Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula will take a break from preparing for the Bears to interview for head coaching jobs on Friday.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that Shula will have virtual interviews with the Steelers, Ravens and Dolphins. Shula has gotten requests from other teams as well, but those are the only interviews currently on the docket.
Shula was installed as the early betting favorite for the job in Pittsburgh, but Steelers owner Art Rooney II said this week that he expects the process to find Mike Tomlin’s successor to take weeks so there’s a lot left to play out.
In-person interviews with currently employed coaches who are no longer in the playoffs can start after the divisional round, but Shula and other Rams assistants will have to wait longer if they are able to come up with a win in Chicago on Sunday.
Dolphins tight end Darren Waller thinks quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s struggles may be more psychological than physical, all stemming from the concerns he has about the brain injuries he has suffered throughout his career.
Waller said on Johnny Manziel’s podcast that when he saw Tagovailoa throw the ball in practice, he was amazed by how good a passer he is. But Waller thinks that in game action, Tagovailoa has something holding him back, perhaps stemming from the multiple concussions that have caused him to miss nine games in his career.
“I’m watching this man throw darts every practice. It was just like, ‘What the fuck am I watching?’ I had never seen the anticipation and the accuracy out there. From my standpoint, the skill set for him is still there,” Waller said. “What I think some of the disconnect comes from, seeing it translate, I think there could be some trauma still stored in his body from what he’s gone through with the head injuries.”
Waller mentioned that he has read the bestselling book The Body Keeps the Score about the effects of psychological trauma, and he said he sees in Tagovailoa some of the traits of people who are still struggling after going through traumatic experiences.
“I can notice him trying to make things happen in the game, he’s trying to pull the trigger, but it’s like his body, his system, won’t let him do it,” he said. “I think if there’s a way for him to find some healing in that regard, I think the skill set is still there.”
Despite his disappointing play, Tagovailoa’s $54 million guaranteed pay for 2026 means he’s highly likely to be back with the Dolphins. And the Dolphins need to hope that Tagovailoa can overcome whatever it is that is holding him back from being the quarterback that Waller saw on the practice field, but not in games.
The Dolphins completed interviews with Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh on Thursday, the team announced.
Every team with an opening has requested to interview Minter, and Saleh is also a candidate for the Titans, Ravens and Cardinals’ jobs.
Minter became the Chargers’ defensive coordinator in 2024, following Jim Harbaugh from the University of Michigan. Minter was the defensive coordinator for two seasons in Ann Arbor.
He has also worked at Vanderbilt, Georgia State, Indiana State, Cincinnati and Notre Dame on the collegiate level, and Minter was with the Ravens from 2017-20.
Saleh is in his second stint as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator, rejoining the staff before this season. He previously served in that role from 2017-20 before becoming the Jets’ head coach.
Saleh has also spent time with the Jaguars, Seahawks and Texans.
The Dolphins also have completed interviews with Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and and former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski. They have requested Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard, Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile and Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross recently said he was offered close to $15 billion for the team.
Coincidentally, I recently received an offer close to $15 billion for PFT.
It’s easy. Anyone can say anything about any offer they did, or didn’t, get, for anything. The question is whether it’s true.
One source with direct knowledge of the value of teams doesn’t buy that someone wanted to buy the Dolphins for that much money. (The most recent team that changed hands was the Commanders, at just over $6 billion.) The more realistic view is that someone like Ken Griffin likely offered Ross something in the range of $10 billion to $11 billion for the team and the stadium. If the Miami F1 race is included, another $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion could be added to that. (An employee of Griffin’s company, Citadel, advises PFT that Griffin has not made any offers or attempts to purchase the Dolphins since 2023.)
The broader point is this: Ross can do whatever he wants with the team he owns. He bought it. It’s his. He was required to pass no test to buy the team. He simply had to show up with the biggest bag of cash.
If he wants (and if the estate taxes can be satisfied without selling the team), Ross can keep it in the family. He can appoint whoever he wants to run it. And that person — currently, his son-in-law Daniel Sillman — will be required to pass no test to own and operate the team.
That’s true of every NFL franchise. The fans are stuck with the owner. As 49ers owner Jed York once said, owners can’t be fired.
Plenty of the bad teams stay bad for a reason. The dysfunction flows from the top. The cycle of G.M. and coach firings and hirings masks the reality that the owners can’t be fired or hired.
Ultimately, it’s the luck of the draw for the fans. And, unfortunately, they’re stuck. They don’t pick their favorite teams based on quality of ownership. Most don’t (and can’t, even if they want) abandon existing loyalties. They just have to wait for ownership to either figure it out, change their ways, or accept an offer they won’t refuse.
That said, there’s no guarantee that whoever offered Ross close to $15 billion (if it happened) will do any better with a team that hasn’t won a playoff game under his stewardship. Because there’s no test for the next owner, either. And there’s no device for forcing any owner out based solely on owning a team that never seriously contends.
Through it all, Ross and all other owners keep making more money. And the values of their teams keep going up and up. And up.
Plenty of names have emerged in the 11 days since the coaching carousel started to spin on high speed. One has yet to surface.
In July, Jon Gruden said he’s “working hard to maybe get one more shot” at coaching. If any of the eight teams with current vacancies are interested in Gruden, they’re keeping things very quiet.
Gruden last coached in 2021. He resigned after someone made multiple (apparently strategic) leaks of inappropriate emails sent while he worked at ESPN. He quickly sued the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell for engineering his ouster.
Gruden’s lawsuit has been successful, so far. The Nevada Supreme Court ruled that year that his case is not required to be resolved by the NFL’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court of arbitration. That will only continue to make him persona non grata at 345 Park Avenue. Indeed, the NFL still omits the episode featuring the 2002 Buccaneers (and Gruden) from its annual July 4 America’s Game marathon.
So that’s the real question. Will a team do business with a coach with whom the NFL desires to do no business whatsoever? As one source explained it within the past year to PFT, the emails themselves are not believed to be an impediment to Gruden’s ability to resume coaching. The roadblock, if any, is the lawsuit.
Then there’s the fact that Gruden, now 62, has a regular-season record of 117-112, only five games above .500. Since winning the Super Bowl in 2002, Gruden has two one-and-done playoff appearances. (Interim coach Rich Bisaccia led the 2021 Raiders to the playoffs after Gruden stepped down, exiting in the wild-card round against the Bengals.)
The question, all things considered, is whether the juice is worth the squeeze. Even without the complication created by his lawsuit (which shouldn’t be an issue, but will be), does a team think Gruden can recapture the magic from years gone by?
Given that he’s currently unattached to any NFL team, every team with a vacancy is free to talk to him, formally or informally, publicly or privately. If anyone currently is, no one is talking about it.
And here’s the bottom line. With 25 percent of the NFL’s head-coaching jobs still open, this seems to be Gruden’s last, best shot at getting another job.
The most nagging question for some is whether the Raiders would do it. If so, it would be a call made by owner Mark Davis, possibly over the objection of Tom Brady — especially since it was Gruden (according to Davis) who objected to signing Brady when he became a free agent in 2020.
