based on how dodgy general manager Joe Schoen has been<\/a> when the question has come up. I think quarterback might be the biggest hurdle in Harbaugh\u2019s way, but that\u2019s not something he can really control for 2026.<\/p>\nAtlanta Falcons HC Kevin Stefanski<\/p>\n
I know that Stefanski is just 45-56 in his head coaching career, but you\u2019ve got to give him some credit for the crapshow that Cleveland has been from a personnel standpoint. The Deshaun Watson trade (and deal) might end up being one of the worst in sports history. Honestly, considering the circumstances, I think Stefanski winning two NFL Coach of the Year honors speaks to what decision-makers think of him. I\u2019m not surprised he was second off the board after Harbaugh.<\/p>\n
Atlanta has some good pieces in place to make that offense go. Kirk Cousins\u2019 dead cap is still higher than his cap hit, which will make him hard to trade this offseason. If Michael Penix isn\u2019t 100 percent, Cousins did look much better in 2025 than 2024 (a low bar). Throw in Bijan Robinson, Drake London and potentially Kyle Pitts, and I get why there would be optimism about the 2026 squad. I also thought the Falcons\u2019 front seven played a lot better last year than I would have expected coming into the year.<\/p>\n
Miami Dolphins HC Jeff Hafley<\/p>\n
An in-the-booth defensive coordinator is so different from a sideline play-calling head coach that I\u2019m not sure how much of what Hafley did in Green Bay translates, one way or another, to what he\u2019ll do in Miami. I honestly don\u2019t have a strong prediction here, but it\u2019s not surprising to me that he did well with teams in interviews. He\u2019s always been good on the mic.<\/p>\n
Tennessee Titans HC Robert Saleh<\/p>\n
I sort of think the Pete Carroll, Dan Quinn, Gus Bradley coaching tree is mostly dead in the NFL. Hafley had a couple of new spins on it, with the amount of simulated blitzes he ran in 2024 and the disguise coverages he played whenever he didn\u2019t have Micah Parsons over the last two years, but the rest of the guys in the tree mostly play the same stock zone defense.<\/p>\n
Saleh says he wants to call defenses in his second stint as a head coach, something he didn\u2019t do with the New York Jets. Ultimately, the drop-7 and play Cover 2 and Cover 3 style defenses really need a premier pass-rushing unit to make it work (the Seahawks\u2019 pass-rush never got enough credit during the Legion of Boom era!), and I don\u2019t see Tennessee being great there. I got nothing against Saleh. Hope he proves me wrong, but I\u2019m not sure I like this one.<\/p>\n
I am a little surprised that they didn\u2019t go with Matt Nagy, not because I think Nagy would be a good head coach (the Chiefs basically processed him out), but because he has ties to general manager Mike Borgonzi, and it seemed like every NFL insider pushed the Nagy angle hard and early for the job. Saleh and Nagy were the two finalists, after Hafley was hired by Miami a day before he was scheduled to interview with Tennessee.<\/p>\n
Baltimore Ravens HC Jesse Minter<\/p>\n
If the Shanahan-McVay tree is the dominant coaching tree on the offensive side of the football, the Fangio and Macdonald trees (which sort of try to do the same thing but come from different roots) are going to be the equivalent on the defensive side. Everyone wants to be able to play two-high coverages because of the passing game, but also stop the run from two-high coverages. If you can bait the run and still capture it efficiently, it\u2019s the best path to playing defense in the NFL.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure how Minter will do with a team of his own, but I expect the Ravens to be good on defense for years to come. His offensive coordinator hire will be very important.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Steelers HC Mike McCarthy<\/p>\n
I should be less surprised about this than I am. This is the team that leaned into the Yinzer angle the last time they needed a first-round quarterback, too. No disrespect to McCarthy and what he did in Green Bay, but he doesn\u2019t have the same offensive edge that he used to have.<\/p>\n
People forget that McCarthy was almost like a Kliff Kingsbury type of figure when he came to the Packers, as they were one of the first teams to shift West Coast Offense concepts into the shotgun (there were still teams that genuinely played 0 season-long snaps in the shotgun when McCarthy was first hired to Green Bay) and lean into the hurry up no huddle offense.<\/p>\n
Chuck Noll coached the Steelers from 1969 to 1991. Bill Cowher coached the team from 1992 to 2006. Mike Tomlin held the job from 2007 to 2025. Gun to my head, I think McCarthy does not have a tenure that lasts as long as those guys, even with a patient franchise. Hopefully, though, McCarthy raises the floor of the team and develops them a quarterback before he hands off the reins.<\/p>\n
Feel free to shoot over thoughts on the coordinator hires, too, if you have more to share.<\/p>\n
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