The Falcons completed an interview with Antonio Pierce for their head coach position, the team announced Friday.
Pierce currently holds a studio analyst role with CBS after having spent the 2024 season as the head coach for the Raiders.
He spent two seasons as the Raiders’ linebackers coach, including a stint as interim head coach in 2023, earning the full-time job. The Raiders fired him after one season as head coach.
Pierce spent four years coaching at Arizona State, serving as the linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator (2018-19), associate head coach/co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator (2020) and associate head coach/defensive coordinator/recruiting coordinator (2021).
Pierce played linebacker in the NFL for nine seasons with Washington (2001-04) and the Giants (2005-09), winning Super Bowl XLII with the Giants.
The Falcons have also completed head coach interviews with Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde, former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, former Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley and Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter.
Raiders Clips
Colts tight end Tyler Warren will participate in the 2026 Pro Bowl Games, the NFL announced on Friday.
Warren replaces Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, who withdrew with an injury.
Warren becomes the 18th rookie tight end in NFL history to earn Pro Bowl honors and only the second in team history, joining John Mackey in 1963.
He played all 17 games, with 12 starts, this season and made 76 receptions for 817 yards and four touchdowns. He also registered one rushing touchdown.
Among NFL tight ends, Warren ranked in the top 10 in receptions (tied-sixth) and receiving yards (fifth). He set the franchise record for receptions and receiving yards by a rookie tight end.
Warren also helped pave the way for running back Jonathan Taylor to finish third in the league in rushing yards (1,585) this season.
He joins Taylor and guard Quenton Nelson as participants in the Pro Bowl Games.
The Steelers are getting the ball rolling on their head coaching search.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that they will interview Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley on Saturday. They are also set to speak with Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase on Friday.
Hafley interviewed with the Raiders on Thursday and has also met with the Falcons, Dolphins, and Titans in recent days. Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said late in the season that he anticipates Hafley landing a head coaching job in this cycle.
Steelers owner Art Rooney II said earlier this week that he anticipates the team’s search taking weeks, so the Steelers will likely be adding more names to their interview list in the coming days.
The Rams have three assistant coaches in the mix for head coaching jobs this cycle and all of them are interviewing with teams on Friday.
That group includes pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. Albert Breer of SI.com reports that he will be meeting with the Browns, Steelers, Ravens and Raiders.
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula is also interviewing with the Steelers and Ravens while offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is on the Raiders’ list.
Scheelhaase joined the Rams as an offensive assistant in 2024 and took on his current role this year. He was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Iowa State before making the move to the NFL.
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.
The Raiders have interviewed two more candidates for their head coaching job.
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero are the new additions to the list. Both interviews were conducted virtually and both coaches will be available for second interviews after the divisional round since their teams have been eliminated from the playoffs.
Minter has received interview requests from every team looking for a head coach other than the Steelers and has been making the rounds this week. Evero has several requests as well, including one that the Steelers made on Thursday.
The Raiders have also interviewed former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Broncos quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator Davis Webb, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, and Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
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.
Dante Moore will not be entering the NFL in 2026.
The Oregon quarterback announced that he will be returning to school for another season. Moore led the Ducks to the college football semifinals, but they lost to Indiana last Friday.
Indiana’s quarterback Fernando Mendoza is the favorite to be the first player selected in April’s draft given the Raiders’ need for a long-term answer at quarterback. Moore was seen as a contender to be the next player drafted given the Jets’ need for the same, but Wednesday’s decision opens the field up to a number of possibilities at that spot.
With Moore staying in school, names like Ty Simpson and Trinidad Chambliss will now jockey to be the second quarterback off the board.
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.
