{"id":120010,"date":"2026-02-02T13:15:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/?p=120010"},"modified":"2026-02-19T10:49:45","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:49:45","slug":"nfl-coaching-changes-firings-hirings-rumors-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/analysis\/nfl-coaching-changes-firings-hirings-rumors-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Coaching Changes: Firings, Hirings &#038; Rumors Tracker"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 NFL coaching carousel is in full motion.<\/p>\n<p>As teams evaluate their leadership following another season, head coaches and general managers across the league face uncertain futures.<\/p>\n<p>This comprehensive tracker provides real-time updates on every NFL coaching change, from the first firings of Black Monday through the final hirings of the offseason.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you're following your favorite team's search for new leadership or tracking which coordinators are getting interviews, this is your central hub for all coaching movement across the league.<\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#2026_NFL_Head_Coach_Firings\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">1<\/span> 2026 NFL Head Coach Firings<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2026_NFL_General_Manager_Firings\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">2<\/span> 2026 NFL General Manager Firings<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2026_Coaching_Hires\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">3<\/span> 2026 Coaching Hires<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2026_General_Manager_Hires\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">4<\/span> 2026 General Manager Hires<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Minnesota_Vikings_GM_Candidates\"><span class=\"toc_number toc_depth_1\">5<\/span> Minnesota Vikings GM Candidates<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\t<div class='sfa-image-adds' style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\">\n\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/newsletter\/'>\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sharp-Football-Analysis-Newsletter-Ad.jpg\" class=\"attachment-size-full size-size-full\" alt=\"Sharp Football Analysis Newsletter\" \/>\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><span id=\"2026_NFL_Head_Coach_Firings\">2026 NFL Head Coach Firings<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bills: Sean McDermott (98-50 over nine seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Browns: Kevin Stefanski (45-56 over six seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Cardinals: Jonathan Gannon (15-36 over three seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Dolphins: Mike McDaniel (35-33 over four seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Falcons: Raheem Morris (16-18 over two seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Giants: Brian Daboll (20-40-1 over four seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Raiders: Pete Carroll (3-14 over one season)<\/li>\n<li>Ravens: John Harbaugh (180-113 over 18 seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Steelers: Mike Tomlin (193-114-2 over 19 seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Titans: Brian Callahan (4-19 over two seasons)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"2026_NFL_General_Manager_Firings\">2026 NFL General Manager Firings<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Dolphins: Chris Grier (82-82 over 10 seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Falcons: Terry Fontenot (37-48 over five seasons)<\/li>\n<li>Vikings: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (43-25 over four seasons)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"2026_Coaching_Hires\">2026 Coaching Hires<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Bills: Joe Brady<\/li>\n<li>Browns: Todd Monken<\/li>\n<li>Cardinals: Mike LaFleur<\/li>\n<li>Dolphins: Jeff Hafley<\/li>\n<li>Falcons: Kevin Stefanski<\/li>\n<li>Giants: John Harbaugh<\/li>\n<li>Raiders: Klint Kubiak<\/li>\n<li>Ravens: Jesse Minter<\/li>\n<li>Steelers: Mike McCarthy<\/li>\n<li>Titans: Robert Saleh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Buffalo Bills Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Joe Brady<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Despite a public and somewhat nasty divorce with <strong>Sean McDermott<\/strong>, the Bills decided to keep things in-house for their next coach hire, promoting former OC <strong>Joe<\/strong> <strong>Brady<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>To be fair, Brady was a hot coaching candidate during this cycle, getting interviews for several open positions.<\/p>\n<p>Keeping Brady will keep things consistent on the offensive side of the ball, a unit that has been elite for the vast majority of Brady's time in charge.<\/p>\n<p>Even so, Buffalo has to find answers at receiver to help All-World quarterback <strong>Josh<\/strong> <strong>Allen<\/strong>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/analysis\/bills-fire-sean-mcdermott-defense-josh-allen-playoffs\/\">they have to find a way to be better on defense when the games matter the most<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Cleveland Browns Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Todd Monken<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After acing the essay portion of the exam, <strong>Todd Monken\u00a0<\/strong>is set to take over as the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns.<\/p>\n<p>This will be Monken's first head coaching job at the NFL level, but he did lead Southern Miss in the college ranks from 2013 to 2015.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, he served as the offensive coordinator for the Ravens, and he previously ran the offense for Cleveland back in 2019.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jim Schwartz<\/strong>, who was also a candidate for the head job, was expected to stay on as the defensive coordinator, which reportedly was one of the reasons the Browns had trouble filling the head coach position.<\/p>\n<p>After Monken was added, however, there were reports that Schwartz was upset by the decision and could move on.<\/p>\n<p>That ultimately happened, with Schwartz resigning during Super Bowl week.