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Giants To Hire Dennard Wilson As DC

By | at January 25, 2026 3:43 pm

John Harbaugh‘s Giants staff had a number of vacancies entering the weekend. One of the most important positions is now being filled, though.

Dennard Wilson is set to join New York as the team’s new defensive coordinator, as first reported by Mike Garafolo, Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. Wilson has worked with Harbaugh in the past. It thus came as no surprise when he was confirmed earlier today as a finalist for the gig.

The Athletic’s Ian O’Connor named Wilson as a finalist for the Giants on Sunday afternoon. The was also true of Broncos defensive backs coach Jim Leonhard and Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. In the end, Wilson has lined up a new opportunity shortly after it was confirmed he would not return to the Titans in 2026.

Tennessee’s head coaching search resulted in Robert Saleh being hired. Neither Wilson nor Nick Holz was retained, leaving both coordinators on the lookout for a new opportunity. Wilson interviewed with the Chargers and Commanders for their DC vacancies. Interestingly, he had not yet taken part in an interview with the Giants entering Sunday. Nevertheless, Wilson represents a familiar face for Harbaugh given their previous time together.

In 2023, Wilson worked under Harbaugh as the Ravens’ defensive backs coach. He joined Baltimore’s staff after a two-year Eagles tenure which helped his coordinator stock. In 2024, Brian Callahan hired Wilson, 43, to take on DC duties with the Titans. Scoring totals were an issue during both of Wilson’s two Tennessee campaigns, although the team ranked No. 2 in yards allowed during his first year in place.

The Giants will obviously look for a repeat of that showing from Wilson. Shane Bowen was fired by Brian Daboll during the 2025 campaign shortly before his own dismissal. The defensive coordinator spot has faced uncertainty since, but once the team’s full-throttle efforts to hire Harbaugh succeeded it became clear several ex-Ravens staffers would receive consideration for numerous positions. Wilson fits the bill, although his work as an NFL coach dates back to 2012 and largely includes work outside of Baltimore.

The Giants struggled in several defensive categories despite their free agent investments in the secondary last spring and other moves such as the selection of edge rusher Abdul Carter third overall in the draft. Carter improved late in the year, but further development in his case and many others will be needed if New York is to meet Harbaugh’s stated goal of reaching the playoffs during his first season at the helm. Wilson will be tasked with overseeing the team’s defense for at least that initial campaign.

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Commanders To Conduct DC Interview With Daronte Jones

By | at January 25, 2026 3:26 pm

Daronte Jones has been among the the most sought-after defensive coordinator candidates in this year’s cycle. The current Vikings defensive pass-game coordinator is now on the radar of another DC-needy team.

Jones will interview with the Commanders today for their D-coordinator position, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. That makes Washington the fifth team to arrange an interview in this case. It also expands the list of Commanders candidates even further.

Joe Whitt was stripped of play-calling duties midway through the 2025 season. After head coach Dan Quinn made that decision, there was a widespread expectation a parting of ways would take place after the campaign ended. Whitt was indeed dismissed earlier this month.

The Commanders also elected to move from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, and they looked internally by promoting David Blough to the position. An in-house move should not be expected regarding Whitt’s replacement, with only outside candidates receiving a look up to this point. Jones, 47, is the second Vikings staffer to interview with Washington, after Brian Flores met with the Commanders two weeks ago.

Jones – who was born in Capitol Heights, Maryland – has been with the Vikings for a total of five seasons across two spells with the team. He has worked in his current capacity for each of the three years Flores has been with Minnesota. It appears as though Flores will continue his D-coordinator gig for at least one more season, and if that winds up being confirmed Jones would of course be a strong candidate to be retained. The door is clearly still open to Jones receiving a coordinator opportunity, though.

Here is an updated look at where things stand regarding the Commanders’ search:

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Bills Conduct HC Interview With Philip Rivers

By | at January 25, 2026 3:03 pm

JANUARY 25: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport notes (video link) Rivers’ interview went well. He adds a head coaching hire – unorthodox as it would be – is under “serious consideration” by the Bills at this time. Buffalo’s decision on this front will be among the league’s top storylines over the coming days.

JANUARY 23: The list of Bills targets for their head coaching vacancy continues to grow. One of the more interesting names on the market will now receive a look.

Philip Rivers is set to interview with Buffalo today, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The eight-time Pro Bowler briefly resumed his playing career down the stretch, making three starts for the Colts after Daniel Jones was lost to an Achilles tear. Rivers later confirmed he would not play again.

