Coaching Carousel: Matching a Top Candidate with Each of the NFL Vacancies

Mike Tomlin’s decision to step down as Pittsburgh Steelers coach and Sean McDermott's departure from the Buffalo Bills add rocket fuel to what was already one of the most intriguing head coach cycles in recent memory. A quarter of the NFL's 32 teams are now looking for a new head coach.

Tomlin has indicated he might want to take a break from coaching, while McDermott reportedly told his staff that he plans to continue. So, with John Harbaugh joining the Giants and Kevin Stefanski being hired by the Falcons, how will the rest of the head coach vacancy dominoes fall? 

Here are my choices for each of the eight current openings: 

Arizona Cardinals: Robert Saleh 

Quarterback Kyler Murray’s status is unclear, which could be a turn-off for a coveted veteran candidate like Saleh. As head coach of the Jets, he suffered through the Zach Wilson experience and had Aaron Rodgers for just five games before being fired. 

But the Cardinals have the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 draft and more than $20 million in cap space, which means Saleh could at least have a significant say in the team’s future quarterback.

The Cardinals also have some young pieces on defense that Saleh would love, including cornerback Will Johnson and defensive tackle Walter Nolen III. Arizona is uniquely familiar with Saleh’s work as well — as San Francisco’s defensive playcaller for five seasons (2017-20, 2025), he has posed challenges for the Cardinals' offense. 

Baltimore Ravens: Jesse Minter

After Tomlin's stepped down in Pittsburgh, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti was asked if the longtime Steelers coach would be a candidate to replace John Harbaugh.

"Holy s---, wouldn't that be awesome?" Bisciotti replied. 

All jokes aside, there's a natural fit for the Baltimore opening. The 42-year-old Minter is one of the league’s brightest defensive minds and would give a talented (and underachieving) Ravens defense a needed fresh voice. Before serving as the Chargers defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh, Minter spent four seasons as an assistant on John Harbaugh’s staff in Baltimore (2017-20), so there’s familiarity on both sides. 

Buffalo Bills: Kevin McCarthy

After pairing Josh Allen with a defensive coach for the first eight years of his career, the Bills could look to go for an offensive-minded leader. After all, the reigning MVP has struggled to get over the hump in the playoffs.

While the obvious candidate may be former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, don’t be surprised to see Buffalo nab a more experienced coach like McCarthy, a longtime offensive playcaller and head coach who has won a Super Bowl. 

The 62-year-old McCarthy has also coached future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers, so he knows how to manage a superstar quarterback like Allen.

Cleveland Browns: Mike McDaniel

Despite the quarterback concerns in Cleveland — featuring the trio of Deshaun Watson, Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel — there are very real reasons why this could be an attractive job for McDaniel. The competency on the defensive side of the ball would allow the former Dolphins coach to focus on offense, where he’s done his best work. 

Even if defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz leaves — the Browns reportedly would like to keep him in some capacity — there would be no shortage of candidates looking to be the new playcaller for Cleveland’s elite defense. 

McDaniel was the Browns' wide receivers coach in 2014, so he’s familiar with the organization. He was among the first head coach interviews that Cleveland announced. 

[Coaching Carousel: Ranking the Remaining 8 NFL Head Coach Vacancies]

Las Vegas Raiders: Sean McDermott

The recently fired McDermott has a connection to Raiders general manager John Spytek. The two overlapped with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2005-09 — McDermott as a defensive assistant, Spytek as a young scout.

Reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen became one of the league’s great quarterbacks under McDermott, so that should be appealing for Las Vegas, which is expected to use the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. 

And armed with $82.4 million in cap space, second-most in the NFL, the Raiders should be appealing to McDermott as well. He’ll have an opportunity to build the team in his image. The 51-year-old's track record should give the franchise confidence that he can build a perennial playoff contender.

Miami Dolphins: Jeff Hafley 

Many league observers have penciled in Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula here, considering he’s the grandson of Dolphins legendary coach Don Shula. But Packers DC Hafley would make a lot of sense. 

Miami’s new general manager, Jon-Eric Sullivan, spent the past two seasons with Hafley in Green Bay. And Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis, who’s set to hit free agency this offseason, is an option to succeed Tua Tagovailoa as QB1. Hafley’s arrival could make that more likely. 

With head coach experience — albeit at the college level (Boston College) — and a commanding aura, Hafley would also represent the kind of CEO personality that the Dolphins didn’t have with Mike McDaniel. 

Pittsburgh Steelers: Chris Shula

Since 1969, the Steelers have had just three head coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. All three were ascending, under-40 defensive minds when hired by Pittsburgh. 

Shula fits that trend — he turns 40 next month — and he could bring one of the Rams’ rising coaches with him to be the offensive playcaller. Nate Scheelhaase, L.A.'s 35-year-old pass game coordinator, is garnering head coach interest this cycle. 

Pittsburgh has an older roster to sort through, including the Aaron Rodgers question at quarterback, but Shula would benefit from a stable organization such as the Steelers. They are in good shape salary-cap wise ($39M, 10th in the NFL) and are projected to have five picks in the first three rounds of the 2026 draft.

Tennessee Titans: Matt Nagy 

The Chiefs offensive coordinator is close with Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi from their time together in Kansas City, and Nagy's experience as a head coach in one of the league’s toughest markets should be appealing to the Titans. From 2018-21, Nagy had a 34-31 record as the Chicago Bears' head coach. 

Plus, Nagy’s offensive background and experience with Patrick Mahomes would be a major bonus for Cam Ward, whose development should be priority No. 1 in Tennessee. 

Ben Arthur is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports. He previously worked for The Tennessean/USA TODAY Network, where he was the Titans beat writer for a year and a half. He covered the Seattle Seahawks for SeattlePI.com for three seasons (2018-20) prior to moving to Tennessee. You can follow Ben on Twitter at @benyarthur.

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