Sports
Nine open NFL coaching jobs, nine predicted hires: Who will land in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New York?
Editor’s note: We updated these predictions to include a ninth open job after the Steelers and Mike Tomlin parted ways.
It’s the middle of January, and nine NFL teams are looking for new head coaches. That’s more than 25% of the league. There’s a worthwhile debate about the healthiness of that model, but that’s not what we’re doing here. We’re trying to predict who will land those nine jobs, which is really hard to do at this point. Though I understand fans’ eagerness to find out who will be coaching their favorite teams, it’s important to remember how early we still are in this process.
For example, assistant coaches for teams that played in wild-card playoff games Saturday or Sunday weren’t even allowed to conduct virtual interviews for head coach jobs until Tuesday. If a team wants to interview, say, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, Rams coordinators Mike LaFleur and Chris Shula, or Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, they haven’t been able to until just now. Saleh is preparing for a game Saturday against the Seahawks on a short week, all while multiple teams have requested permission to interview him for their head coach position. Assistant coaches for teams that played in Monday night’s wild-card game can’t do virtual head coach interviews until Wednesday. So, if a front office is looking to talk to Texans defensive coordinator Matt Burke or Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, it hasn’t been able to do that, either.
Finally, are we sure there will be only nine openings? For example, Matt LaFleur and the Packers are discussing an extension, but that doesn’t mean he will get one. It wouldn’t be unprecedented to see a team or two move on from its head coach this late in the game — just as Pittsburgh did on Tuesday.
All of that said, predictions are fun, so here are my still-too-early head coach landing spot predictions that are sure to be wrong. They tell me I can come back and update this next week if I want. I’ll likely take them up on that.
Jump to an opening:
ARI | ATL | BAL | CLE
LV | MIA | NYG | PIT | TEN
Former coach: Jonathan Gannon, fired last week after three seasons and a 15-36 record
My prediction for the next Cardinals coach: Klint Kubiak, Seahawks offensive coordinator
Arizona’s situation will be a tough sell for the more established candidates, especially because the Cardinals will likely move on from quarterback Kyler Murray. Would the Cards love to get John Harbaugh? Of course. But he will probably find other opportunities more appealing. Arizona needs to be thinking about finding a young star head coach to compete in a division in which Mike Macdonald, Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay each just won at least 12 games and are all still alive in the playoffs. Maybe Kubiak has that potential.
Three years ago, Arizona waited out the Eagles’ Super Bowl run and hired Gannon, who was Philly’s defensive coordinator at the time. If Seattle makes a run to the Super Bowl, the pattern could be repeated with Kubiak. Seattle’s offense ranked eighth in yards (351.4) and offensive points scored (25.3) per game this season.
Other known candidates: Vance Joseph, Robert Saleh, Matt Nagy, Thomas Brown, Jeff Hafley
Former coach: Raheem Morris, fired last week after two seasons and a 16-18 record
My prediction for the next Falcons coach: John Harbaugh, former Ravens head coach
Falcons team owner Arthur Blank will be willing to spend what it takes to get the top coach available. The Falcons are also looking for a new GM, and that could be appealing to Harbaugh, as he could have some say regarding who gets the role (though the Falcons just hired former QB Matt Ryan as president of football, and he’ll obviously have plenty of say in both decisions).
The question for Harbaugh, or any candidate, is what he thinks of the QB situation in Atlanta. Michael Penix Jr. will be in his third season and coming off a major knee injury, and Kirk Cousins is still hanging around. If a coach thinks they can make that work, Atlanta has a lot to offer.
Other known candidates: Kevin Stefanski, Anthony Weaver, Klint Kubiak, Mike McDaniel, Aden Durde, Ejiro Evero, Jeff Hafley
Former coach: John Harbaugh, fired last week after 18 seasons, a 180-113 regular-season record, a 13-11 playoff record and a Super Bowl title
My prediction for the next Ravens coach: Kevin Stefanski, former Browns head coach
The Ravens know Stefanski from having played against his Browns teams for the past six years (Baltimore was 8-4 against Stefanski-coached Cleveland teams), and Stefanski is a popular candidate on this circuit. He’s a mid-Atlantic, East Coast guy who would fit in a place like here or New York. Having Lamar Jackson and a winning culture in place makes Baltimore the most appealing landing spot among the current openings. Stefanski had 13 different starting QBs in Cleveland, but he would get a true franchise passer in Jackson in Baltimore.
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Other known candidates: Brian Flores, Mike McDaniel, Robert Saleh, Klint Kubiak, Anthony Weaver, Matt Nagy, Vance Joseph, Davis Webb, Joe Brady
Former coach: Kevin Stefanski, fired last week after six seasons, a 45-56 regular-season record and a 1-2 playoff record
My prediction for the next Browns coach: Mike McDaniel, former Dolphins head coach
All of the intel we have on this one says the Browns are looking for an offensive-minded head coach who won’t mind keeping Jim Schwartz as the defensive coordinator. (That makes me wonder why they don’t give the head coach job to Schwartz, an outcome I believe is also possible here.)
