Talk about NFL head coach openings: rumors, candidates, and interviews

Talk about NFL head coach openings: rumors, candidates, and interviews

Five jobs as an NFL coach were recently filled, but a trio more are still open as we get ready for the league championship games.

Then, on Wednesday night, the Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh, who used to coach at Michigan. The Falcons, Seahawks, and Commanders are the only ones left.

For starters, the Patriots hired Jerod Mayo to replace Bill Belichick. Next, the Raiders made Antonio Pierce their full-time coach after promoting him from interim duty. Finally, the Titans hired Brian Callahan to take over for Mike Vrabel.

Jeremy Fowler along with Dan Graziano, two NFL insiders, jumped into those last few situations and called people around the league to get the latest information.

As you might expect, there is opposition from individuals within the construction site whose jobs could be damaged.

People who know a lot about this told me at the end of last week that the Falcons and Belichick should be able to work things out on either Monday or Tuesday this week.

It’s clear that didn’t happen. But today, Wednesday night, I think that Belichick going to the Falcons is still a possibility, and maybe even the more likely one.

But there are some problems to solve before it’s possible to see how the organization would work under Belichick.

Rich McKay has been president of the Falcons for a long time. He is a very powerful person in that group and is trusted by team proprietor Arthur Blank.

Belichick would likely make him less important if he came to town, and it’s also thought that Belichick would hire a lot of his staff members for jobs all over the organization.

As the Falcons or Belichick keep up the talk, Atlanta is also interviewing a lot of other people. That’s one less because Jim Harbaugh is going to the Chargers. If Blank wanted a big name, Belichick was the only one left.

Bobby Slowik, who is in charge of offense for Houston, is supposed to be there Thursday. Wednesday was Mike Vrabel’s first interview as a coach, and Ejiro Evero, the defensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers, had his second.

Early next week, the Falcons are considering sending a group to Detroit to meet with Lions coaches Ben Johnson as well as Aaron Glenn in person. But one thing will be sure: Atlanta will do their research before hiring this person.

Most fans think this idea seems a little strange at first. If not the best head coach in football history, Bill Belichick ranks as one of the best. He has a lot of awards, more than any other coach. Why didn’t Atlanta hire him the moment they had the chance?

It’s not that simple, though. They might look at other choices that work better for their system. They might want someone who is more likely to be their coach for the next five and ten years, which is something that Belichick can’t promise.

We know that no fewer than two organizations will begin interviewing teachers for their top jobs by the end of the year.

The Colts or Panthers are currently hiring interim coaches. Jeff Saturday as well as Steve Wilks cannot simply be given permanent jobs with their teams, so there needs to be an interview process in both Indianapolis and Carolina.

In other news, it looks like the Denver Broncos will open at the end of the year. There is a chance that the Arizona Cardinals, the New Orleans Saints, and the Houston Texans will also be looking for fresh head coaches. There’s also always the chance of being fired or retiring without warning.

Here is a list of coaches I think will (or should) get head coaching interviews this cycle. I’ve highlighted 10 of the most impressive names, but the list is not in any particular order.

Remember that teams rarely hire a coach from a team that just finished a losing season. This is true for both this list and the GM list that will come out next week.

That’s silly, because teams can have great coaches and still lose for a lot of different reasons. There will be a lot of names appearing on the lists of people on teams right now.500.