A full week into the 2025 NFL coaching carousel, many candidates have emerged. All of them are former NFL head coaches and/or current NFL assistants.
There’s another category of candidate lurking.
As one source with an NFL team that is currently looking for a head coach explained it over the weekend, “I think you will see multiple top program college coaches look to move” to the NFL.
The ongoing chaos of NIL money and the transfer portal has caused some college coaches to sour on that level of the game. Two years ago, for example, Jeff Halfley gave up his position as head coach at Boston College to become the defensive coordinator of the Packers.
It’s one thing, however, for college coaches from top programs to want out. It’s another thing for NFL teams to want them in. So far, there has been no clear indication that any NFL team with a current vacancy is currently considering one or more college coaches.
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman, who has said he’ll stay in South Bend, continues to be loosely linked to the NFL. And there’s value in remaining discreet about the exploration of NFL possibilities, given that the portal remains open. Generally speaking, the best play is to not even acknowledge the possibility of leaving until the ink on the contract is drying.
One coach who could (should) be on the NFL’s radar screen has one more game. Curt Cignetti has dramatically turned the Indiana program around in only two seasons. Why wouldn’t an NFL team do the due diligence? Yes, the $15 million buyout is not cheap. But if an NFL team believes that Cignetti could do for it what he has done for the Hoosiers, it’s worth a full exploration.
It’s unknown whether Cignetti would even want to come to the NFL. His style and his message may not work in the NFL, especially since he has no experience at all in the pro game. Other current college coaches do. And it makes sense to keep an eye on the possibility that one of the eight vacancies will be filled by a current head coach at a college program.
