With six vacancies (other than the Ravens) and seven teams calling former Ravens coach John Harbaugh after his dismissal on Tuesday, at least one team without a vacancy made the call.
So which team(s) called? (It’s possible that more than one team without an opening called, if at least one of the teams currently looking for a coach did not.)
Here’s a look at the possibilities. And don’t blame us for doing it; Harbaugh’s agent lit the fuse by disclosing that seven teams called.
Jets: By all appearances, first-year coach Aaron Glenn lost the locker room. The final five games, with a minus-137 point differential (27.4 per game), was arguably the worst stretch ever for a franchise with plenty of rough spots. Still, owner Woody Johnson has shown no inclination to fire Glenn — and to owe him more than $40 million to not coach the team.
Dolphins: Michigan man Stephen Ross once pursued Michigan man Jim Harbaugh while the Dolphins still had a coach under contract. Why wouldn’t Ross make the call about Harbaugh’s brother, given the currently tenuous status of Mike McDaniel?
Bills: What if the Bills lose this weekend? Is it crazy to think the Bills would consider making a change? That said, swapping out one coach who failed to get to the Super Bowl during the prime years of a generational talent for another coach who failed to get to the Super Bowl during the prime years of a generational talent seems odd.
Steelers: If the team thinks Mike Tomlin, who seems to have a TV offer in his back pocket, could be leaving after the playoff run ends, it needs to be thinking about the next coach. Why not Harbaugh?
Bengals: There’s no way Mike Brown will finance Zac Taylor’s buyout and pay whatever it would take to get Harbaugh.
Colts: Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon has said Shane Steichen will be back. Could she view Harbaugh as an upgrade who may not be available if a change is made in 2027?
Chiefs: Andy Reid will be back for 2026. The phone call (if it happened) may have been as simple as, “Keep us in mind if you’re thinking about taking a year off and returning in 2027.”
Cowboys: See the Chiefs.
Commanders: Dan Quinn’s team badly regressed in 2025. Why wouldn’t owner Josh Harris at least consider the possibility of an upgrade to Harbaugh?
Packers: New team president Ed Policy made it clear in June that it’s an up-or-out year for coach Matt LaFleur and G.M. Brian Gutekunst. Could Policy have wanted to let Harlan (the son of former Packers CEO Bob Harlan) know that there may be a reason to let the wild-card round play out before making any decisions?
Buccaneers: There’s a vague sense still lingering that ownership could make a coaching change. Harbaugh’s availability could be the thing that pushes the Bucs off the fence.
At least one of those teams made the call. Maybe more than one. And if one of those teams fires its head coach in the coming days, it could be the first step toward hiring John Harbaugh.
Chiefs Clips
The Titans are set to speak to Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo about their head coaching vacancy.
Albert Breer of SI.com reports that Spagnuolo will interview with the team on Thursday. The Titans are the only team that has requested an interview with Spagnuolo at this point in the hiring process.
Spagnuolo and Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi were both in Kansas City from 2019 to 2024. Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy was in Kansas City for the last three of those years and he is also set to interview with Tennessee, but Borgonzi said this week that he will work to separate past associations from what the Titans are looking for in their next head coach.
“You have to remove that piece,” Borgonzi said, via Turron Davenport of ESPN.com. “That biased opinion on anybody that you might have a relationship with. You have to make the best decision for the organization, and that’s really the bottom line. ‘Who is going to be the best leader and coach for this organization?’”
Spagnuolo was 10-38 over three seasons as the Rams’ head coach. He also had an interim head coaching stint with the Giants in 2017.
Matt Nagy is set to have a busy next few days of interviews.
According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator will interview with the Raiders and Titans on Thursday before meeting with the Cardinals on Friday.
Nagy, 47, was the Bears head coach from 2018-2021, accumulating a 34-31 record with one division title and two postseason appearances. He was named AP coach of the year in 2018.
He has worked under Andy Reid for much of his career, starting out as a coaching intern with the Eagles in 2008 and moving to the Chiefs with Reid in 2013 as quarterbacks coach.
Nagy was Kansas City’s offensive coordinator from 2016-2017 before his stint with the Bears, returning in 2022 as senior assistant and quarterbacks coach. He was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2023.
Titans G.M. Mike Borgonzi worked with Nagy in Kansas City before being hired in Tennessee last year.
For the first time since he joined the Chiefs in 2017, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is home for the postseason. He already has begun rehab after surgery Dec. 15 to repair a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee.
Coach Andy Reid said he expects Mahomes to remain in Kansas City this offseason.
“First of all, he’s doing great for just being three weeks out or so,” Reid began. “He’ll go ahead and most likely stay up here for the majority of the time rehabbing. He and Julie (Frymyer), she’s the person who does all that RPT (rehab physical therapy), and so he has a lot of trust in her, and he’s been just in there grinding.
“I think they’ll just continue till we get started again. Not that he won’t take a break here or there, but right now, he’s in that early process where you’ve got to really hit it hard. And, you know, it’s not necessarily a fun thing to do every day. The important thing is that you show up, and that you keep coming, coming back for more, and he’s been doing that.”
