While Mike McCarthy hasn’t received leaguewide head coaching interest during the 2026 cycle, the Tennessee Titans have taken a thorough look at him. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, McCarthy, who is a candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers, has spent plenty of time talking with the Titans’ brass.

McCarthy met with the team last year and again this weekend, spending Friday and Saturday in Nashville.

FWIW: Former Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy now has met twice in recent days for the Titans head coaching job — once in late December in Green Bay, then again Friday and Saturday in Tennessee.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 19, 2026

Because Tennessee hired head coach Brian Callahan last October and because McCarthy was not under contract with any team, both sides were free to meet and discuss the job even as the Titans’ season was still ongoing. Tennessee liked him enough for an extended look this weekend.

No team’s head coaching search has been as extensive as Tennessee’s. The franchise has interviewed nearly 20 candidates. Backgrounds vary but nearly every single one of them has previous head coach experience in some capacity, including reported “finalists” in Matt Nagy, Jeff Hafley, and Robert Saleh. Nagy and Saleh coached in the NFL while Hafley held the role in college. McCarthy, of course, has a wealth of experience with 18 years as an NFL head coach across stints with the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys.

Is McCarthy a finalist? That’s hard to say. Tennessee, however, seems to be doing its homework.

That is likely to make Steelers’ fans happy. News of McCarthy interviewing with Pittsburgh was immediately panned. McCarthy is 62 and easily the oldest coach the Steelers have expressed interest in. A career .500 playoff record with just one postseason win since 2017 combined with concerns of him being connected solely for his Pittsburgh roots also work against him.

McCarthy being hired by Tennessee would guarantee Art Rooney II and Omar Khan’s search has to go elsewhere.

The question is: when do the rest of the hirings begin to happen? Even as one job closed over the weekend with Kevin Stefanski getting hired by the Atlanta Falcons, another opened after the Buffalo Bills fired Sean McDermott Monday morning. One-quarter of the NFL teams still don’t have a head coach.

As teams like Pittsburgh have to wait for hot names like Chris Shula and Nate Scheelhaase, searches are bound to extend into late January and early next month.