Curt Cignetti has engineered a remarkable turnaround as head coach of Indiana, with the program set to play for the CFP national championship on Monday night.
But don’t expect Cignetti to potentially do something similar in the pros.
Asked if he would consider an NFL job on Saturday, Cignetti dismissed the idea.
“I’m not an NFL guy,” Cignetti said, via Brett McMurphy of On3.com. “I made that decision a long time ago. I’ve always been a college football guy.”
Cignetti has been a coach at the college level for decades and he’s won everywhere he’s been, most notably at James Madison from 2019-2023 and now at Indiana over the last two years.
While money can talk, it doesn’t seem like Cignetti has any interest in trying to translate his success to the pros.
Cardinals Clips
Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur has a couple of head coaching interviews lined up for Friday.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the Cardinals and Raiders will both meet with LaFleur. The interviews will take place virtually.
LaFleur is in his third season as the coordinator for the Rams. He ran the Jets offense for two seasons before joining Sean McVay’s staff and was on Kyle Shanahan’s staff with the 49ers for four seasons before going to the Jets with Robert Saleh.
A win over the Bears on Sunday would delay any second round interviews until the Rams are done playing or until the week between the conference title game or the Super Bowl, but it would also likely help LaFleur’s bid to move up the coaching ladder.
Jonathan Gannon may be heading back to the NFC East.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Gannon is interviewing with the Commanders on Thursday for their defensive coordinator vacancy.
Gannon was fired after three seasons as Cardinals head coach last week. But before his Arizona tenure, he spent 2021-2022 as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator.
In 2022, Philadelphia ranked No. 2 in yards allowed and No. 8 in points allowed, becoming NFC Champions. But the team lost Super Bowl LVII to the Chiefs.
Gannon is one of several candidates for the role, with Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Seahawks defensive backs coach/pass game coordinator Karl Scott also interviewing for the job in recent days.
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.
John Harbaugh left the Giants building after interviewing with the club on Wednesday, but it sounds like he’ll be back soon.
According to a late-night Wednesday report from Adam Schefter of ESPN, Harbaugh and the Giants are working to finalize a deal to make him the franchise’s next head coach. Barring a setback, the two sides are expected to come to an agreement.
Schefter adds that the two sides have not yet finalized the deal with Harbaugh’s contract still being negotiated. But without any setbacks, Schefter reports, “Harbaugh is ready to accept the Giants’ deal and the Giants are expected to hire him as soon as possible.”
New York is able to make a hire immediately, having satisfied the Rooney Rule by holding two in-person interviews with minority candidates.
Harbaugh was expected to meet with the Titans and Falcons later this week. But there was always a chance for the Giants to make a strong enough impression to get those interviews off of Harbaugh’s agenda.
Officials from Tennessee were reportedly set to fly to Baltimore on Thursday morning to meet with Harbaugh.
Harbaugh’s interview with the Giants on Wednesday reportedly included spending time with quarterback Jaxson Dart.
Fired by the Ravens last week after an 8-9 finish in 2025, Harbaugh accumulated a 180-113 regular-season record with the Ravens and a 13-11 postseason record in 18 years with the franchise. He coached the Ravens to their second Lombardi Trophy, defeating the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII to cap the 2012 season.
Marcus Freeman’s name has come up for more than one job in this year’s coaching cycle.
But even though he was the favorite to land the Giants job at one point, Freeman has been consistent in saying that he’s continuing as the head coach at Notre Dame.
In a Wednesday press conference, Freeman was asked about the NFL rumors that have surfaced this offseason and the Fighting Irish HC spun them as being a net-positive.
“I’m the head coach at Notre Dame,” Freeman said. “I’ve said this before that individual recognition, individual success, NFL interest — those are all a reflection of team success and where this football program is. I’ve used some of the interest from the NFL to personally gain wisdom from maybe some of the G.M.s or front-office executives that you get a chance to talk to about your players, but also about what they view as a successful coach. Maybe it’s an NFL coach, but what are some of the things they’ve seen that have made a coach successful in their organization or franchise — and maybe not so successful.
“So, I utilize these opportunities through conversations to gain knowledge myself to be the best head coach I can be of the Notre Dame football program. So, again, that’s where my mindset is. I don’t control the noise, but I know the noise that’s in my head and where my focus is.”
Freeman had made clear his intent to stay on with Notre Dame with a social media post in late December. But even as the rumors persist, Freeman says he doesn’t mind them. In fact, he welcomes the chatter.