Mahomes typically spends his offseason in Dallas-Fort Worth, where he has a home and trains under Bobby Stroupe at APEC (Athlete Performance Enhancement Center).
Mahomes’ goal in rehab is to get back in time to play Week 1.
The head coaching interview schedule for the Titans is filling up.
NFL Media reports that they are set to speak with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy about their vacancy on Thursday. They have also scheduled interviews with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, and former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris.
Nagy worked with Titans General Manager Mike Borgonzi when Borgonzi was in the Chiefs’ organization and he had a four-year run as the Bears’ head coach in between stints as the coordinator in Kansas City.
This week’s interview with Nagy will be held virtually and a second, in-person interview could take place later in the month.
The Titans’ list of head coaching candidates is continuing to take shape on Monday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the team has requested interviews with Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph and Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. There was word earlier on Monday that they have requested an interview with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy as well.
All three candidates have previous head coaching experience and Titans G.M. Mike Borgonzi knows both Nagy and Spagnuolo from his time in the Kansas City personnel department.
Joseph will be able to have a remote interview with the Titans this week, but will not be able to have another interview with the team until the Broncos are eliminated or in the week between the AFC title game and the Super Bowl. Joseph was 11-21 as the Broncos’ head coach in 2017-18, but his work running the defense under Sean Payton since returning to Denver has put him back on the head coaching radar.
Spagnuolo was 10-38 as the Rams’ head coach from 2009-2011. He was also the Giants’ interim head coach for four games in 2017 and has been in his current job since the 2019 season.
The regular season is over and that means teams looking for head coaches can now step up their searches.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Titans have started that process by requesting an interview with Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. The Titans will be able to hold an initial interview with Nagy later this week.
Nagy has been linked to the opening in Tennessee since Brian Callahan was fired early in the regular season. He has previous head coaching experience and he worked with Titans G.M. Mike Borgonzi when Borgonzi was in the Chiefs’ organization.
Nagy went 34-31 in four seasons as the Bears’ head coach. He took the team to the playoffs twice, but was fired after going 6-11 in 2021. He was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator before going to Chicago and returned to Kansas City after being let go by the Bears.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s plans for the 2026 season have been a topic of conversation since he confirmed he’d play in 2025, but Kelce did not make any definitive statements during the first 17 weeks of the season and that didn’t change in Week 18.
After the Chiefs closed out the season with a loss to the Raiders, Kelce talked about his love for the team and said he will “spend some time with them, go through exit meetings tomorrow and get close to the family and figure things out.” Kelce didn’t put a timeline on how long it will take for him to figure things out.
“I mean, who knows? Who knows? Either it hits me quick, or I’ve got to take some time,” Kelce said, via Jesse Newell of TheAthletic.com. “I think last year was a little bit easier. I think I knew right away I wanted to give this one a shot. So we’ll see.”
Kelce is not under contract for 2026, so that would need to be worked out if he plans to play again next season but the decision about playing has to come before any other conversations are going to go on in Kansas City.
The Raiders and Chiefs saved their worst for last.
In the most unwatchable game of the 2025 season, featuring Kenny Pickett, Aidan O’Connell, Chris Oladokun and Shane Buechele at quarterback, Daniel Carlson kicked a 60-yard field goal with eight seconds left to hand the Raiders a 14-12 victory.
The game had no touchdowns, eight field goals, four turnovers, a safety, nine sacks, 12 punts and a combined 372 yards. They were 0-for-4 in the red zone.
The Raiders kicked off knowing they had secured the No. 1 overall pick. They ended a 10-game losing streak in what might be the final game of Pete Carroll’s career. He went 3-14 in his first season with the Raiders in the worst season of his 19-year career.
Carlson kicked field goals of 32, 23, 55 and 60, and Harrison Butker was good from 36, 40, 47 and 41.
Raiders edge rusher Tyree Wilson tackled Buechele in the end zone for a safety that ended up being the difference.
Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty rushed for 87 yards on 26 carries.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce may or may not be retiring at some point after Sunday’s 2025 finale at the Raiders. Whether Kelce calls it quits or not, the future Hall of Famer is close to passing a current Hall of Famer on the all-time reception list.
Kelce has 1,077 career catches. Terrell Owens has 1,078. With two on Sunday, Kelce will take over the eighth spot in the record books.
Kelce will need to have a monster day to finish at No. 7, unless he decides to play another year. Hall of Famer Tim Brown has 1,094. Which means Kelce would need to have 18 catches in Las Vegas (not likely) to pass Brown.
All players ahead of Kelce on the all-time reception list are in Canton, with the exception of tight end Jason Witten, who finished his career in 2020 with the Raiders and who is a finalist for enshrinement this year, and Larry Fitzgerald, who also retired after 2020 and also is a finalist for the next class.
Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez has the most receptions for a tight end, with 1,325. He’s third all time, behind Fitzgerald (1,432) and Jerry Rice (1,549).
