Arizona

Cardinals

Former Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing landed on his feet after less than two weeks on the open market following his termination in Arizona, hired by the Lions for the same position. Terrell, who worked under Petzing with the Cardinals, has also been a hot commodity this coaching cycle after picking up interviews with the Commanders and Chargers. Terrell has coached at the NFL level for eight season as he attempts to land an offensive coordinator gig for the first time in his career.

Saleh is currently interviewing with the Titans for their head coaching vacancy. If he lives without a deal, he will be on his way to Arizona for a second meeting with the Cardinals on Tuesday. Saleh has made the rounds this coaching cycle, meeting with four different teams to discuss their head-coaching vacancies, with the Cardinals being the first team to put in a second request. The former Jets head coach returned to the Bay Area in 2025 to lead the Niners defense to a 13th-ranked finish in points allowed, and is clearly a valued candidate on the coaching market despite going 20-36 in his first try as a head coach.

The news comes from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, who notes that Smith “will also interview with the Detroit Lions to be their offensive coordinator.” The implication seems to be that Smith will speak to the Lions on Friday as well.

The 49ers currently list six combined linebackers and defensive linemen on injured reserve, including defensive stars Fred Warner and Nick Bosa. Saleh has helped keep the 49ers’ Super Bowl aspirations intact in his first season back with his old team despite the personnel losses. His successes have earned him head-coaching interview requests with four different teams. Good for him.

Smith, still technically the Steelers’ offensive coordinator, is apparently a hot name on the head coaching circuit right now. The Titans are slated to talk with Smith — who once coached Tennessee’s offense — about their head coaching vacancy and now the Cardinals are interested after firing Jonathan Gannon after his disastrous run as Arizona’s head coach. Smith would likely oversee a rebuild in Arizona, with the team seemingly intent on moving on from Kyler Murray. A run-heavy play caller, Smith’s Steelers ranked sixth in rushing success rate and seventh in rushing EPA in 2025.

At the helm of the Texans defense with head coach DeMeco Ryans for the past three seasons, Burke has helped craft a hard-hitting, powerful defensive line and secondary. He took over defensive play-calling from Ryans towards the start of a season that saw the Texans allow the least yards and second-least points of any team in the NFL, while ranking top-seven in both sacks and interceptions. The Cardinals just moved off a defensive head coach and are now looking to interview another one, requesting an interview with Burke fresh off a two-touchdown defensive performance in the Wild Card Round.

Everybody’s doing it. Not enough people are talking about the dangers of peer pressure forcing you to interview Jesse Minter for their head-coaching vacancy at home. Here are the signs you need to look out for if your teens come home wanting to interview Jesse Minter. There are now eight teams with head-coaching vacancies and all eight have requested an interview with the 42 year-old defensive coordinator who held Drake Maye’s offense to 16 points in the AFC Wild Card round. We’re not sure if Minter will get a head-coaching job this cycle, but he’s definitely going to lead all coaches in words used in interviews.

It’s the first known interview for Harbaugh, who apparently did not leak his schedule to the entire insider crew at NFL Network. It would make sense for him to view this as one of the most appealing jobs out there despite the unsettled nature of the quarterback position, as the Falcons tied for the NFC South “lead” at 8-9 this year and have stars like Bijan Robinson and Drake London on tap along with a rising defense. ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes Harbaugh is still in touch with the Giants, Titans, Browns, Raiders, and Cardinals. We suspect we’ll be blurbing a lot more about this Harbaugh character over the next few days. He seems to be the first domino for most coaching searches.

They’re joined by the Cardinals and Raiders, adding to the initial two names of the Titans and Dolphins from over the weekend. Shula’s defense has faded down the stretch, but finished fourth in defensive DVOA during the regular season. It should not be lost on anybody that Shula is doing this despite almost no investment on that side of the ball — the Rams have the lowest defensive payroll in the NFL.

LaFleur was fired by the Jets in the midst of a dreadful 2022 season. He landed on his feet in LA and immediately oversaw a top-10 scoring offense. Things went even better in 2025. The Rams led the league in scoring this year and Matthew Stafford will likely win his first career MVP. LaFleur is well-connected with a strong resume behind him and hasn’t gotten his shot at a head coaching gig yet. In a relatively weak hiring cycle, this could be his year.