<\/p>\n<h3>Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Mike LaFleur<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With <strong>Klint Kubiak<\/strong> picking the Raiders, there was little surprise when the Cardinals announced <strong>Mike LaFleur\u00a0<\/strong>as their next head coach.<\/p>\n<p>The brother of Matt, the head coach of the Packers, LaFleur has five seasons of coordinating experience in the NFL, most recently over the last three years with the Rams.<\/p>\n<p>He also worked for the 49ers from 2017 to 2020, giving him experience under both <strong>Kyle<\/strong> <strong>Shanahan<\/strong> and <strong>Sean<\/strong> <strong>McVay<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In Arizona, LaFleur will look to rebuild an offense that is likely to move on from <strong>Kyler<\/strong> <strong>Murray<\/strong> this offseason, which could produce some early struggles.<\/p>\n<h3>Miami Dolphins Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Jeff Hafley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Heavily linked with the Dolphins throughout January, it was not a surprise when the team named former Packers DC <strong>Jeff Hafley\u00a0<\/strong>their next head coach on January 19.<\/p>\n<p>Hafley spent two years as the coordinator in Green Bay, leading a top-10 defense in both campaigns.<\/p>\n<p>Before that, he was the head coach at Boston College, where he compiled a 22-26 record over four seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Hafley has serious work to do on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the secondary, but the No. 1 priority for him and new GM <strong>Jon-Eric Sullivan<\/strong> will be resolving the quarterback situation and the future of <strong>Tua Tagovailoa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Kevin Stefanski<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After hiring <strong>Matt Ryan<\/strong> as their new president of football, the Falcons made their next major move by adding <strong>Kevin Stefanski<\/strong> as their next head coach.<\/p>\n<p>Stefanski spent six seasons as the Browns head coach before being let go after this season.<\/p>\n<p>He compiled a 45-56 record, but he did lead the organization to two playoff appearances and was twice Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>The quarterback situation in Cleveland was a constant issue during Stefanski's run, and he could be looking at a similar situation early on in Atlanta.<\/p>\n<h3>New York Giants Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>John Harbaugh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Giants were reportedly &#8220;all in&#8221; on landing <strong>John<\/strong> <strong>Harbaugh<\/strong> after he was let go by the Ravens, and that gamble paid off.<\/p>\n<p>New York signed Harbaugh to a five-year deal to replace <strong>Brian<\/strong> <strong>Daboll<\/strong>, who was fired during the season.<\/p>\n<p>Harbaugh could bring ex-Ravens OC Todd Monken with him to New York, although Monken does have other options.<\/p>\n<p>Getting that offensive coordinator hire right will be important as the new regime looks to build on the success <strong>Jaxson Dart <\/strong>had during his rookie season.<\/p>\n<p>The Giants also have some building blocks on defense, and they own the No. 5 overall pick in the upcoming draft.<\/p>\n<h3>Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Klint Kubiak<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There was a lot of competition for Seahawks OC <strong>Klint Kubiak\u00a0<\/strong>in this coaching cycle, with both the Cardinals and Raiders reportedly waiting on him to make a decision.<\/p>\n<p>He did that the Sunday before the Super Bowl, hitching his wagon to the Raiders and likely No. 1 overall pick <strong>Fernando Mendoza<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The son of Super Bowl-winning coach <strong>Gary Kubiak<\/strong>, Klint has three years of coordinating experience in the NFL, though he never spent more than a year with any of those teams.<\/p>\n<p>He did lead a shockingly explosive passing attack in New Orleans in 2024 before injuries derailed their season, and he helped <strong>Sam Darnold\u00a0<\/strong>orchestrate a Super Bowl-caliber offense in Seattle.<\/p>\n<p>The Raiders will hope he can bring that same kind of success to a Las Vegas roster that has premier young talent at running back and tight end.<\/p>\n<h3>Baltimore Ravens Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Jesse Minter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Ravens moved on from <strong>John Harbaugh <\/strong>after the season, but they did not venture too far from the family tree to find his replacement.<\/p>\n<p>New coach <strong>Jesse<\/strong> <strong>Minter <\/strong>spent four years with the organization as a defensive assistant in the late 2010s, and he has worked with John's brother <strong>Jim<\/strong> <strong>Harbaugh\u00a0<\/strong>for the last four seasons with both Michigan and the Chargers.<\/p>\n<p>Minter has led quality defenses during his time as a coordinator under Jim, but it will be interesting to see what direction he heads at offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>Former Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury has already been linked to the job.<\/p>\n<h3>Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Mike McCarthy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Steelers were the sixth team to find a new head coach this cycle, hiring former Cowboys and Packers HC <strong>Mike McCarthy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The Packers part of that equation could be important as the Steelers hope to get <strong>Aaron<\/strong> <strong>Rodgers<\/strong> back for one more season.<\/p>\n<p>That pair spent 13 seasons together in Green Bay, winning a Super Bowl in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>Even if McCarthy can get Rodgers back for one more season, the Steelers still face long-term questions at the quarterback position, something that has been true since before <strong>Ben Roethlisberger<\/strong> retired.<\/p>\n<p>For McCarthy to take the Steelers from a consistently good team to a team that legitimately competes for a Super Bowl, the Steelers have to find a long-term answer at quarterback.<\/p>\n<h3>Tennessee Titans Head Coach Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Robert Saleh<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The 49ers had a rough loss to the Seahawks in the Divisional Round, but <strong>Robert Saleh<\/strong> bounced back quickly, being named the Titans head coach on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Saleh's defense in San Francisco did not look good on paper, but the unit dealt with injuries to nearly every important starter throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>Saleh also did not have a good run as the head coach in New York, posting a 20-36 record with the Jets, but the quarterback position held back some excellent defensive units.