[RELATED: Bills To Interview Mike McDaniel For HC Job]

The door is open to a coaching career, however. Prior to the 2026 head coaching hiring cycle beginning, Rivers was named as a wild-card candidate to watch. As of earlier this month, he had yet to receive an interest from around the NFL. With the Bills in the midst of their search, though, at least one interview will now take place.

Before he un-retired, Rivers had been coaching his eldest son’s high school team. The 44-year-old has stated a desire to return to that role for 2026 in the absence of an NFL opportunity. Rivers’ football acumen and leadership were sources of praise throughout his decorated career, making him a logical candidate for a coaching role of some kind.

On the other hand, Rivers has never worked as a head coach, coordinator or position coach at the pro or college levels. That lack of experience would make a jump directly to the HC ranks in the NFL a risky one to say the least. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see if a mutual interest exists between the parties once this in-person interview concludes.

Sean McDermott was fired following Buffalo’s latest postseason loss. Owner Terry Pegula‘s actions and remarks since then have made it clear general manager Brandon Beane won out in a power struggle of sorts with respect to disagreements over roster construction; Beane was promoted to president of football operations earlier this week. Quarterback Josh Allen will be present for Buffalo’s upcoming interviews, and he is in position to have a “significant say” in the team’s eventual hire. It will be interesting to see how Allen feels about the possibility of Rivers (who played 17 full NFL seasons, including 16 with the Chargers) stepping into a head coaching role immediately after hanging up his cleats.

Here is an updated look at where things stand for the Bills:

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Packers To Hire Jonathan Gannon As DC

By | at January 25, 2026 2:20 pm

The Packers recently lost defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley when he took the Dolphins’ head coaching position. The search for his replacement has come to an end.

Green Bay is hiring Jonathan Gannon to fill the DC position, as first reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The former Cardinals head coach has thus managed to find a new opportunity not long after his Arizona firing. Gannon was one of three candidates known to have interviewed with the Packers.

Interest in multiple D-coordinator openings was present in Gannon’s case. The Commanders interviewed him once, while the Cowboys conducted a follow-up with him last week. Gannon was also among the candidates who spoke with the Titans about their head coaching position, but a return to the DC ranks has long been expected in this case. Both the Chargers and Giants were interested in Gannon, ESPN’s Rob Demovsky reports. Green Bay moving quickly with this hire may have been a reaction to the threat of other DC offers being made shortly.

Gannon spent three seasons leading the Cardinals. Hired alongside general manager Monti Ossenfort to oversee a rebuilding effort, Arizona went 4-13 during his first year on the sidelines. The team’s win total doubled in 2024; that encouraging campaign saw the Cardinals in contention for a playoff berth for much of the season. A poor showing after the bye produced only a pair of wins down the stretch, however.

Expectations were high for Gannon’s team to at least match its success from the prior year entering 2025. Things did not go according to plan, however. Following a 2-0 start, the Cardinals lost five consecutive one-score games. A win coming out of the bye seemed to offer the potential for a turnaround, but as injuries across the roster piled up Arizona ended the year on a nine-game losing streak. Leading up to ‘Black Monday,’ it increasingly appeared as though Ossenfort would be safe while Gannon would be dismissed. That was indeed the path ownership took.

Prior to his Cardinals tenure, Gannon coordinated the Eagles’ defense for two years. Philadelphia ranked top 10 in yards allowed during the 2021 and ’22 seasons; the team improved from 18th to eighth in scoring defense under Gannon. With the Eagles reaching the Super Bowl during Gannon’s final year in Philadelphia, it came as little surprise when he received a head coaching opportunity. Expectations will no doubt be tempered if Gannon, 42, is to get another HC look in the future.

Upon returning to coordinator duties, however, Gannon could once again see quick success. Green Bay largely thrived on defense during Hafley’s two-year run leading the unit. Injuries midway through the 2025 campaign – highlighted of course by Micah Parsons‘ ACL tear – proved to be impactful, and the Packers struggled on defense through the end of the season and in the wild-card round. That did not stop Hafley from being among the top HC candidates during this year’s hiring cycle, and few were surprised when he followed Green Bay colleague Jon-Eric Sullivan to Miami.

