Black Monday is just a few days away, which means the coaching carousel will begin to kick up furiously over the next couple of days. Albert Breer and Conor Orr are here to offer the latest insights on what may take place around the league…
• The early days of the New York Jets’ head coaching search have connected the team with former head coaches Rex Ryan and Ron Rivera. Before you assume this means the franchise is looking for someone with previous head coaching experience, consider reading the tea leaves differently. It’s possible the Jets will simply want a veteran defensive coordinator if they fill their head coaching role with a young offensive coach, much like the Rams did when they paired Wade Phillips with Sean McVay. Head coaching interviews take on many forms and, sometimes, are not expressly about filling a head coaching vacancy. While current Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn still has to be considered a very early favorite given his connection with the franchise (he played eight seasons for the team that drafted him in 1994) and owner Woody Johnson’s absolute need to win this press conference, I wouldn’t discount a name such as Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Slowik is consistently praised by the Shanahan family, which, as my colleague Albert Breer reported upon the firing of Robert Saleh, was one of the main reasons Johnson also took a liking to eventual interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. Another name to watch if the tea leaves do indeed tell us that the Jets are hoping for a veteran defensive presence and a younger offensive head coach is Kliff Kingsbury (even though Kingsbury has held the job before he’s still just 45). Kingsbury, the former Arizona Cardinals and Texas Tech head coach, wowed the Johnson family during his interview process when he ultimately decided to take the job in Arizona. Kingsbury, though, relied heavily on stalwarts such as Vance Joseph and Jeff Rodgers to help him create a pro-ready operation. Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC Liam Cohen and Buffalo Bills OC Joe Brady are also worth placing in that category.
• The Tennessee Titans were so excited about Brian Callahan a year ago that, according to one person familiar with the process, the team basically wouldn’t let him out the door. Knowing that Callahan would soon interview at the homes of both Arthur Blank and David Tepper, and with a shortage of proven offensive candidates on the market, Tennessee zeroed in on the former Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator pretty quickly (almost too quickly, as some other coaches who interviewed felt at the time). One 3–13 season later, with a game still to play, we have reached a point where it’s important to point out one thing: The Titans are set to complete the construction of their new stadium in 2027. You can actually see how close they are via live cam. With the completion of a new stadium comes immense pressure for a team to sell tickets and have a kind of known identity that people will subscribe to. This was absolutely the case during the gritty Jon Robinson and Mike Vrabel era, but Callahan may be facing an incredibly difficult situation ahead, needing to drastically improve a roster that has been done little to no favors so far during the Ran Carthon era. Carthon, too, could be feeling the heat for this in particular.
• Albert recently did a nice job strengthening the connection between Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and a team not named the Chicago Bears: the Jacksonville Jaguars. I can second the fact that the Jaguars seem like a good fit for Johnson and, if we’re putting together puzzle pieces, might make some more sense than Chicago. Jacksonville would seem, to me, to be a better candidate for a clean sweep that would allow Johnson to come into a new situation with a new general manager. In Chicago, there are some established layers at the top with GM Ryan Poles and team president Kevin Warren. Poles, despite the issues with the coaching staff, has put a solid team on the field that was 4–2 before a season-altering Hail Mary loss to the Washington Commanders. To me, it wouldn’t be outrageous to see Johnson and the Jaguars more mutually drawn, while the Bears could be more attracted to someone such as Mike Vrabel or, the No. 2 name on my Matt Eberflus replacement list from a few weeks back: Brian Flores. Flores would be able to clean up the Bears’ game management issues and would arrive with a fresh perspective on how to staff and align the offensive side of the ball around Caleb Williams.
• Some other quick notes from my end: I think Brian Daboll deserves a chance to come back for the New York Giants. The team is still very light on talent but the rookies who showed promise—Malik Nabers and Tyrone Tracy Jr.—each eclipsed 1,000 scrimmage yards, while Nabers will very likely also break Puka Nacua’s rookie reception record (though he trails fellow rookie Brock Bowers by four). … I do wonder whether the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy could find common ground on a kind of “extension” that wouldn’t be a full-on, new, four- or five-year industry standard contract. … While the industry is sharply divided on this point, given that Bill Belichick is now out of the race and there will be more openings than clear “front-runner” candidates, will we see a college coach get interviewed for an NFL head coaching job again? While some believe that we’re not far enough past the Urban Meyer–Matt Rhule era, a revived interest in the Lions’ process given Dan Campbell’s success could lead some to inquire about the man who was offered the job before Campbell: Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell, the 45-year-old who just sealed an 11-win season with the Cyclones capped by a bowl victory over Miami.
• The Las Vegas Raiders, Giants and New England Patriots all go into the weekend with big-picture questions to answer. In the case of the Raiders, the staff has been given no assurances. And for the second year in a row, the Tom Brady–Mike Vrabel connection has been a talking point in league circles as the season winds down. Those close to Brady don’t believe he’s quite ready to take an in-the-building role, and his participation in a coaching search would be seriously limited by his broadcasting work. But he does have principal owner Mark Davis’s ear. Meanwhile, I don’t believe either Giants owner John Mara or Patriots owner Robert Kraft wants to pull the plug on their head coach. In Kraft’s case, I think staying the course will, I believe, hinge on being able to see some light at the end of the tunnel. In Mara’s case, I think meeting with Daboll and Joe Schoen, and getting their plan out from a dark couple of years, and to get a quarterback to pair with a promising young core, will help determine who stays and who goes. —
• The New Orleans Saints and Jets, I think, will both lean toward experience in their searches. Vrabel is high on the lists of both—and I believe Vrabel’s trust in the owners in those places, and his ability to set up a program his way, will determine his level of interest in them. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is a name to consider in New Orleans, with his contract up in Dallas. Familiarity will be a factor for the Saints (which positions Lions DC Aaron Glenn well there) too, and that’s another box McCarthy checks. He was together with GM Mickey Loomis over Loomis’s first five years in New Orleans, when McCarthy was Jim Haslett’s offensive coordinator there. Also worth noting is that McCarthy recently hired agent Don Yee, who represents ex-Saints coach Sean Payton. —
• As we mentioned in my Thursday mailbag, Kingsbury’s candidacy for any of these jobs should have this backdrop: He’d love to have another shot, but won’t desperately chase one. Landing in Washington with Dan Quinn has seriously rekindled his love for coaching, and working with Jayden Daniels isn’t something he’s taking for granted. That said, the most obvious connection to make with him is to Bears QB Caleb Williams, whom he was with at USC in 2023. That year was a tough one for Williams, and he and Kingsbury rode out the ups and downs together, and came out of it with a solid relationship. Kingsbury’s on Chicago’s list, and I think that might be one in which he’d have intrigue. —
