The Giants have requested to interview Colts passing game coordinator Alex Tanney for their offensive coordinator position, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Tanney is a former Giants quarterback who played in New York from 2018-20.
He has served in his current role for two seasons.
Tanney began his NFL coaching career in 2021 with the Eagles. He was an offensive quality control coach for one season before becoming the assistant quarterbacks coach and offensive assistant in 2022 and then the quarterbacks coach in 2023.
The Giants are seeking a new offensive coordinator under John Harbaugh. They fired Mike Kafka, who was the team’s offensive coordinator and then interim head coach last season after the firing of Brian Daboll.
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There’s another team with interest in Jim Bob Cooter to be their offensive coordinator.
Per Peter Schrager of ESPN, Cooter will meet with the Giants to discuss that team’s OC vacancy.
The Giants were likely to hire Todd Monken to be the club’s first offensive coordinator under new head coach John Harbaugh. But the Browns interrupted those plans by hiring Monken as their head coach. So now, the Giants will have to pivot.
Cooter has been with the Colts since 2023. He was previously an offensive coordinator with the Lions from 2016-2018. He’s also spent time with the Chiefs, Broncos, Jets, Eagles, and Jaguars.
Philadelphia has also expressed interest in Cooter as a potential option at offensive coordinator.
New York has reportedly requested an interview with Broncos passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach Davis Webb as well.
The Bill Belichick snub has had plenty of ripple effects. The biggest came from the alleged role of Hall of Fame G.M. and Hall of Fame voter Bill Polian in persuading other voters to pass on enshrining Belichick.
It started in the ESPN.com story regarding Belichick’s omission. From the report: “A voter who spoke on condition of anonymity said that Polian, an ardent [Robert] Kraft supporter and former general manager of the Buffalo Bills and Indianapolis Colts -- a chief Patriots rival during their dynasty -- told some voters he believed Belichick should ‘wait a year’ before induction as penance for Spygate.”
Polian initially said to SI.com, “That’s totally and categorically untrue. I voted for [Belichick].” Polian then told ESPN.com that he can’t recall with 100-percent certainty whether he voted for Belichick. On Wednesday, Polian confirmed that he did in fact vote for Belichick.
None of this has kept Polian from being accused of instigating Belichick’s failure to qualify. Based on the explanation from Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star regarding his decision not to vote for Belichick, it’s entirely possible that more than a few voters omitted Belichick from their ballots in favor of former players Ken Anderson, Roger Craig, and L.C. Greenwood, reasoning that Belichick will get in eventually and that the players may never make it.
Regardless, the prevailing view, as explained by Belichick’s presenter, Armando Salguero, is that Spygate derailed Belichick’s candidacy.
John Carroll University football coach Brian Polian, Bill’s son, has weighed in on the situation.
“My father is a public figure and polarizing,” Brian Polian said on Twitter. “I understand and accept that. However, what has happened over the last couple of days is not right. The facts and the truth are important.”
Whatever the reasoning for the 11 (or more) who failed to include Belichick as one of three selections from a group that included Anderson, Craig, Greenwood, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Belichick didn’t get enough votes. It’s a product of the process, one that (for whatever reason) no longer requires an up-or-down vote on each of the finalists.
No one voted “against” Belichick. Not enough voted “for” him. Next year, the Hall of Fame will surely fix this.
The broader question is whether the Hall of Fame will overhaul its voting procedures in order to restore the bar to where it used to be. If not, the annual classes will shrink, the logjam will grow, and more worthy candidates (relative to those already enshrined) will be overlooked.
The Eagles’ extended search for a new offensive coordinator now includes a second interview with Colts offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.
Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports that Cooter had an in-person interview with the team on Tuesday. Cooter interviewed with the Eagles virtually earlier this month.
The Colts could have blocked Cooter from interviewing since it is a lateral move, but moving to the Eagles would give Cooter a chance to call offensive plays. Head coach Shane Steichen handles those duties for the Colts.
Steichen and Cooter were both on Nick Sirianni’s Eagles’ staff in 2021 with Steichen as the offensive coordinator and Cooter in a consulting role. That familiarity could help Cooter land a different role in Philly this time around.
Two new tight ends were added to the AFC Pro Bowl roster on Monday.
Dalton Kincaid of the Bills and Tyler Warren of the Colts will now be headed to San Francisco for next week’s festivities. They replace Travis Kelce of the Chiefs and Brock Bowers of the Raiders.
Kincaid had 39 catches for 571 yards and five touchdowns for the Bills this season. He also had nine catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns. It’s the first time he has been selected for the Pro Bowl.
Warren was a first-round pick last year and led all rookies with 76 catches in the regular season. He picked up 817 yards and four touchdowns on those receptions.
Philip Rivers will not be following up his unlikely return to the NFL as a player with an unlikely move to the sidelines in Buffalo.
Dianna Russini of TheAthletic.com reports that Rivers has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Bills’ head coaching job. Rivers interviewed with the team after they fired Sean McDermott last week.
