Steelers To Hire Mike McCarthy As HC
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.
Known for remarkable organizational stability, 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.
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.
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 Tomlin’s seventh straight postseason loss.
More to come…
49ers Don’t Expect To Trade Mac Jones
Then in the market for a capable backup to starting quarterback Brock Purdy, the 49ers brought in Mac Jones on a two-year, $7MM contract last March. The move paid off in 2025 for San Francisco, which earned a playoff berth despite turning to Jones as its starter for almost half the season.
With injuries holding Purdy out of eight games, Jones helped the 49ers to a 5-3 mark during a 12-win campaign for the club. Across 11 appearances, Jones posted career highs in completion percentage (69.6), yards per attempt (7.4), passer rating (97.4) and QBR (62.9). The 27-year-old fired 13 touchdowns against six interceptions along the way.
Before teaming up with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Jones endured a couple of down years as a Patriots starter and a Jaguars backup. The 15th overall pick in 2021, Jones finished second to Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting. The Alabama product also helped lead the Patriots to the playoffs then, but the team peaked under Jones that season.
After back-to-back subpar years, the Patriots sold low on Jones in sending him to the Jags for a sixth-round pick in 2024. While logging seven starts in place of an injured Trevor Lawrence in his lone year in Jacksonville, Jones’ struggles continued.
Departing Jacksonville for San Francisco led to Jones’ revival under Shanahan, making it conceivable that quarterback-needy teams could inquire about his availability this offseason. Bringing in Jones and his $2.81MM base salary may be an attractive option for clubs seeking a veteran QB who can at least compete for a starting job. As you’d expect, though, the 49ers’ public stance is that Jones will remain in their uniform in 2026.
On the potential of dealing Jones, Shanahan stated (via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area): “As any player on our team, including myself and John (Lynch), you always listen to people and trade offers, but we’re also not into getting rid of good players. So, I’d be very surprised if Mac wasn’t around us next year.”
Lynch echoed Shanahan’s sentiments, adding, “Like Kyle said, you always listen, but I know we’re a better football team with Mac Jones on our roster.”
While Jones’ presence benefited the 49ers in 2025, Purdy is locked in as their starter. With that in mind, an offseason trade involving the 49ers’ clear-cut backup may be on the table if a competitive enough offer comes along. A mid-November report identified Jones as a “prime trade candidate,” and it’s worth noting that he turned down better offers last March before latching on with the 49ers. It’s unknown which teams lost out on Jones in free agency then, but perhaps they’ll circle back on the trade market this year.
Wink Martindale Set For 2nd, In-Person Interview For Jets DC Job
Former Ravens and Giants defensive coordinator Don ‘Wink’ Martindale is in New York for a second, in-person interview for the Jets’ defensive coordinator vacancy, per SNY’s Connor Hughes.
Martindale, 62, is entering his 30th year as a coach. He spent the last two years as Michigan’s defensive coordinator but did not uphold the standard by his predecessors, Mike Macdonald and Jesse Minter, two of his former assistants in Baltimore who are now head coaches for the Seahawks and the Ravens, respectively. Martindale was not retained by new Wolverines head coach Kyle Whittingham for the 2026 season, making him a free agent and positioning him for a move back to the NFL.
With a second interview, Martindale is emerging as a top candidate for the Jets’ DC job, if not an outright frontrunner. He has been in contact with head coach Aaron Glenn “throughout the process, going back a few weeks,” according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini. The two coaches have not overlapped with the same team during their time in the NFL – including Glenn’s playing career – but they no doubt are familiar with each other given their time in the NFL.
Martindale’s blitz-heavy system could help the Jets get more out of a pass rush that only produced 26 sacks in 2025, the second-fewest in the NFL. Sending Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys at the trade deadline certainly did not help, but he only produced one sack in his first eight games. Jermaine Johnson only recorded three sacks, though he was only a year removed from a torn Achilles. But Glenn’s credentials as the Lions’ defensive coordinator got him the job in New York, so the team is likely expecting him to find ways to generate pressure regardless of his personnel.
