Sunday, January 11, 2026

NFL Head Coach and General Manager Churn

There was a moment, not all that long ago, that it looked like a light year in the NFL’s annual head coach churn. Every year, it feels like at least seven or eight teams are looking for a new head coach. This year wasn’t light for long. Two teams fired their head coach during the season. A few more seemed inevitable after the season. Having four to six teams looking for a new coach felt light. “Black Monday” should be “Black Week” as the firings kept dropping as the days passed. By the end of the week, eight teams are now looking for a new head coach.

New York Giants
Fired: Brian Dabol

Tennessee Titans
Fired: Brian Callahan

Arizona Cardinals
Fired: Jonathan Gannon

Atlanta Falcons 
Fired: Raheem Morris

Baltimore Ravens
Fired: John Harbaugh

Cleveland Browns
Fired: Kevin Stefanski

Las Vegas Raiders
Fired: Pete Carroll

Miami Dolphins
Fired: Mike McDaniel

While I thought that this might be a light churn, the John Harbaugh firing is the only that I truly found surprising. 18 consistently successful seasons and a Super Bowl title felt like strong reasons for at least another year. Perhaps swap Todd Monken for an offensive coordinator that was a better fit with Lamar Jackson. I expected tweaks to the Ravens coaches rather than kicking Harbaugh out the door. I don’t expect him to be unemployed long.

The cycle is fairly light when it comes to the annual general manager churn. There are only two teams looking for a new general manager.

Atlanta Falcons
Fired: Terry Fontenot

Miami Dolphins
Fired: Chris Grier

Since both teams are also looking for a new head coach, the general manager search, interviews, and hiring should proceed at a nice pace.

Current Interview Requests:

Head Coach

New York Giants
Mike Kafka - Giants interim head coach
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Kevin Stefanski - former Browns head coach
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Mike McCarthy - former Cowboys head coach
Lou Anarumo - Colts DC
Raheem Morris - former Falcons head coach
Antonio Pierce - former Raiders head coach
Darren Rizzi - Broncos assistant head coach

Tennessee Titans
Matt Nagy - Chiefs OC
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Steve Spagnuoulo - Chiefs DC
Lou Anarumo - Colts DC
Raheem Morris - former Falcons head coach
Kevin Stefanski - former Browns head coach
Jason Garrett - former Cowboys head coach
Jeff Hafley - Packers DC
Arthur Smith - Steelers OC
Robert Saleh - 49ers DC
Kliff Kingsbury - former Commanders OC
Mike McCarthy - former Cowboys head coach
Mike McCoy - Titans interim head coach
Mike McDaniel - former Dolphins head coach
Jesse Minter - Chargers DC
Chris Shula - Rams DC

Arizona Cardinals
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Robert Saleh - 49ers DC
Anthony Weaver - Dolphins DC
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Thomas Brown - Patriots passing game coordinator 
Matt Nagy - Chiefs OC
Raheem Morris - former Falcons head coach
Jeff Hafley - Packers DC
Thomas Brown - Patriots passing game coordinator

Atlanta Falcons
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Anthony Weaver - Dolphins DC
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Kevin Stefanski - former Browns head coach
Jeff Hafley - Packers DC
Robert Saleh - 49ers DC
Aden Durde - Seahawks DC

Baltimore Ravens
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Davis Webb - Broncos QB coach
Anthony Weaver - Dolphins DC
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Brian Flores - Vikings DC
Matt Nagy - Chiefs OC
Kliff Kingsbury - former Commanders OC
Robert Saleh - 49ers DC
Joe Brady - Bills OC
Kevin Stefanski - former Browns head coach

Cleveland Browns 
Todd Monken - Ravens OC
Aden Durde - Seahawks DC
Dan Pitcher - Bengals OC
Tommy Rees - Browns OC
Jim Schwartz - Browns DC
Mike McDaniel - former Dolphins head coach
Jesse Minter - Chargers DC

Las Vegas Raiders
Vance Joseph - Broncos DC
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Davis Webb - Broncos QB coach
Matt Nagy - Chiefs OC

Miami Dolphins
Klint Kubiak - Seahawks OC
Robert Saleh - 49ers DC
Chris Shula - Rams DC

For merely sentimental reasons, it’d be pretty cool to see Don Shula’s grandson coaching the Dolphins. 

General Manager

Atlanta Falcons
Ian Cunningham - Bears assistant GM
Josh Williams - 49ers director of scouting football

Miami Dolphins
Chad Alexander - Chargers assistant GM
Champ Kelly - Dolphins interim GM
Jon-Eric Sullivan - Packers VP of Player Personnel
Josh Williams - 49ers director of scouting football

The Dolphins acted fast as they found their new general manager: Jon-Eric Sullivan. 


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