“The only statement I put out was let’s run it back,” Freeman said. “I was intentional about that. I don’t need to come out with a statement every time one of these job openings happen. You know I always say the future is uncertain. That’s what I tell our players, it’s what I tell myself — it’s the reality of life. But everything I want and everything that I need personally can be achieved right here as the head coach of this program.
“So, I hope this is something we have to address every year, I really do, because it means we’re having a lot of success right here at Notre Dame. If this isn’t something we’d have to address, then there’s bigger issues within what we’re doing as a football program because as your program has success, these types of things are going to occur.”
Freeman is not planning to be an NFL head coach at this point. But he did pause when asked if he would like to have one of those 32 jobs at some point in his career.
“Do I want to be? I mean, I don’t really — I’ve never done it,” Freeman said. “I don’t know enough about it. Maybe sometime in the future, if it’s the right time and it’s what I think is right for me, then maybe I’ll pursue it. But I don’t love wasting time thinking about things that aren’t right in front of me.
“So, I don’t know what I’ll want in however much length of time from now. I don’t know. But I know right now that I am as convicted and motivated to being the best head coach of the Notre Dame football program as I can be.”
Freeman, 39, has compiled a 43-12 record in his four seasons with the Fighting Irish since taking over for Brian Kelly.
Until the Packers announce that coach Matt LaFleur definitely will be back in 2026, there’s a chance he won’t be.
While most teams have no reason after the end of a given season to state the obvious, there’s currently nothing obvious about LaFleur’s future in Green Bay.
On Wednesday’s PFT Live, we pointed out the possibility that the Packers want to see whether someone will contact them with interest in making a deal for LaFleur. And while LaFleur would have to be willing to participate in the two-step process (new team makes a deal with the Packers, new team makes a deal with LaFleur), it may be his only alternative to accepting an extension he doesn’t like or coaching the final year of his current deal.
Appearing on ESPN Milwaukee earlier today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter characterized LaFleur’s status as “up in the air.” (Aaron Rodgers is gonna be upset.) Schefter explained that, if an extension isn’t finalized, it’s possible that some other team will call the Packers about possibly hiring LaFleur.
Regardless of the procedure that applies in situations like this, the reality is that there will be plenty of back-channel communications regarding, for example, whether LaFleur would be interested in one or more of the various vacancies and what it would take to hire him.
Again, all of this ends the moment the Packers declare LaFleur will be the coach in 2026. Until that occurs, anything can happen.
Former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris has had a few in-person meetings for head coaching vacancies after Atlanta fired him earlier this month.
Via Albert Breer of SI.com, Morris has now interviewed in-person with the Cardinals, Titans, and Giants.
That means each of those teams has conducted at least one in-person interview with a minority candidate. The Giants have had two, satisfying the requirement, as they’ve met with Morris and former Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce.
The Falcons finished 8-9 in 2024 and 2025 under Morris.
Morris was previously Atlanta’s interim head coach in 2020, going 4-7. He also accumulated a 20-25 record in three seasons as Buccaneers head coach from 2009-2011.
As it relates to the Cardinals, Morris is plenty familiar with the NFC West as he served as Rams defensive coordinator from 2021-2023.
The Cardinals are taking a look at an experienced head coach for their vacancy.
Arizona has put in a request to interview Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.
Smith, 43, has been with Pittsburgh for the last two years after serving as Falcons head coach for three seasons.
Atlanta went 7-10 in each of Smith’s three years as the club’s head coach.
Smith spent most of his coaching career with the Titans, having been with the franchise from 2011-2020. He began as a quality control coach and worked his way up to becoming offensive coordinator in 2019. Tennessee went to the AFC Championship Game in Smith’s first year calling the team’s offensive plays.
The Titans have also put in a request to interview Smith in this cycle.
John Harbaugh is starting to take in-person interviews.
According to multiple reports, Harbaugh is in New Jersey to meet with the Giants on Wednesday for his first known in-person interview after he was fired by the Ravens last week.
As has been widely noted, Harbaugh is expected to coach in 2026.
The Giants are one of the favorites to land Harbaugh, who reportedly is also set to meet with the Titans and Falcons this week.
While most teams with a head coach vacancy are surely interested in Harbaugh — who recorded a 180-113 regular-season record with a 13-11 postseason record in his 18 seasons with Baltimore — the former Ravens coach is set to be selective about the meetings he takes.
If Harbaugh and the Giants end up being a fit, New York can hire him immediately because the club has satisfied the requirements of the Rooney Rule. But it seems likely that Harbaugh will take more than one in-person meeting before deciding on his next stop.