Cleveland’s perpetually challenging quarterback situation could make this job a tough sell, but McDaniel is quirky, creative and confident. And he had success in a challenging QB situation during his first two seasons in Miami. It’s not tough to imagine the Browns’ front office wanting to tap into McDaniels’ ideas about how to design and run an offense.
Other known candidates: John Harbaugh, Todd Monken, Jim Schwartz, Tommy Rees, Dan Pitcher, Nate Scheelhaase, Grant Udinski
Former coach: Pete Carroll, fired last week after one season and a 3-14 record
My prediction for the next Raiders coach: Robert Saleh, former Jets coach and current 49ers defensive coordinator
Saleh has been on Las Vegas’ short list in the past, and his work in San Francisco this season has caught a lot of people’s attention around the league. His Jets tenure didn’t go great, but that’s true of most people who coach there. It doesn’t sound like teams will let his Jets tenure deter them from talking to him this time around.
Whoever gets this job must have a plan for offensive coordinator and the development of a young quarterback, likely Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. But Saleh is part of that Shanahan/McVay network and should have no trouble putting together an offensive staff. The Raiders were last in the NFL with 14.1 offensive points per game and 245.2 yards per game this season.
Other known candidates: Vance Joseph, Davis Webb, Matt Nagy, Klint Kubiak, Mike LaFleur, Kevin Stefanski, Ejiro Evero
Former coach: Mike McDaniel, fired last week after four seasons, a 35-33 regular-season record and an 0-2 playoff record
My prediction for the next Dolphins coach: Chris Shula, Rams defensive coordinator
Too good, right? Don Shula’s grandson coaching Don’s old team? Going into this process, I felt very strongly that Shula would get a head coaching opportunity. The Shula/Miami connection is too good to pass up. But the Dolphins’ job just opened, and it’s too early to know the eventual top candidates. Shula is well-regarded around the league, and there always seems to be at least one McVay assistant who gets a head coach job.
Other known candidates: John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Klint Kubiak, Robert Saleh
Former coach: Brian Daboll, fired in November after 3½ seasons, a 20-40-1 regular-season record and a 1-1 playoff record. Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka finished the season as the interim head coach and went 2-5.
My prediction for the next Giants coach: Jeff Hafley, Packers defensive coordinator
Hafley has been high on the Giants’ list for a while, according to what I’ve been told. I think New York will try very hard to get Harbaugh or Stefanski, and the Giants might land one of them. But I placed those guys elsewhere, and I had to make a pick for the Giants based on the rest of the pool.
Hafley has college head coach experience from Boston College, and his work with the Green Bay defense has earned him a lot of attention from NFL teams looking for a head coach. The Giants’ defense allowed 5.8 yards per play this season, tied for 26th. Hafley’s Packers were at 5.0, tied for eighth best.
Other known candidates: John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Mike Kafka, Steve Spagnuolo, Lou Anarumo, Antonio Pierce, Mike McCarthy, Raheem Morris, Vance Joseph
Former coach: Mike Tomlin, who parted ways with the team Tuesday after 19 seasons, a 193-114-2 regular-season record, an 8-12 playoff record, two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl title
My prediction for the next Steelers coach: Jesse Minter, Chargers defensive coordinator
To the extent that they have a “type” — it’s tough to say since they’ve had only three head coaches since 1969 — the Steelers tend to go young. Tomlin was 34 when they hired him, as was Bill Cowher. Chuck Noll was 38. So Minter, 42, might not exactly fit the mold, but hey, it’s possible 42 is the new 34.
Pittsburgh is proud of the infrequency with which it makes changes at this position, so it will be looking for someone it believes can be there for a very long time. Minter is of the Harbaugh tree, having worked under Jim Harbaugh and Mike Macdonald at the University of Michigan before following Harbaugh to the Chargers, and he is viewed as a top head coach prospect by several teams around the league.
Other potential candidates: If the Steelers want to go a little off the board, watch out for Broncos QBs coach Davis Webb, who turns 31 next week and is getting attention from several teams for offensive coordinator and even head coach interviews. Chris Shula, who turns 40 in February, is another name you’re likely to hear connected with this opening, as is 38-year-old Kubiak.
Former coach: Brian Callahan, fired in October after nearly 1½ seasons and a 4-19 record. Mike McCoy finished the season as the interim head coach and went 2-9.
My prediction for the next Titans coach: Matt Nagy, Chiefs offensive coordinator
This was the first name that got floated as a possibility when Callahan was fired, likely because of Titans GM Mike Borgonzi’s connections to Nagy from his time in the Kansas City front office. Nagy is a former Bears head coach who’s on his second stint with the Chiefs and helped develop Patrick Mahomes during his first one. Tennessee will be looking for a good offensive head coach to steward the next stage of Cam Ward‘s development, and Nagy did win a division title in his first year in Chicago.