Rivers came out of retirement to join the Colts for the final weeks of the 2025 regular season, but was unable to win any games and the Colts were eliminated from playoff contention. He said his plan was to return to coaching his son’s high school team before the Bills offered a chance to dip his toe into the NFL coaching world.
Had the Bills hired him, Rivers would have been the third person to land an NFL head coaching job without any pro or college coaching experience. That could still happen or Rivers could try a more conventional entry point to a bid to become a head coach at some point in the future.
Philip Rivers showed he still has command of an NFL offense when he came out of retirement to play three games for the Colts in December.
Could he be in line to take over a team?
The Bills are at least interested in the possibility, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Rivers is interviewing for the club’s head coaching vacancy on Friday.
Rivers, 44, has been the head coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Alabama since retiring after the 2020 NFL season. He has led the team to two state semifinal appearances during his tenure.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Josh Allen and Rivers have a strong relationship, which is part of what has Buffalo interested in Rivers as a candidate. The Bills are reportedly involving Allen in the search for Sean McDermott’s replacement, which makes sense given Allen’s status as one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
By interviewing Rivers now, the Bills could also consider the former quarterback as a potential offensive coordinator option if the club hires a head coach with a defensive background.
Rivers would be a particularly out-of-the-box hire. But after what he displayed in three games this season — albeit losses — the interest in him as a candidate is not as far-fetched as it might have been.
The Bills completed an interview with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo on Thursday, the team announced.
He has become the third candidate the Bills have interviewed, following Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and former Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
Anarumo has 36 years of coaching experience, including 13 in the NFL.
He completed his first season as the Colts’ defensive coordinator in 2025 following his six-season stint in that position for the Bengals. In his final season with the Bengals, his defense ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in interceptions, interceptions returned for touchdowns and passes defensed.
Indianapolis finished in the top 10 among defenses across the league in rushing yards allowed (seventh with 1,732), yards allowed per carry (tied for second with 3.9) and passing yards allowed (second with 4,462).
Anarumo was on the list of candidates for the Giants and Titans before they settled on John Harbaugh and Robert Saleh, respectively, as their new head coaches.
Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Commanders running backs coach/run game coordinator Anthony Lynn and Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski are other candidates the Bills have identified as they begin the search to replace Sean McDermott.
Last year, the Washington Post investigated thoroughly the circumstances surrounding the death of Colts owner Jim Irsay. The subject is now on the radar screen of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Washington Post now reports that a federal grand jury subpoena has been issued by the FBI in connection with Irsay’s death. Which means that a federal grand jury has been convened. Which means that federal charges eventually could be issued.
Per the report, a subpoena issued by the grand jury shows that the FBI seeks records and other information regarding Irsay’s death, his “substance (illegal and prescription) use,” and his “relationship with Dr. Harry Haroutunian.”
The Colts told the Post that the team is aware of the investigation, but that it has been served neither with a subpoena nor contacted by the FBI.
The Post reported in August that, when he died, Irsay was under the care of Haroutunian, a “‘luxury’ recovery doctor” who prescribed Irsay opioids, and eventually ketamine. Haroutunian signed the death certificate, which attributed Irsay’s passing to cardiac arrest. There was no autopsy or toxicology testing.
“I dedicated 18 months of my life to try to care for him . . . as a brother,” Haroutunian told the Post in August. “We did everything we could to make him as comfortable as possible.”
The Post also reported in August that Irsay, who had battled addiction issues,"repeatedly misled the public” about relapses in the final years of his life.
When Irsay died in California, Beverly Hills police found Irsay in a “hospital-bed” type setup. Haroutunian told the officers that Irsay “had been battling several chronic health issues,” and a spokesperson for the department said that there was “no evidence that our detectives saw that made them suspicious that it was an overdose.”
Someone with the authority to seek formal charges is now suspicious, and that someone is now trying to build a potential case against one or more other someones.
The NFL Scouting Combine will remain in Indianapolis in 2027 and 2028, the league announced Wednesday.
The NFL’s current agreement with Indianapolis was set to expire after the 2026 NFL Combine, which is scheduled from Feb. 23-March 2 at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium.
The combine has made the city its home since 1987.
“As Indianapolis has grown, so has the NFL Scouting Combine,” Colts chief operating officer Pete Ward said in a statement. “For more than three decades, Indy has proven to be the best host city, efficiently moving prospects, team owners, coaching staff, medical personnel, and national media seamlessly through the city. The Colts and the Irsay family are grateful to the NFL for their continued confidence in our city’s ability.”
The NFL has discussed moving around the NFL’s biggest pre-draft event, as it does with the draft and the Super Bowl, and has even solicited bids from other cities. Indianapolis’ unique setup, though, allows for maximum efficiency and accessibility.
“Indianapolis and the NFL Combine have built a proud legacy together, and we’re pleased to extend our partnership with Visit Indy, the Colts and the local community,” said Peter O’Reilly, the NFL’s executive vice president, club business, international and league events. “For over three decades, Indy has delivered an exceptional environment for our football evaluation operations, and we’re excited to continue improving the prospect and club experience while enhancing the fan moments that create opportunities for tens of thousands to engage with the league’s future stars.”