Gannon had a lengthy track record of NFL coaching gigs prior to his Eagles coordinator opportunity. Much of that time was spent as a position coach working with defensive backs, and the secondary looms as a unit which could see considerable attention from the Packers this offseason. Gannon will be tasked with overseeing improvement on the back end in particular for Green Bay in 2026 as he takes charge of a defense for the second time in his career.

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Jets Considering Frank Reich For OC Gig

By | at January 25, 2026 1:41 pm

Although Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand survived head coach Aaron Glenn’s mass dismissal of a large swath of his first coaching staff – which includes the midseason firing of defensive coordinator Steve Wilks – a change in Engstrand’s roles and responsibilities was anticipated. Connor Hughes of SNY.tv confirms that Glenn will indeed strip Engstrand of his offensive play-calling duties and will likely hire a new play-caller.

One name that has been connected to the job (per Hughes) is Frank Reich, 64, who presently serves as a senior advisor for the Stanford football program (he was the school’s interim head coach in 2025). At the professional level, Reich most recently worked as the Panthers’ head coach.

His stint in Carolina was a forgettable one. He was hired in January 2023, but he did not make it through one season. With the Panthers having limped to a 1-10 record, and with then-rookie quarterback Bryce Young having struggled to quickly adapt to the NFL, Reich received his walking papers in November 2023.

That was the second consecutive year in which Reich suffered a midseason firing. He became the Colts’ head coach in 2018, and his first campaign on the job went fairly well. With Andrew Luck under center, Indianapolis posted a 10-6 mark and won its wildcard-round matchup with the Texans before falling to the Chiefs in the divisional round. Of course, Luck surprisingly announced his retirement shortly before the 2019 campaign got underway, and that set off a quarterback carousel from which the Colts are still trying to extricate themselves (although they hope Daniel Jones may be able to stop the spinning).

Reich and 39-year-old Philip Rivers did lead the Colts back to the playoffs in 2020, though the team was ousted by the Bills in that season’s wildcard round. Perhaps the biggest blemish of Reich’s Indianapolis tenure came in 2021, when his club was eliminated from playoff contention on the last day of the regular season by virtue of a stunning loss to the 2-14 Jaguars. After a 3-5-1 start to the 2022 slate, Reich was fired.

Following his Carolina dismissal the following year, Reich said he was unlikely to coach in the NFL again. It remains to be seen if he is even interested in the Jets’ opportunity, but it sounds as if Glenn is at least interested in exploring the possibility.

In Engstrand’s first season at the offensive controls, New York finished 29th in yards and points. Reich, who served as the Chargers’ OC from 2014-15 and the Eagles’ OC in 2016-17, would at least bring more experience to the job. His NFL coaching tenure dates back to 2008. Internal play-calling options will be considered by Glenn as he fills the offensive coordinator position, but Reich could emerge as an outside contender for the gig.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

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Former NFLPA Associate General Counsel Sues Union; NFL Filed Grievance Against Union

By | at January 25, 2026 1:08 pm

Heather McPhee, who had been the NFL Players Association’s associate general counsel since 2009, filed suit in December against the union, former executive director Lloyd Howell, NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso, and NFL Players, Inc. president Matt Curtin, per sports business reporter Daniel Kaplan and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (NFL Players, Inc. is the union’s licensing and marketing arm). The union had placed McPhee on administrative leave in August for alleged workplace “misconduct,” and she was fired on December 30, less than two weeks after she filed her lawsuit (via ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr.).

Kaplan subsequently reported that McPhee is seeking damages of $10MM and that the union had sought to seal her complaint. Florio obtained a copy of it and notes that it contains four counts: obstruction of justice; sex discrimination; intentional infliction of emotional distress; and breach of contract.

In a full-length piece for Front Office Sports, Kaplan says McPhee was originally placed on administrative leave after she cooperated with a Department of Justice investigation into the NFLPA’s relationship with OneTeam Partners, which is a venture between major sports unions to collectively sell group licensing rights (the DOJ probe also includes the Major League Baseball Players Association). The NFLPA has four of the OneTeam Partners’ nine board seats, and McPhee’s suit addresses the OneTeam Partners’ Senior Executive Incentive Plan, the goal of which was to compensate board members affiliated with the NFLPA.

Her complaint also addresses the confidentiality agreement between the league and the union regarding the NFLPA’s recent collusion-related grievance. Regular PFR readers will remember that agreement well.

In 2022, the same year the Browns authorized the now-infamous five-year, fully-guaranteed, $230MM contract for quarterback Deshaun Watson, the NFLPA filed a grievance against the league. The grievance alleged that league owners colluded in an effort to make the Watson deal an outlier rather than have it become a precedent for future fully-guaranteed contracts for the NFL’s best players.

In January 2025, the arbitrator who heard the grievance stopped short of ruling that league owners had colluded but did state that teams were urged to restrict guarantees in player contracts. Despite that finding, which Florio classifies as a “partial victory” for the NFLPA, the union and the league agreed to keep the arbitrator’s 61-page decision entirely confidential (it was not disclosed to players either).

The union entered into such an agreement at least in part because of text messages sent by J.C. Tretter to former NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, in which Tretter lampooned and belittled Russell Wilson for agreeing to a contract with the Broncos that was not fully-guaranteed. The league used those messages in support of its argument that no collusion took place, and Tretter – who had previously served as the NFLPA’s president and who was working as its chief strategy officer at the time – hoped to prevent them from being made public. Tretter was nonetheless considered a legitimate candidate to succeed Howell as the NFLPA’s executive director, though his role in the collusion matter and a separate grievance involving the league’s running backs – his prior remarks encouraging RBs to feign injury to improve their bargaining power helped the league win that case – triggered his July 2025 resignation.

It was only after veteran reporter Pablo Torre unearthed the arbitrator’s collusion ruling that the league elected to appeal the decision (the appeal is still pending). McPhee alleges that DePaso accused her of leaking the ruling, and that DePaso criticized her for “being emotional” when she questioned the timing of the appeal (via Florio). She goes on to say that the belated nature of the appeal harmed free agents seeking new contracts during the early stages of the 2025 league year, and she argues her placement on administrative leave was retaliatory.

While it is much too soon to speculate on the outcome of McPhee’s suit, it represents another potential black mark for the union, which has sustained a fair amount of them recently. The circumstances surrounding the Tretter and Howell resignations – Howell stepped down amid conflict-of-interest concerns and revelations of a sexual discrimination and retaliation suit that had been filed against him during his time at the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm, to say nothing of his role in the collision matter – do not cast the NFLPA in a positive light. Interim executive director David White and his potential successor will look to reverse that trend.

Meanwhile, Tretter is the subject of another grievance even though he is no longer affiliated with the NFLPA, as Albert Breer of SI.com details. Since 2023, the union has published “report cards” on each of the league’s 32 teams, which are designed to serve as something of an accountability check. After the union began publishing the report cards, the league sent three cease-and-desist letters to Tretter in an effort to make them stop. Those attempts were unsuccessful, and the NFL filed a grievance in August. 

The report cards do appear to be having a positive effect for players. As Breer observes, five owners received grades of “D -” or worse in the most recent poll, and two of those owners (the Cardinals’ Michael Bidwill and the Patriots’ Robert Kraft) have invested tens of millions of dollars in new practice facilities. A third such owner, the Steelers’ Art Rooney II, is renovating an existing facility.

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Steelers Hire Mike McCarthy As HC

By | at January 24, 2026 11:30 pm

The Steelers have found their successor to longtime head coach Mike Tomlin. The team plans to hire Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports. It’ll be McCarthy’s third head coaching opportunity in the NFL. A five-year deal has been agreed to, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette adds.

Known for remarkable organizational stability under the Rooney family, the Steelers have now hired just four head coaches since 1969. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Tomlin combined for 57 years on the job.

As an offensive-minded 62-year-old with significant HC experience, McCarthy brings a much different profile than the Noll-Cowher-Tomlin trio. The Steelers handed the keys to each of those coaches when they were in their 30s. They were all first-timers with defensive backgrounds. This is the first time the Steelers have hired a head coach with an offensive background since Bill Austin in 1966.

Noll, Cowher and Tomlin each won at least one Super Bowl in Pittsburgh, while McCarthy hoisted the Lombardi Trophy at the Steelers’ expense 15 years ago. Then the Packers’ head coach, McCarthy guided the team to a 31-25 win over the Tomlin-led Steelers in Super Bowl XLV. That remains the high point of McCarthy’s career, but he has enjoyed plenty of success over 18 years as a head coach. At 174-112-2, McCarthy sits 15th on the all-time wins list. His .608 winning percentage ranks 39th.

As Green Bay’s sideline leader from 2006-18, McCarthy posted a 125-77-2 regular-season record with nine playoff berths. He followed that up with a 49-35 mark and three playoff appearances in a half-decade in Dallas, where he was at the helm from 2020-24. McCarthy’s Cowboys went just 1-3 in the postseason, however, and they stumbled to a 7-10 mark during an injury-limited campaign for quarterback Dak Prescott last year. Owner Jerry Jones then allowed McCarthy’s contract to expire. While the Bears and Saints showed interest in McCarthy last January, he didn’t coach anywhere in 2025.

McCarthy will now grab the reins of yet another iconic franchise in Pittsburgh, which didn’t record a single sub-.500 season during Tomlin’s 19-year reign. Although the 53-year-old Tomlin won his eighth AFC North title and went to the playoffs for the 13th time this season, he resigned after the Texans routed the Steelers in the wild-card round. It was the seventh straight postseason loss for Tomlin, who won just eight of 20 playoff games in Pittsburgh. McCarthy owns an 11-11 record in the playoffs.

Tomlin spent the majority of his tenure teaming with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, but the Steelers have lacked stability under center over the past few years. Since Roethlisberger retired after 2021, Kenny Pickett, Mitchell Trubisky, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers have each started at least five games in a season. The team still managed its third straight 10-win showing in 2025, which could go down as the 42-year-old Rodgers’ only season in Pittsburgh.

Between his age and his status as a soon-to-be free agent, it’s unclear whether Rodgers will continue his career next season. However, the obvious connection to McCarthy may make it more likely.

Rodgers was McCarthy’s starter for almost all of the coach’s time in Green Bay. Along with winning the only Super Bowl of his career under McCarthy, Rodgers took home a pair of MVPs, among numerous other accomplishments.

Eight years after they last paired up, McCarthy and Rodgers could reunite in Pittsburgh. The Steelers didn’t hire McCarthy to keep Rodgers from retiring, but he may be the one coach the QB would consider playing for at this stage of his career, according to Pelissero.

Whether it’s Rodgers or someone else, finding an answer under center will be among the most important tasks of the offseason for McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan. There’s familiarity between McCarthy and Khan, who overlapped in New Orleans from 2000-01. McCarthy was the Saints’ offensive coordinator then, while Khan was in their football operations department.

As the Steelers’ GM since 2022, Khan has overseen four straight seasons of at least nine wins. The Steelers have made the postseason three years in a row, and replacing Tomlin with a coach who’s almost a decade older suggests they don’t intend to take a step back in 2026. That’s no surprise after owner Art Rooney II spoke out against a potential rebuild on the heels of Tomlin’s exit.

With the Steelers becoming the sixth team to hire a head coach this month, there are only four openings left. The Bills, Browns, Cardinals and Raiders are still in the market. McCarthy was not a candidate for any of those jobs, though he did interview with the Giants and Titans before they chose John Harbaugh and Robert Saleh, respectively.

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Mike McDaniel Withdraws From Bills’ HC Search

By | at January 24, 2026 11:23 pm

Mike McDaniel was scheduled to interview for the Bills’ head coaching vacancy on Friday, but he decided to withdraw from consideration before the two sides met, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

McDaniel, 42, has interviewed for several head coach and offensive coordinator jobs in the last few weeks. In backing out of his interview with the Bills, he has narrowed his options down to the Chargers and the Raiders. The Chargers are planning to hire McDaniel as their next offensive coordinator, unless the Raiders do not offer their head coaching job to him. McDaniel has only met with Las Vegas’ top brass once, but the interview did take place in person.

Early in the hiring cycle, McDaniel reportedly preferred an offensive coordinator opportunity with a stronger team rather than a head coaching job with a weaker one. After the Bills fired Sean McDermott, Buffalo immediately became one of the top destinations for potential head coaches, making it somewhat of a surprise that McDaniel backed out of the running. Perhaps he believed that the job would ultimately go to another candidate and preferred to focus his attention on his remaining suitors.

The Raiders, however, do not seem like a particularly desirable destination unless McDaniel is committed to a major rebuild of a roster that lacks many long-term pieces. Working with projected No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza – along with the rest of the team’s significant draft capital and future cap space – could be enticing, but the Raiders have been stuck in the mud for years. If McDaniel is looking to make his next head coaching opportunity stick, he might continue to wait out the market until the right job comes along in the next few offseason.

In the meantime, the Chargers’ OC gig is a solid opportunity for McDaniel to work with Justin Herbert, who has played under a revolving door of suboptimal offensive architects and play-callers in his career. McDaniel could finally allow Herbert to thrive within the Chargers’ offense rather than in spite of it.

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Arthur Smith Departing NFL For Ohio State OC Job

By | at January 24, 2026 11:20 pm

In the wake of the news of Mike McCarthy‘s agreement to become the next head coach of the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s incumbent offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has some plans of his own. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Smith is expected to be named the next offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

This marks a departure not only from Pittsburgh – as could be expected – but the NFL coaching ranks altogether. Smith received a head coaching interview request from the Cardinals as part of their ongoing search. He also spoke with the Titans before Robert Saleh was hired. Even in the absence of a second NFL HC opportunity, Smith loomed as an offensive coordinator candidate elsewhere in the league.

The 43-year-old interviewed with the Chargers and Titans for their respective OC vacancies. Tennessee’s remains open at this time, but instead of a potential return Smith will now spend at least one season at the college level. He is the latest veteran coach to join Ryan Day‘s Buckeyes staff.

Diana Russini of The Athletic notes Smith had been in contact with the Titans but also the Eagles. Philadelphia moved on from Kevin Patullo after the team’s wild-card loss in a decision which came as no surprise. The team does not have a replacement in place at this time, and Smith had not previously been linked to Philadelphia’s OC gig or any other positions under Nick Sirianni.

After a lengthy run on the Titans’ staff in a number of roles, Smith was promoted to offensive coordinator. He held that position for two years and parlayed his time leading Tennessee’s offense into a head coaching opportunity. Smith guided the Falcons for three seasons, posting a 7-10 record each year. Upon being fired, he immediately landed another OC gig by joining Mike Tomlin and the Steelers in 2024.

Pittsburgh posted similar numbers on offense this season with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback as the team did with a combination of Russell Wilson and Justin Fields under center. Once Tomlin stepped aside, the door was opened to widespread staff changes during this year’s hiring cycle. Smith’s departure confirms the Steelers will be among the teams hiring a new offensive coordinator in the near future. He handled play-calling duties during his Pittsburgh tenure, but it would come as no surprise if McCarthy did so upon arrival.

Adam La Rose contributed to this post.

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Raheem Morris, Anthony Campanile, Mike LaFleur Leading Candidates For Cardinals’ HC Position?

By | at January 24, 2026 11:10 pm

The Cardinals are one of four teams which still have a head coaching vacancy. A hire could be coming soon, though, with a trio of top candidates in place.

According to Dianna Russini of The Athletic, Arizona considers Raheem Morris, Anthony Campanile and Mike LaFleur to be the “leading” options at this point. All three have interviewed at least once with the Cardinals as part of their ongoing search. Campanile met with the team for a second time on Thursday, something other candidates are also set to do shortly.

[RELATED: HC Search Tracker]

The current Jaguars defensive coordinator has been a popular head coaching candidate during this year’s cycle. Campanile interviewed with the Ravens and Dolphins, but both teams have since gone in a different direction to fill their HC positions. 2025 marked the 43-year-old’s first season as a coordinator at the NFL level, so taking on a head coaching gig would represent another major career move.

LaFleur has a more extensive history as an NFL coordinator, having served as an OC with the Jets from 2021-22 and with the Rams for the past three seasons. He has not handled play-calling duties in Los Angeles while working under Sean McVay, but the 38-year-old has helped his stock over the course of his Rams stint. A follow-up interview was not possible in LaFleur’s case this past week with the Rams advancing to the NFC title game. One could be arranged in the near future, however.

Morris is the only member of the trio who has worked as a head coach at the NFL or college levels. He was at the helm of the Buccaneers from 2009-11; Morris also served as the Falcons’ coach for a total of 45 games across two different stints. Over that span, his teams posted a winning record just once. Morris, 49, is regarded as one of the game’s top defensive minds but his head coaching winning percentage sits at .398. Interest in multiple D-coordinator positions could be coming in this case in the even Morris does not land the Cardinals gig, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Plenty remains to be seen over the coming days, but SNY’s Connor Hughes reports LaFleur is “believed to be the frontrunner” for the Arizona HC position at this time. For now, his attention will be focused on the Rams’ game against the Seahawks with a Super Bowl berth on the line. Nevertheless, a deal bringing with it a first head coaching opportunity allowing LaFleur to remain in the NFC West could be coming soon.

Here is an updated look at where Arizona’s search stands:

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