Martindale, who had a heavy hand in creating the systems now run by Macdonald, Minters, and other NFL DCs, may not have the best recent history, but he is still a respected defensive mind with a knack for pressuring opposing quarterbacks.
Here is an overview of the Jets’ search for a new defensive coordinator:
- Mathieu Araujo, cornerbacks coach (Dolphins): Interviewed
- Ephraim Banda, safeties coach (Browns): Interviewed
- DeMarcus Covington, defensive line coach (Packers): Interviewed
- Chris Harris, interim defensive coordinator (Jets): Interviewed 1/18
- Daronte Jones, defensive backs coach (Vikings): Interviewed
- Jim Leonhard, defensive backs coach (Broncos): Interviewed
- Don Martindale, defensive coordinator (Michigan): Conducting second interview 1/24
- Jim O’Neil, defensive assistant/safeties (Lions): Interviewed
Cardinals Schedule Second HC Interview With Anthony Weaver
Continuing a busy week, Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver has booked a second head coaching interview with the Cardinals, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. That meeting will take place Sunday.
Weaver held second head coaching interviews with the Ravens and Steelers earlier this week. The 45-year-old is also a candidate in Buffalo, which will discuss its open job with him today.
Weaver remains “very much in the mix” to end up as Mike Tomlin‘s successor in Pittsburgh, Peter Schrager of ESPN reports. However, after he wraps up his summit with the Bills, he’ll turn his attention back to Arizona.
Weaver joins Jaguars defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile as the first two candidates to set up second interviews with the Cardinals. Unsurprisingly, Campanile is “firmly in the mix” to land the position, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.
Either Weaver or Campanile would be a second straight defensive-minded hire for Arizona, which is coming off a subpar three-year run with Jonathan Gannon at the controls. The Cardinals fired Gannon after he went 15-36 and posted a dreadful .294 winning percentage.
A defensive lineman with the Ravens and Texans from 2002-08, Weaver has garnered over a decade of experience as an NFL coach since his playing career ended. The two-time defensive coordinator (with the Texans in 2020 and the Dolphins since 2024) has managed mixed results in that role.
Houston’s Weaver-led defense ranked 27th in points and 30th in yards, and he didn’t keep the job for a second season after the Texans moved on from head coach Bill O’Brien and interim HC Romeo Crennel. Weaver then returned to his former stomping grounds in Baltimore, where he coached the defensive line under coordinators Wink Martindale and Mike Macdonald from 2021-23.
Weaver parlayed his work with the Ravens into a promotion in Miami, whose defense was a significant strength in his first season at the helm. The Dolphins finished fourth in total defense and 10th in scoring. Although they fell to 22nd and 24th in those respective categories in 2025, it’s clear teams aren’t holding that against Weaver.
Almost three weeks since Gannon’s ouster, here’s where the Cardinals’ HC search stands:
- Joe Brady, offensive coordinator (Bills): To conduct in-person interview
- Thomas Brown, tight ends coach (Patriots): Interview requested
- Matt Burke, defensive coordinator (Texans): Interviewed
- Anthony Campanile, defensive coordinator (Jaguars): Conducted second interview 1/22
- Jeff Hafley, defensive coordinator (Packers): Interviewed 1/14
- John Harbaugh, former head coach (Ravens): Contacted
- Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator (Broncos): Interviewed 1/10, considered “strong candidate”
- Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator (Seahawks): Interviewed 1/10
- Mike LaFleur, offensive coordinator (Rams): Interviewed 1/16
- Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator (Chargers): Interviewed 1/13
- Raheem Morris, former head coach (Falcons): Interviewed
- Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/9
- Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator (49ers): Interviewed 1/15
- Chris Shula, defensive coordinator (Rams): Interviewed 1/16
- Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator (Steelers): Interview requested
- Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator (Dolphins): To conduct second interview 1/25
Dolphins Interview Clint Hurtt For DC
As he works to assemble his first staff with the Dolphins, Jeff Hafley has identified Eagles defensive line coach Clint Hurtt as a defensive coordinator candidate. The Dolphins have interviewed Hurtt for the position, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN reports.