I think Tennessee casts a wide net, and popular candidates such as Harbaugh, Stefanski and Joseph become strong candidates here, as well. Ward is that well-regarded.
Other known candidates: Kevin Stefanski, Mike McDaniel, Raheem Morris, Kliff Kingsbury, Vance Joseph, Lou Anarumo, Steve Spagnuolo, Jason Garrett, Robert Saleh, Mike McCarthy, Chris Shula, Jeff Hafley
Semi-final hero Finn Allen said New Zealand’s thumping demi-final win over South Africa was a “huge confidence booster” ahead of going for their maiden T20 World Cup title in Sunday’s final.
Opener Allen hit the fastest-ever T20 World Cup century, off 33 balls, to give his side a crushing nine-wicket win over South Africa and set up a final against India or England in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
Allen blasted 10 fours and eight sixes as New Zealand raced to their victory target of 170 with 7.1 overs to spare at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.
It was a bruising defeat for 2024 runners-up South Africa, who had been unbeaten in the tournament.
“They fight hard, they come hard at us, they’ve got good tall, fast bowlers and it makes it challenging for us,” Allen said of Aiden Markram’s South Africa.
“Their boys hit the ball hard, so to get one over them is a huge confidence booster for us going into Sunday. They’ve been the in-form team the whole tournament.”
The Auckland-born Allen rose to the occasion in the knockout match after ordinary outings in the tournament apart from his unbeaten 84 against the UAE in a group fixture.
Allen said his heroics in India would have kept his parents and the nation awake to cheer the team.
“I’m sure my parents are up watching the whole game. Hopefully they’re proud.
“But I think as a nation, I think hopefully everyone gets behind us and rallies around us for Sunday,” said Allen.
The final will begin at around 2.30am on Monday in New Zealand.
“Obviously, difficult time for people to watch back home but I’m sure people were keeping tabs on the game and hopefully they can get up and have a Monday off at work and watch the final.”
Allen put on 117 with opening partner Tim Seifert, who made 58, to pummel the opposition attack that included high-quality pacemen Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
‘Best seat in the house’
Seifert was the early aggressor as he raced to 41 off 21 balls before Allen took over and finished with two fours, two sixes and a four to raise his hundred and seal victory.
Allen said batting with Seifert makes life easy.
“He’s in incredible form, he’s an incredible player and I think he’s just showing the world what he can do,” said Allen.
“And I think that makes it easy for me to sit back and have the best seat in the house. So, yeah, it’s good fun batting with Timmy.”
New Zealand squeaked into the semi-finals on net run-rate ahead of Pakistan and lost to South Africa by seven wickets in the group stage.
But Allen said a five-match T20 series in India that the visitors lost 4-1 ahead of the World Cup prepared them for the grind.
“I think it shows the importance of that India series that the boys played before the World Cup,” he said.
“Five games on all black soil (pitches) and I think it just shows that as a team we get up for the fight (in) those important fixtures.”
A number of prominent basketball coaches, including NBA champions Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers, signed a public letter released Wednesday contending that political interference in universities threatens to undermine college athletics.
“College sports unite us as a nation, drawing out team spirit and shared values of fair play,” the letter said. “Campuses – big and small, public and private, two- and four-year – are a bedrock foundation for the role sports play in American life. Protecting university independence safeguards this proud tradition.”
Kerr and Rivers are joined in signing the letter by former coaches Jim Boeheim and Muffet McGraw (both of whom have won NCAA basketball titles), former Michigan coach John Beilein, Harvard coach and former Duke All-American Tommy Amaker, and Phil Martelli, who coached perennial NCAA tournament teams at St. Joseph’s. Head men’s basketball coach James Jones of Yale and Judith Sweet, the first woman elected as president of the NCAA, are also among the signees for the group.
The coaches and other athletic administrators who signed the letter said that political interference harms university culture, and that includes college athletics. They point to cuts to funding for research, censorship, intimidation of university leaders and faculty and having federal officers deployed to college campuses as examples of that interference.
“Right now, at both the federal and state levels, acts of political interference threaten the independence of our colleges and universities,” the letter said.
The letter asks that leaders and fans of college sports urge elected officials to support academic independence.
“When students are afraid to speak their minds, they cannot give their all,” the coaches wrote. “When campuses are polarized, it’s hard to maintain the ‘one team’ spirit we instill in the locker room. Unprecedented political pressure on colleges and universities undercuts the values we have sought to instill in student-athletes.”
The letter is on the website of Stand For Campus Freedom, an organization that describes itself as a nonpartisan project “that holds universities accountable to their highest ideals, resists political coercion and strengthens America’s leadership on the world stage.”