<\/p>\n<p>The Titans will hope they already have the quarterback situation sorted with <strong>Cam<\/strong> <strong>Ward<\/strong>, and Saleh will already have some talented pieces to work with on defense.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"2026_General_Manager_Hires\">2026 General Manager Hires<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Dolphins: Jon-Eric Sullivan<\/li>\n<li>Falcons: Ian Cunningham<\/li>\n<li>Vikings: Vacant<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Miami Dolphins GM Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Jon-Eric Sullivan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Miami quickly moved through their general manager search, settling on former Packers executive <strong>Jon-Eric Sullivan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan started with the Packers in 2003, working up from a scouting intern to the vice president of player personnel.<\/p>\n<p>Sullivan's first order of business will be finding a new coach after the Dolphins moved on from <strong>Mike McDaniel<\/strong> late this week, but he also has serious questions to answer throughout the roster, most notably the future of <strong>Tua Tagovailoa<\/strong> and <strong>Tyreek<\/strong> <strong>Hill<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3>Atlanta Falcons GM Hire<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Ian Cunningham<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Originally brought in as a candidate for the president of football position filled by <strong>Matt<\/strong> <strong>Ryan<\/strong>, the Falcons brought in <strong>Ian Cunningham<\/strong> as their next general manager.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham completes Atlanta's complete organizational rebuild, joining Ryan and new coach Kevin Stefanski in the new Falcons braintrust.<\/p>\n<p>Cunningham started his front office career with the Ravens in 2008, spent time with the Eagles, and eventually was hired as the assistant GM for the Bears in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>Moving forward, the trio of Cunningham, Stefanski, and Ryan needs to decide if <strong>Michael<\/strong> <strong>Penix\u00a0<\/strong>is their future at quarterback and, if not, how to settle that position moving forward.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Minnesota_Vikings_GM_Candidates\">Minnesota Vikings GM Candidates<\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>TBD<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There had been rumors of some internal dysfunction in Minnesota, but it was still shocking when news dropped of the Vikings firing <strong>Kwesi Adofo-Mensah<\/strong> in late January.<\/p>\n<p>Adofo-Mensah had overseen four seasons of monstly winning football, though some of the biggest decisions during his tenure have not gone as well.<\/p>\n<p>More recently, the decision to draft <strong>J.J. McCarthy<\/strong> followed by the decision not to retain <strong>Sam<\/strong> <strong>Darnold<\/strong> after his breakout season &#8212; or <strong>Daniel<\/strong> <strong>Jones<\/strong>, for that matter &#8212; look like mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>Team owner Mark Wilf downplayed internal strife when talking to the media on Friday, suggesting the decision had more to do with the on-field product.<\/p>\n<p>EVP of football operations <strong>Rob Brzezinski\u00a0<\/strong>will oversee Minnesota's 2026 NFL Draft, with Wilf saying the team will search for a new general manager after the draft, though he left open the possibility of Brzezinski staying on as the full time general manager.<\/p>\n\t<div class='sfa-image-adds' style=\"margin-bottom: 20px;\">\n\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/newsletter\/'>\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Sharp-Football-Analysis-Newsletter-Ad.jpg\" class=\"attachment-size-full size-size-full\" alt=\"Sharp Football Analysis Newsletter\" \/>\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 NFL coaching carousel is in full motion. As  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51234,"featured_media":120168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"2026 NFL Coaching Changes: Firings, Hirings & Rumors Tracker","_seopress_titles_desc":"Live tracker of 2026 NFL head coach and GM firings, hirings, and interview rumors. Breaking updates on all coaching carousel moves across the league.","_seopress_robots_index":"","mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-120010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-articles"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls":{"medium":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-300x200.jpg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-150x150.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-768x512.jpg","custom-size":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-694x683.jpg","custom-size-content":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-300x300.jpg","podcast-custom-size":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-350x350.jpg","homecustom-size-content":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-500x500.jpg","viz-thumb":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-255x140.jpg","amp-wp-small":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-100x100.jpg","amp-wp-large":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-738x430.jpg","amp-wp-normal":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-230x160.jpg","blog-large":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-669x272.jpg","blog-medium":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-320x202.jpg","recent-posts":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Harbaugh-Offseason-2026-700x441.jpg"},"appp_media":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51234"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120010"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120010\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121699,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120010\/revisions\/121699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharpfootballanalysis.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}