NFL Trade Rumors
We’re only about five weeks out from Black Monday, the day after the regular season ends when we usually see the bulk of the season’s firings come through. Mid-season firings are relatively rare compared to those that occur after the season concludes.
So far, there are two openings already available: the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. More are sure to come, but this does have the feel of a potentially quieter hiring cycle. A lot of the struggling coaches are first-year guys who typically have longer leashes. Others are established players in the coaching world who are in the midst of down years.
Another reason it might be a quieter cycle is there isn’t a great crop of candidates this year. Short of one of those established coaches shaking loose by the end of the year, there are only two coaches I feel confident in as great candidates for any of these head coaching openings.
Below, I’ve broken the top 21 candidates into five tiers. Each candidate is ranked within each tier, along with some history and an explanation for why I have them ranked there. Let’s take a look:
Shula (yes, he’s related to legendary Dolphins HC Don Shula) was a linebacker in college at Miami Ohio and got his start as a coach in the NFL back in 2015, when he was hired by the Chargers as a defensive quality control coach. The Rams hired him as their assistant linebackers coach in 2017 and he’s worked his way up through the organization ever since, eventually earning a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2024.
Since Shula took over last season, the Rams have had one of the best defenses in the league. Specifically in 2025, Shula’s unit is arguably the top defense in the NFL, ranking in the top 3 in almost every major defensive metric. This is despite having the league’s cheapest defense — truly a testament to Shula’s coaching prowess. Los Angeles has serious young talent on the defensive line, but Shula has turned a makeshift secondary into the league’s top-graded coverage unit, per PFF.
Shula is one of Rams HC Sean McVay’s personal favorites and he’s been preparing his prodigy to one day take over a head coaching gig. At 39, Shula is young and a rising star in the coaching world. The Rams may be playing longer into the postseason than teams want to wait, but expect Shula to get a lot of interviews this cycle and to be one of the hottest names available until he decides to make the jump.
A Colorado State safety back in his playing days and the son of longtime Texans and Broncos HC Gary Kubiak, Klint bounced between Texas A&M, the Vikings and Kansas early in his coaching career before returning to the NFL as an offensive assistant in Denver in 2016. He reunited with the Vikings...
