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Lou Anarumo

2026 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at January 7, 2026 9:50 pm

The Browns, Cardinals, Falcons and Raiders followed the Giants and Titans in firing head coaches, making those calls between the Week 18 conclusion and Black Monday. The Ravens then moved on from John Harbaugh after 18 seasons; two days later, the Dolphins canned Mike McDaniel. Now, following a wild-card loss, the Steelers and Mike Tomlin are separating after 19 years. Here are the candidates connected to all nine of the HC-needy franchises. If more teams make changes, they will be added to the list.

Updated 1-17-26 (5:43pm CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tennessee Titans

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Giants Request HC Interview With Lou Anarumo

By | at January 6, 2026 2:16 pm

Since Brian Daboll‘s firing, many have pointed to Lou Anarumo as potential replacement. The latter will indeed receive a look from the Giants.

Anarumo has received a head coaching interview request from New York, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. The Giants have thus joined the Titans in attempting to line up a meeting with Anarumo. His Tennessee interview will take place tomorrow.

Not long after Daboll was dismissed, Anarumo was named as a candidate for the Giants. The Staten Island native has previously worked with the team. Anarumo served as the Giants’ defensive backs coach in 2018. His one-year stint in that role was followed by his Bengals hire as defensive coordinator.

Anarumo led Cincinnati’s defense for six years until being fired following the 2024 campaign. In short order, the 59-year-old landed another DC gig by joining the Colts. Indianapolis finished just 23rd in total defense and 21st in points allowed this season, but the team was hit hard by injuries throughout the campaign. Anarumo’s stock has not suffered, as evidenced by the fact he is already a target of multiple teams seeking a new head coach.

The Giants promoted offensive coordinator Mike Kafka to interim HC after Daboll was fired. Kafka will interview for the full-time position, although it is rare situations such as his result in a hire on that front. New York has been named on multiple occasions as a feasible landing spot for Kevin Stefanski, who was fired by the Browns yesterday. The Giants are among the teams he is expected to interview with.

Earlier today, New York also emerged as a potential suitor for Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Like Stefanski, Joseph has been a head coach in the NFL. Anarumo, by contrast, has never led a coaching staff at the pro or college levels. He could very well get the opportunity to do so in 2026, however, depending in part on how he interviews with the Giants.

3 comments Indianapolis Colts New York Giants

Titans Request HC Interviews With Matt Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo, Vance Joseph, Lou Anarumo

By | at January 6, 2026 9:04 am

JANUARY 6: Tennessee’s interview with Anarumo will take place tomorrow, per Rapoport. He and Pelissero add the Nagy interview will be on Thursday. Spagnuolo will also interview Thursday, according to Albert Breer of SI.com. Those three will be joined by recently unemployed staffers Kevin Stefanski and Raheem Morris as candidates to speak with the Titans at least once.

JANUARY 5: The Titans were the first team to fire their head coach during the 2025 season, moving on from Brian Callahan on Oct. 13. They replaced Callahan with interim choice Mike McCoy, but it didn’t lead to a turnaround. With the Titans’ offseason now underway after a 3-14 campaign, they’re working to find Callahan’s full-time successor.

Tennessee has requested interviews with two Chiefs assistants – offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo – as well as Broncos D-coordinator Vance Joseph and Colts DC Lou Anarumo (via reports from Jordan Schultz, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network). The Titans are also expected to request a meeting with Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, per Schultz. Kingsbury’s name previously came up in connection to the Titans’ job on Sunday.

General manager Mike Borgonzi is leading the Titans’ search, though the next hire will come with owner Amy Adams Strunk‘s blessing. The fact that Borgonzi is considering Nagy and Spagnuolo for the job isn’t a surprise. Borgonzi worked in Kansas City’s front office from 2009-24, giving him plenty of familiarity with Nagy and Spagnuolo.

Both Nagy and Spagnuolo come with head coaching experience, but the former had far more success in his first stop. Nagy led the Bears to a 34-31 mark and two playoff berths from 2018-21. He earned Coach of the Year honors in his first season in Chicago.

Although Nagy doesn’t call the plays as Kansas City’s O-coordinator (that responsibility belongs to Andy Reid), his offensive background appeals to the Titans. Getting the most out of quarterback Cam Ward, the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, will be among their next head coach’s most important tasks.

