Music City Miracles
The Tennessee Titans have identified 19 head coaching candidates. They’ve formally requested (or completed) interviews with 18 candidates, and their planned in-person interview with John Harbaugh makes 19. Mike Borgonzi has casted the widest net among the nine teams with a head coaching vacancy this cycle.
We previously ranked the Titans’ candidates 1-13. Six more have emerged since then. We’ve completed a new Big Board featuring all 19 options, ranked from best to worse.
John Harbaugh should be the Titans’ primary focus. Hopefully he departs his meeting with the New York Giants without an agreement to become their next head coach. If so, the expectation is Harbaugh will have in-person interviews with the Titans and Atlanta Falcons.
Robert Saleh is among the top retread candidates. The Titans’ interview with him is scheduled for Sunday, one day after the NFC Divisional Round. Saleh’s tenure with the New York Jets was doomed by bad ownership and letting Aaron Rodgers take control of coaching and player personnel.
Mike McDaniel’s in-person interview with the Titans occurred on Wednesday. There are legitimate questions about the overall toughness of his teams, and his ability to be a culture builder, but he possesses one of the most brilliant minds in football. Would Cam Ward develop into an MVP candidate under McDaniel?
Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula is a popular candidate. Shula is expected to interview for at least six openings. The Steelers might make seven. He’s among the most popular first-time candidates in the NFL.
Chargers DC Jesse Minter is quite literally the most popular head coaching candidate in the league. He’s been requested by eight different teams, and assuming the Steelers request him too, he’ll be the only candidate to discuss all nine openings. The NFL is infatuated with Minter for a reason.
Mike McCarthy has ties to president Chad Brinker after working together in Green Bay for a decade. McCarthy has won a Super Bowl, developed two young quarterbacks in Dak Prescott and Aaron Rodgers, and has a 60.8% career win percentage. He’s a quality retread candidate.
Jeff Hafley is the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator. He checks Borgonzi’s boxes in the sense he possesses previous head coaching experience at Boston College, and is a long-time play caller. Packers fans love Hafley and would hate to see him depart.
The Titans had an in-person interview with Kevin Stefanski over the weekend. The two-time Head Coach of the Year winner possesses a brilliant offensive mind. A few Browns players have questioned his leadership ability since his firing, but he’d be a great asset to develop Cam Ward.
Since the Titans requested an interview with Matt Nagy, he’s become a candidate for multiple other vacancies. That wasn’t an expected development, since most Titans fans were chalking up his candidacy to his relationship with Borgonzi.
Kliff Kingsbury helped...