Hafley’s interest in Hurtt suggests incumbent Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is on his way out, which isn’t a surprise. Weaver is a candidate for a handful of head coaching jobs. If he doesn’t land any of those, he’ll likely serve as an assistant on another staff in 2026.
If Hurtt takes over for Weaver, it would represent a homecoming of sorts for the 47-year-old. Hurtt is a former Miami Hurricanes defensive tackle who began his coaching career there in 2003 as a graduate assistant.
After going on to coach defensive lines at Miami, FIU and Louisville, Hurtt got his start in the NFL as the Bears’ assistant D-line coach in 2014. He became the Bears’ outside linebackers coach the next season and stayed in Chicago through 2016.
Hurtt’s tenure in the Windy City led to prominent roles on Pete Carroll‘s staff in Seattle. He served as the Seahawks’ assistant head coach and DL coach from 2017-21, and then Carroll promoted him to defensive coordinator. The results left plenty to be desired, though. The Seahawks’ defense ranked 25th in scoring in back-to-back seasons under Hurtt. The unit also finished 26th in yards in 2022 and 30th in 2023.
With Mike Macdonald replacing Carroll as the Seahawks’ head coach in 2024, Hurtt joined coordinator Vic Fangio‘s defensive staff with the Eagles. Part of a Super Bowl-winning team in his first year in Philadelphia, Hurtt has overseen two straight Pro Bowl campaigns for Jalen Carter. Jordan Davis, Moro Ojomo and Milton Williams (now a Patriot) are among other D-linemen who have held their own on Hurtt’s watch over the past couple of years.
Whether the Dolphins hire Hurtt or another candidate, Hafley has made clear that he will call defensive plays in 2026, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
“it’s really important to me,” Hafley said. “The details will be exactly how I want them.”
The Dolphins hired Hafley after a successful two-year stint as Green Bay’s defensive coordinator. The Packers were especially effective in 2024, when they ranked sixth in scoring defense and fifth in yards allowed. Hafley and his coordinator choice will have their work cut out in attempting to turn around a Miami defense that finished 24th and 22nd in those respective categories in 2025.
Mike McDaniel Withdraws From Bills’ HC Search
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.
Bills To Conduct HC Interview With Philip Rivers
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:
- Lou Anarumo, defensive coordinator (Colts): Interviewed 1/22
- Joe Brady, offensive coordinator (Bills): Interviewed 1/21
- Brian Daboll, former head coach (Giants): Interviewed 1/22; prefers Buffalo gig
- Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator (Seahawks): Rumored candidate
- Anthony Lynn, run-game coordinator (Commanders): To interview 1/24
- Mike McDaniel, former head coach (Dolphins): To interview 1/23
- Philip Rivers, former NFL quarterback: To interview 1/23
- Grant Udinski, offensive coordinator (Jaguars): To interview 1/25
- Anthony Weaver, defensive coordinator (Dolphins): To interview 1/24
- Davis Webb, quarterbacks coach (Broncos): Rumored candidate
Offseason Outlook: Kansas City Chiefs
Home for the playoffs for the first time since 2014, the Chiefs are also about to watch an AFC championship game for the first time since 2017. Kansas City's remarkable run ended with an elimination in Week 15. As the team fought to stay alive, it lost Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL. This ushers in rare uncertainty for the NFL's safest 2020s bet.
During an offseason in which John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin and now Sean McDermott are relocating, Andy Reid is now the NFL's longest-tenured HC. Mahomes is also targeting Week 1 for a return. This could remind of a blip, a la the Golden State Warriors' step back between their Kevin Durant period and resurgence soon after, but the Chiefs still have roster issues to sort out in a division that includes formidable opposition.