An acclaimed defensive assistant throughout his career, the 66-year-old Spagnulo has won four Super Bowls as a coordinator (three with the Chiefs, one with the Giants). However, his initial stint as a full-time head coach couldn’t have gone much worse. The then-St. Louis Rams went 10-38 under Spagnuolo from 2009-11. Spagnuolo later held the interim gig with the Giants after Ben McAdoo‘s firing in 2017. He went 1-3 in that brief run, but Spagnuolo’s stock has since gone way up during his brilliant seven-year reign atop the Chiefs’ defense.

Joseph, one of Spagnuolo’s fellow AFC West D-coordinators, is also a former head coach. While Joseph struggled to an 11-21 mark with the Broncos from 2015-16, his success since returning to Denver as an assistant in 2023 could lead to a second chance as a sideline general. Thanks largely to Joseph’s defense, which ranks first in sacks, second in yards and third in points, the 14-3 Broncos will enter the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

Anarumo is the lone candidate in this group who has not worked as a head coach. Now 59, Anarumo was an assistant at various colleges before joining the Dolphins’ defensive staff in 2012. He earned his first D-coordinator job with the Bengals in 2019. Anarumo stayed in place for six years, a span in which the Bengals went to two AFC title games and a Super Bowl, but the team fired him after its defense finished 25th overall in 2024.

Anarumo quickly caught on with the Colts, who spiraled to an 8-9 mark after starting 8-2 in 2025. The Colts’ defense ended the year an underwhelming 21st in points and 23rd in yards, but injuries to DeForest Buckner, Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward took away three of Anarumo’s best players for significant periods of time. The Titans obviously aren’t holding that against him.

The Chiefs, Colts and Commanders failed to qualify for the playoffs, which means Nagy, Spagnulo, Anarumo and Kingsbury are eligible to interview as early as Tuesday, Dianna Russini of The Athletic relays. With the Broncos on a bye, Joseph will be available to discuss the Tennessee job on Wednesday. He’ll do so via Zoom, according to Mike Klis of 9News.

18 comments Denver Broncos Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

Mike McCarthy, Antonio Pierce Among Giants’ HC Candidates

By | at January 2, 2026 11:51 am

The Giants’ head-coaching search informally started immediately after firing Brian Daboll, but recent discussions have created an initial list of candidates to interview, per The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson.

Several coaches are already known to be on the Giants’ radar, including Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman, Packers DC Jeff Hafley, Colts DC Lou Anarumo, Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury, Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak, and Browns HC Kevin Stefanski. Giants interm HC Mike Kafka is also expected to interview with the team after auditioning for the full-time job since Daboll’s removal.

Interview requests will be much stronger indications of the Giants’ interest. Their lengthy list of candidates is primarily focused on former head coaches and current coordinator, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan.

The formal interview process has technically already begun, as candidates not employed by an NFL team can interview right away. Former Packers and Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy and and former Raiders HC Antonio Pierce are on the Giants’ list. Pierce, a former Pro Bowl linebacker, played in New York for five seasons and earned a Pro Bowl nod and a Super Bowl ring in the process. That connection to the franchise – as with Jets HC Aaron Glenn – could give Pierce a leg up in the Giant’s hiring process, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano.

For coaches currently working for an NFL team, interview requests must wait until the regular season ends. The Giants’ interest seems to be focused on defensive coordinators, as Hafley (Packers), Vance Joseph (Broncos), Chris Shula (Rams), and Jesse Minter (Chargers) are all expected to receive interview requests. Hafley, a New Jersey native, in particular “seems to have some traction in New York,” according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

Any coach for a non-playoff team can be interviewed as soon as Week 18 concludes. If the Broncos secure a first-round bye, Joseph (and any other coaches employed by a team with a bye) can only be virtually interviewed until the end of the wild card round. Coaches without a bye can be interviewed until the end of the divisional round. After the divisional round, teams can begin in-person interviews with coaches for teams eliminated by the playoffs.

Other coaches who have an “outside chance” to be interviewed by the Giants include Texans DC Matt Burke and Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, per Raanan. Current head coaches that are fired at the end of the season, especially Stefanski, could also be considered by the Giants. They could also seek to follow the wave of hiring young offensive coordinators from the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay coaching tree such as Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown or Jaguars OC Grant Udinski.

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Matt Nagy Considered ‘Serious Candidate’ For Titans’ HC Job

By | at December 21, 2025 8:36 pm

Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is considered a “serious candidate” for the Titans head coaching job, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini.

