At least one team has now formally spoken with John Harbaugh about their head coaching vacancy.
The Falcons announced that they have completed an interview with Harbaugh on Monday afternoon.
After firing General Manager Terry Fontenot and head coach Raheem Morris last week, Falcons owner Arthur Blank told reporters that Harbaugh would “certainly be a candidate we would want to spend some time with.” That has now happened.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that Harbaugh has also been conducting “preliminary and extensive phone calls” with the Giants, Titans, Browns, Raiders, and Cardinals. At this point, he’s trying to decide who he’ll meet with this week and into next week before making a decision. But Harbaugh is expected to coach in 2026, as opposed to potentially becoming a TV analyst for a year before re-entering the market in 2027.
Atlanta made the widely expected hiring of Matt Ryan as president of football official on Saturday. With plenty of options, Harbaugh will have to determine if he’d like to work with Ryan or any other number of front-office executives when choosing his next spot.
The Browns announced their interview with Mike McDaniel for their head coaching vacancy on Monday morning and McDaniel is reportedly going to double up on conversations about a new job before the day is out.
Peter Schrager of ESPN reports that McDaniel is also set to interview with the Falcons on Monday evening. McDaniel was an assistant with the Falcons earlier in his career and the team’s president of football Matt Ryan was their quarterback during his time in Atlanta.
They are the first two teams to meet with McDaniel since he was fired, but there are others lined up. The Titans and Ravens are also slated to interview McDaniel this week.
McDaniel should also have offensive coordinator opportunities if he does not land his second head coaching gig.
Mike McDaniel’s dance card is filling up this week.
Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that McDaniel is set to interview with the Falcons and Ravens this week about their head coaching vacancies. This comes after word on Sunday that he will interview with the Browns and last week’s word that he’ll meet with the Titans.
McDaniel spent the last four seasons as the Dolphins’ head coach and was on Kyle Shanahan’s staff with the 49ers before going to Miami. He moved to the 49ers with Shanahan after working on the Falcons’ staff in 2015 and 2016, which was the same time that new Falcons president of football Matt Ryan was the team’s quarterback.
McDaniel is also drawing interest from the Lions for their offensive coordinator vacancy and other teams looking for a change at that spot could also throw their hat in the ring for McDaniel’s services.
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula is a popular name in this year’s head coaching searches.
The Dolphins and Titans requested interviews with Shula ahead of Sunday’s win over the Panthers and they got some company over the weekend. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Cardinals, Giants and Raiders also want to speak with Shula about their vacancies.
Shula was a college teammate of Rams head coach Sean McVay and has been on the Rams’ staff since McVay joined the team in 2017. He’s also the grandson of Don Shula, which adds some intrigue to Miami’s request to speak to him.
Shula will be able to interview virtually with teams this week and he won’t be the only Rams assistant balancing the interview circuit with preparing to face the Bears. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur has heard from the Cardinals and Raiders while pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase is on the list for the Browns, Raiders and Ravens.
Former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel had an unhappy visit to Cleveland during the regular season and he’ll be hoping things go better when he meets with the team this week.
Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that McDaniel will interview for the Browns’ head coaching job on Monday.
It will be the first interview for McDaniel since he was fired by the Dolphins last week. He is also slated to interview for the Titans’ vacancy on Wednesday.
McDaniel went 35-33 over four seasons in Miami. He took the Dolphins to the playoffs in his first two seasons, but they were 15-19 over the last two years.