The United States women’s national team’s 1-0 victory over Canada on Wednesday was not as dominant of a display as eight months ago, when the Americans ran their northern neighbors off the pitch in Washington, D.C. It was, however, an equally important benchmark for the Americans as they turn the corner toward the 2027 Women’s World Cup.
Experimentation and inexperience have been the operative words for the USWNT over the past year as head coach Emma Hayes trotted out new players — 32 debuts awarded in her first 32 games in charge heading into this tournament. But Wednesday, and this SheBelieves Cup, have been about refinement — about depth and maturity developing before the world’s eyes.
“It was one of my favorite performances, because they’re growing up,” Hayes said of her team after Wednesday’s victory.
Forward Ally Sentnor scored the game’s lone goal 10 minutes into the second half on Wednesday, taking advantage of her start in the wide-open battle for the USWNT’s No. 9 role. She now has three goals in four games this calendar year.
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Sentnor was one of the USWNT’s starters with the most to prove on Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, as Hayes aims to figure out who she can rely on as the 2027 World Cup creeps closer. She earned Hayes’ praise after the game for a wise performance.
Sentnor nearly scored in the first half on corner kick setup identical to the one that led to her goal. She also led the USWNT’s waves of successful high pressure that forced mistakes from Canada, and that pressure led to Sentnor creating a one-on-one opportunity moments before half-time.
She missed that shot at the near post, but Hayes’ noted the forward’s resolve in forgetting about the mistake and burying her goal shortly after halftime.
Gisele Thompson also started at fullback for the USWNT and was asked to frequently join the attack in another major cap early in the 20-year-old’s career. Thompson went the full 90 minutes for the second time in four days, which Hayes said was intentional because she told Thompson that she needs to be more durable to play regularly for the USWNT.
Thompson and Sentnor were two of four changes from the U.S. lineup that beat Canada 3-0 last July. Wednesday’s USWNT was imperfect, especially in the first half, when the Americans looked disconnected in the final third and failed to capitalize on the pressure that they successfully applied high up the field. There were errors in the back too early on, which allowed Canada to briefly build confidence.
There was a mature undertone to the USWNT’s win on Wednesday, however. Canada’s struggles to create opportunities aside, the USWNT had the mark of a team on a journey from what has felt like open tryouts to a more established group that is finding the best version of itself in a tournament setting.
Hayes offered a peek into this vision the day before the game, when she gushed about the progress of Emma Sears.
Sears was a second-round pick in the 2024 NWSL Draft by Racing Louisville FC who wasn’t on many radars to be a breakout professional, let alone international.
It was around the time of that Canada game last year that Hayes spoke about the progress that she needed to see from Sears. Ahead of Wednesday’s rematch against Canada, Hayes said she just told Sears this week that if the World Cup started today, she would be one of the first players off the bench.
Sears entered Wednesday’s match in the 69th minute and almost immediately progressed the ball from penalty box to penalty box to earn a corner kick. The question for Sears and several teammates is now less about whether they will make the roster and more about how much and in which scenarios they will play.
Sears, for example, now has 16 caps for the USWNT; Sentnor has 17 caps.
They, along with the likes of budding midfielder Claire Hutton — who started again on Wednesday, as she did against Canada in July — blended in well with the established players like midfielders Sam Coffey and Rose Lavelle, and defender Naomi Girma. Alyssa Thompson, one of the in-betweeners who isn’t new but isn’t a veteran, continued to be dynamic and dangerous on the wing.
Just like last July, Lavelle was electric in the middle of the park on Wednesday. She was such a menacing force that Canada coach Casey Stoney admitted Lavelle was the reason that Canada needed to change its shape to two holding midfielders.
Lavelle, whose international breakout came in the SheBelieves Cup nearly a decade ago, is now the 30-year-old veteran in the squad. She has had her best (and healthiest) year in recent memory since returning from ankle surgery last spring.
“Everybody respects Rose for so many reasons, and I love that she is leaning into being this [leader] too, because the team needs it,” Hayes said. “If you think about the players from Ally Sentnor to Gisele — even Alyssa, Claire Hutton — they are really progressing, their maturity is developing because of players like Rose ensuring that they feel the high challenge of the environment, but most importantly the high challenge of veteran leadership.”
Hayes might have rolled out her best available lineup on Wednesday, give or take a player. It was a mix of newly minted veterans and young players who are mostly now trying to prove that they can handle games like this — tournament soccer on short rest against a solid opponent.
The Americans comfortably saw out the 1-0 victory with no signs of panic or fatigue in sight. That resolve, as much as the victory or any set piece success, will have Hayes smiling her way to New Jersey for Saturday’s SheBelieves Cup finale against Colombia. It will also bring her one step closer to a clearer vision of what next year’s World Cup team might look like.
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