advanced to a Super Bowl, losing twice in the AFC Championship Game. Buffalo’s search for a replacement is just getting started, however, with no names yet identified for interviews.

Cleveland Browns

Cleveland moved on from Stefanski, who is now the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, following another double-digit loss season. He won NFL Coach of the Year twice, in 2020 and 2023 when the Browns made the playoffs, but he is just 45-56 overall as a head coach and went just 8-26 combined over the past two seasons.

The Browns have helpfully posted an official list of candidates on their own website. The team is on to second interviews, which got underway on Monday with their defensive coordinator, Jim Schwartz. Here are the other confirmed candidates in Cleveland, some of whom should be coming in for a second round this week:

Aden Durde (Seahawks DC)
Mike McDaniel (former Dolphins HC)
Jesse Minter (Chargers DC)
Todd Monken (Ravens OC)
Dan Pitcher (Bengals OC)
Tommy Rees (Browns OC)
Nate Scheelhaase (Rams OPGC)
Grant Ukinski (Jaguars OC)

Las Vegas Raiders

The Pete Carroll experiment did not work in Las Vegas, as the Raiders finished 3-14 and will pick #1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Who will be leading likely top pick Fernando Mendoza in 2026? It’s probably going to be one of the names that you’ve heard above.

Like the Browns, the Raiders have posted their own interview tracker on their website. Many of the top candidates in this cycle have also interviewed with the Raiders, including Hafley and Stefanski, as well as McDaniel, Brady, Mike LaFleur, Scheelhaase, Shula, Joseph, Minter, and Nagy.

Perhaps the most interesting names on the Raiders’ list are Klay Kubiak — the 49ers’ OC and Klint’s brother — and Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, who was once a candidate for the Packers’ DC job back in 2024. Scheelhaase and Davis Webb are also in the mx.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh will be hiring a head coach for just the third time since the NFL-AFL merger, with the team and Mike Tomlin parting ways after an astounding 19 seasons. Tomlin’s claim to fame is having never led a team with a losing record, but the Steelers also have not won a playoff game since 2016, going one-and-done in six straight playoff appearances.

Old friend Mike McCarthy — a Pittsburgh native — is one of seven candidates who have interviewed with the Steelers virtually, and the team is moving on to in-person interviews this week. A list put out by the team’s PR department listed the following names as having interviewed virtually: