Among head coaches, Ron Rivera resides as the only true lock to be fired following Week 18. The Commanders‘ new ownership injects mystery into the upcoming search. Josh Harris has been rumored to be intrigued by a setup in which a football operations president-type figure oversees a GM and head coach, and SI.com’s Albert Breer further points to the owner being unlikely to hand the keys to a high-powered HC. Like Bill Belichick, Breer considers Jim Harbaugh an unlikely candidate in Washington. It is not known if Belichick would require personnel control if he ends up elsewhere, but Harbaugh having the leverage of more Michigan extension offers, it is expected the hard-edged HC would need significant input on the personnel front if he were to return to the NFL. So far, the Chargers have been the team most closely linked to luring him back.
Additionally, Breer notes Harris is intrigued by how the Eagles and Ravens’ power structures are set up. The Commanders hired ex-Ravens analytics staffer Eugene Shen as senior VP of football strategy in the fall. While the Eagles lost four staffers to assistant GM roles in 2022, the Ravens have a GM candidate in player personnel director Joe Hortiz. Baltimore’s OC-DC tandem — Todd Monken and Mike Macdonald — is expected to generate HC interest as well.
Going into Week 18, here is the latest from staffs around the NFL:
- With the Falcons on the doorstep of a third straight 7-10 season, Arthur Smith‘s job status has come up frequently. Vacillating back and forth between being fired or becoming the rare HC to be given a fourth year despite three straight losing seasons, Smith was not exactly given a vote of confidence by Arthur Blank. But the longtime Falcons owner is not believed to be actively seeking changes, per Breer, making it sound like the hope is for Smith and GM Terry Fontenot to show enough to stay on. A one-sided loss to the Saints may well change Blank’s mind. The Falcons can win the NFC South by beating the Saints and the Buccaneers — who also have a coach on the hot seat — losing to the Panthers.
- Ryan Poles is believed to have a good relationship with new Bears president Kevin Warren, being expected to stay on for a third year as GM. Prior to the Bears‘ rout of the Falcons, Matt Eberflus was linked to being in good standing for a third HC season. While expecting both to stay, Breer notes neither Bears power broker has been assured of a return. Warren has been a wild card in this scenario since he was hired, and the former Big Ten commissioner did not confirm publicly when asked Friday (via the Chicago Sun-Times’ Patrick Finley) if Eberflus would be retained. Eberflus is 10-23 as Bears HC, but the team — which has a rather important quarterback decision to make soon — is 7-5 over its past 12.
- Raiders leaders Davante Adams, Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs would back the retention of interim HC Antonio Pierce, but Mark Davis is believed to be aiming higher. After all, Pierce — who resigned his two-year post as Arizona State DC in 2022 — has far less experience than Raiders DC Patrick Graham. But Pierce’s knowledge of the Raiders’ culture and history does appeal to Davis, Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com writes, noting these factors matter considerably to the second-generation owner. No team has bumped an interim leader to the full-time post since the Jaguars elevated Doug Marrone in 2017.
- Giants running backs coach Jeff Nixon is set for a responsibility jump; it will come at the college level. Syracuse hired Nixon as its offensive coordinator Friday. Nixon was in his first season as Giants RBs coach; he had served under Matt Rhule at Baylor and with the Panthers. The Giants hired Nixon last year to replace DeAndre Smith, who left to take the same position with the Colts.
It would be some M Davis to ignore his stars, fire his 2nd successful intern HC only to pay big bucks and whiff on another big name assistant. Then 3-peat the cycle.
I think AP has earned the job for sure, but I also wouldn’t hate having Harbaugh as the HC either. Anything outside of those two would be extremely puzzling and frustrating as a Raiders fan.
‘Broke billionaire’ Mark should try and get Gruden and Josh’s deals off the books before swinging big. But he won’t and it will back fire. Been his resume for some 15 years.
AP earned a shot at it. Won w/ a rookie late round QB, and got the team to gel. What else can you ask for?
To be fair, the Davis’ money came from football, they aren’t mega billionaires like some of these guys that have bought football teams for a hobby.
He’s definitely had his fair share of gaffes so far, and Al wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders towards the end either. Gruden stepping down was kind of a freak thing, but the drafts during his time left a lot to be desired.
Pierce is winning because of what he’s done with the defense, the offense is still a huge problem. I don’t think we can even give a fair assessment of what O’Connell has in the tank because of how bad our offensive line is. In our last game he looked flat out awful until they brought Kolton Miller back in the game to replace an injured Elumeanor, who was stinking it up and killing us with penalties.
Like I said I definitely agree that AP has earned the job, but I also wouldn’t hate if Harbaugh was hired. Anything outside of those two options would most likely lead to another decade of crummy football, something Raider Nation deserves to get rid of!
Never should have Hired Chuckie-Mayock at the time that they did. The Raiders were finally starting to build a good foundation and some relative stability with Mackenzie & Co.
I’m not sure which one of the Chuckie/Mayock duo was responsible for making the final call on those multiple failed first round draft picks but that was one of the worst runs of 1st rounders in the history of the league.
Is Mayock even back at being a ‘draft guru’? Should have absolutely ruined his reputation w/ his Raiders’ drafts.
Synder paid $800m in 1999 for the Redskins and sold them in 2023 for $6b. To say Davis and the Raiders are broke is a ridiculous argument. Every franchise has positively financially exploded this century.
Just because he’s terrible at business doesn’t mean the Raiders are a poor organization.
It doesn’t? I kinda think that’s exactly what it means.
I never said he was broke, and yes the value of the franchise definitely makes him a billionaire on paper. I was just saying that the family didn’t come into the league wealthy, their money has predominantly been made from ownership of the Raiders.
His family has owned the league for over 40 years. Why is he even considered broke?
From google: Al Davis, who died today, bought a 10% interest in the Oakland Raiders for $18,500 in 1966
Come on. Mark and his dad are bad at business. The league has been a ATM for decades.
The value of the Raiders is just a number on a piece of paper, Mark can’t use it until he sells the team. Which is probably why he sold a share to TB12. Mark needs a cash influx, for TB12, it’s a guaranteed investment opportunity with all that cash he has lying around. And Mark is broke relative to say Tepper, who is worth @ $20B, and made it himself.
So Mark hasn’t ever had a paycheck? Please. Why aren’t the Bidwill’s considered poor? They’ve been in the league as long as the Davis’. Or the Browns owner? He got the team from his dad as well.
I never said that Mark was broke or there weren’t any other football money families in the game. I said that the Davis family didn’t come into the game as a gazillionaire like a lot of owners out there.