Inside The Star
We are one day into a three-day Wild Card Weekend, and Saturday’s slate both lived up to the hype and created even more questions within the NFL coaching carousel.
Right now, the league has eight head coach openings, with the most recent being the Miami Dolphins after their surprise firing of Mike McDaniel. That one came after the even bigger surprise of the Baltimore Ravens moving on from John Harbaugh.
Nobody has been hired yet, and, as it turns out, we may not even be done with the firings.
The Green Bay Packers’ historic collapse against the Chicago Bears has opened the door to non-stop questions regarding Head Coach Matt LaFleur’s future with the team. He only has one year left on his deal, and playoff chokes have become a trend, despite his dominant regular-season record.
In short, the questions with this coaching carousel are endless, and with no news yet, all we can do is speculate. Here, I’ll give you three bold predictions for how this will all shake out in the weeks to come.
This situation is far too reminiscent of the Harbaugh firing to ignore. Respected head coach with countless wins, but massive big-game struggles, gets canned in an attempt to start fresh on both sides.
That is the Packers-LaFleur situation to a tee. Nobody can question his ability, but it just reeks of both sides needing to part ways; it isn’t working when it matters most.
In that scenario, I think Green Bay opts to promote Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hafley, who is receiving major head coaching interest around the league, while LaFleur would land back in Atlanta with his old quarterback.
Matt Ryan, alongside Kyle Shanahan and LaFleur, went to the Super Bowl in 2016. Now, he’s the president of football for the team, and his past connection with LaFleur and the free agency of the Packers’ impressive backup, Malik Willis, could prove to be an incredibly attractive job for LaFleur.
The Dolphins are hitting the reset button, and understandably so.
Their trio of former GM Chris Grier, McDaniel, and Tua Tagovailoa has failed, and now, two out of the three are gone, with the former Alabama star seemingly soon to join.
Asked if he is hoping for a “fresh start,” Miami Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa said, “That would be dope. I would be good with it.”
— Joe Schad (@schadjoe) January 5, 2026
With a new general manager at the helm, and the fan base as down as ever, I see Miami giving the “Dol-fans” a jump start by hiring the grandson of a franchise legend.
Don Shula’s name still carries enormous weight in the building and area, and the impressive young Rams DC brings that legacy and a creative defensive scheme with him. This is too good an opportunity to pass up for an organization in peril.
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