Coaching/front office:
- HC Andy Reid agreed to return for 14th season
- OC Matt Nagy interviewed for Cardinals, Ravens, Raiders, Giants, Titans' HC jobs, Eagles' OC post
- Eric Bieniemy rehired as OC
- DC Steve Spagnuolo interviewed for Giants, Titans' HC jobs
- Fired wide receivers coach Connor Embree, RBs coach Todd Pinkston
- Hired Chad O'Shea as new WRs coach
This will be Reid's 14th season in Kansas City and 28th season as an NFL head coach. The three-time Super Bowl winner is believed to be the game's highest-paid HC. That and Mahomes' status gives the all-time great plenty of incentive to come back after his worst season since a 4-12 Eagles showing led to a firing. Reid, who will turn 68 in March, has reshaped his legacy in Missouri by turning the tide for a franchise that had gone 50 years between Super Bowl berths.
Pro Football Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat: 1/23/26
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New 18-Game Season Proposal Comes With International Guarantee
Despite having signed a 10-year collective bargaining agreement in 2020, the NFL and the league’s ownership group have been pushing relentlessly for what they’ve insisted is an “inevitable” addition of an 18th game to the NFL regular season schedule. The newest update on the owners’ 18-game proposal comes with an international twist, as well. 
The NFL’s 2020 CBA expanded the regular season from 16 to 17 games, reducing the preseason from four to three games, and added the standard gameday practice squad elevation rules that allow for NFL teams to call up two taxi squad players each week to be active on a gameday roster. It also altered the postseason, bringing in a third wild-card team for each conference and eliminating the first-round bye for the No. 2 seed of each conference, creating two more games for the first round of the playoffs.
The news of a shorter preseason runup to the regular season and extra games in the regular season and playoffs brought mixed reactions from the players. While the extra games meant extra paychecks, the altered schedule brought questions of health considerations after the NFL Players Association had done so much to advocate for player safety in prior years. So, as the NFL immediately began to bang the table for the addition of an 18th game, the NFLPA and the players it represents made it clear that they were not fans of the idea.
This week, though, the newest updates came out of New England, when Patriots owner Robert Kraft appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub and gave the crew the lowdown on the owners’ current plan. The plan, as it currently stands, is to expand the regular season from 17 to 18 games, shortening the preseason from three to two games, while also guaranteeing that each team will play an international game, expanding the international schedule to 16 games.
“I want to tell you guys that we’re going to push like the dickens now to make international (games) more important with us,” Kraft informed them. “Every team will go to 18 (regular season games) and two (preseason games) and eliminate one of the preseason games, and every team every year will play one game overseas.”
He went on to expound on what it would mean for the players, but the only topic he really touched on was money. Not offering any considerations for player health, Kraft spoke to the additional revenue that increased international presentations and additional regular season home games would bring to the league and how that would help the owners “to grow the cap and keep (their) labor happy.” As long as players and the NFLPA continue to push back on any notion of altering the existing CBA, though, the league and owners will be forced to wait until the CBA expires in 2031.
If the league and ownership is able to get a regular season expansion, though, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk claims that postseason change could, once again, follow. In each of the past two years, the final week of the regular season has featured a game in which two teams in the same division are playing for the No. 1 seed, with the losing team being forced to go on the road against a division winner with a significantly worse record. Per Florio, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and some teams have been pushing behind the scenes for teams to be seeded in the postseason regardless of division, eliminating home games for the league’s worst division-winners.
At the urging of the NFL, the Lions — one of the four teams to play in those Week 18 games — proposed the new rule, but the proposal never made it to a vote. Regardless, of the pushback from the players and NFLPA, the league and owners are going to continue working towards their 18-game goal, and Florio claims that some “in key circles” believe the postseason seeding change could tag along with the potential addition of an 18th game.