With six head-coaching openings in the NFL, and possibly more, Bill Belichick’s name will be mentioned publicly for one or more of the jobs. Whether he’s privately considered for any of them remains to be seen.
Appearing on the Let’s Go! podcast, Belichick was asked by host Jim Gray whether Belichick is interested in returning to the NFL.
“Nothing’s changed,” Belichick said. “I’m where I was a month ago. I’m here at North Carolina. I really appreciate the love and support that we’ve gotten from the community down here, from the school, from Chancellor Roberts, the ADs, Bubba Cunningham, Steve Newmark, working with Mike Lombardi and our staff here. We’re building a good program and I’m excited about the direction we’re headed in.”
It wasn’t a “no.” But it’s not relevant until someone wants to talk to him.
Since being fired two years ago, he has had one interview, with the Falcons. The Falcons are looking again, with a clean slate (for now) in the front office.
Would owner Arthur Blank want to give Belichick another look, periodic trolling by Jordon Hudson notwithstanding? While it’s unclear where his coaching skills currently reside (e.g., would Belichick put a defensive coach in charge of the offense?), we’re confident that Belichick wouldn’t have given $100 million guaranteed to Kirk Cousins before using a top-10 pick on Michael Penix Jr. if he’d been the Atlanta coach in 2024.
Belichick is currently on the board for five existing vacancies: +4000 for the Giants, +8000 for the Titans, +4000 for the Browns, +1200 for the Falcons, and +1600 for the Raiders. (DraftKings doesn’t have odds for the Cardinals’ job, for some reason.)
A team will first need to be interested in Belichick. And he’d need to be interested in the team. (Belichick expressed to Gray disdain for teams that use search firms, which could make the search firm running the Falcons’ search less inclined to seek him out.)
Last year, when it became clear to Belichick that he wouldn’t get a job in the 2025 cycle, he went to North Carolina. Lombardi thereafter questioned whether there are any good jobs in the NFL, while also explaining that he and Belichick prefer working in college football.
Most of the jobs that come open are open for a reason. Still, if Belichick wants to catch Don Shula for the all-time wins record, no number of victories at UNC will matter.
Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph is able to interview with teams looking for a head coach this week because Denver has a first-round bye and it looks like he’ll be taking full advantage of that opportunity.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Joseph is expected to interview with the Raiders, Cardinals, Giants, and Titans in the coming days.
Joseph has previous head coaching experience — he was 11-21 with the Broncos in 2017 and 2018 — and previous experience with the Cardinals. Joseph ran Arizona’s defense under Kliff Kingsbury from 2019-2022 and returned to Denver after Kingsbury was fired following the 2022 season.
All interviews at this point will be held virtually. If a team wants a second, in-person interview with Joseph, they will have to wait until the Broncos are eliminated or until the break between the conference title games and the Super Bowl.
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 are set for a head coaching interview on Wednesday.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that they are scheduled to meet with Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo. Wednesday is the first day that teams are permitted to speak with coaches whose team played their final game of the regular season on Sunday and all interviews are held remotely at this point in the process.
Anarumo joined the Colts in 2025 after spending the previous six seasons running the defense for the Bengals. The Colts beat the Titans 41-20 and 38-14 during the regular season.
The Titans are also scheduled for interviews with former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski and former Falcons head coach Raheem Morris this weekend.
The Titans fired head coach Brian Callahan on Oct. 13, so they aren’t wasting any time in getting on with it.
They have scheduled their first two in-person interviews for this weekend.
Paul Kuharsky of paulkuharsky.com reports that Kevin Stefanski is scheduled for an interview on Saturday and Raheem Morris will visit on Sunday.
Both coaches were fired on Monday.
Stefanski spent six seasons with the Browns, and Morris was the head coach of the Falcons for two years.
The Titans have requested permission to interview Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph.