Ironically, Chiefs are playing in Tennessee on Sunday. The Titans cannot discuss their head coaching vacancy with Nagy, but he will get an up-close look at the roster he would inherit if he gets the job.

Nagy, 47, has been the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator for the last three seasons. He has worked under Andy Reid for virtually all of his NFL coaching career, starting in Philadelphia in 2008. Nagy followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013 as the team’s quarterbacks coach and was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2016. He took over play-calling at the end of the 2017 season and was hired by the Bears as their head coach in the subsequent offseason.

In his debut season in Chicago, Nagy led the Bears to a 12-4 record and a first-place finish in the NFC North. Those are still the team’s best results since 2006, though the 2025 Bears could reach 13 wins this season.

Nagy’s Bears regressed in his next three years with two seasons at 8-8, and a 6-11 finish in 2021 was enough to get him fired. He returned to Kansas City as a senior offensive assistant and took over as offensive coordinator after Eric Bieniemy‘s departure.

The Chiefs offense statistically got worse under Nagy. After six straight years with top-six finishes in both points score and total offense, they have not been able to reach the same heights in either category since. Instead, Kansas City’s runs to the Super Bowl in 2023 and 2024 were largely powered by their top-10 defense.

Nagy’s top priority in Tennessee would be developing No. 1 pick Cam Ward, but he does not have a strong history with young quarterbacks. Mitch Trubisky put up a career-best season under Nagy in 2018, but could not replicate those results in the next two seasons. Justin Fields looked lost as a rookie in Nagy’s final year in Chicago, and upon returning to Kansas City, he immediately got to work with a veteran Patrick Mahomes.

The Titans are also expected to reach out to several defensive coordinators, per Russini, including Lou Anarumo (Colts), Jeff Hafley (Packers), Anthony Campanile (Jaguars), Chris Shula (Rams), Matt Burke (Texans), and Jesse Minter (Chargers). However, hiring a defensive head coach with the intention to bring in a young offensive coordinator to work with Ward runs the risk of that OC being poached by another team as their head coach.

29 comments Kansas City Chiefs Tennessee Titans

Giants HC Rumors: Hafley, Freeman, OCs

By | at December 13, 2025 10:03 pm

At 2-11 and in contention for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Giants will likely bring in a new head coach from outside the organization in the next couple of months. Interim choice Mike Kafka, who replaced the fired Brian Daboll a little over a month ago, seems like a long shot for a full-time promotion. Now coming off their bye, Kafka’s Giants have gone 0-3, including a blowout loss to the Patriots in Week 13.

General manager Joe Schoen is leading New York’s head coaching search. After hiring Daboll in 2022, he’s in line to pick his second head coach despite a 20-43-1 record as the team’s GM. Schoen doesn’t expect his presence to push away candidates, though there’s some disagreement about that around the league, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post details.

With Schoen only under contract through 2026, an NFC assistant coach told Dunleavy: “The biggest deterrent to taking that job is a lame-duck GM. If you’re signing a five-year deal to become the head coach, you’d like to know that you can develop a vision for your program with a GM that’s aligned the same way. But if the GM is in win-now mode and you need time to bring in scheme-specific talent, that will not mesh very well.”

On the other hand, a different assistant who could receive head coaching interviews told Dunleavy: “Joe’s well respected around the league. It’s not going to be a deterrent. When you look at the quarterback and the game-changers they have, it’s going to be one of the more attractive jobs.”

First-round rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, No. 1 wide receiver Malik Nabers, left tackle Andrew Thomas, and a talented group of pass rushers are among the reasons many consider the Giants’ position enticing. That group may appeal to Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley, who’s the “heavy favorite” to land the job, according to Conor Orr of SI.com. The 46-year-old New Jersey native would be a first-time NFL head coach, but he did take Boston College to two bowl games from 2020-23. Green Bay’s enjoying its second straight year as one of the league’s most effective defenses under his tutelage.

Hafley went 22-26 at Boston College. One of his losses came at the hands of a Marcus Freeman-led Notre Dame squad. Freeman, who came up as a speculative Giants candidate last month, is indeed on the team’s list, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports. Although Notre Dame’s season ended without a playoff berth, the Fighting Irish finished 10-2. They’re 43-12 since Freeman succeeded Brian Kelly in late 2021.

Freeman is under contract through 2030 on a lucrative extension, but Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua realizes there’s outside interest in the 39-year-old.

“Everybody has eyes on Marcus,” Bevacqua said (via Adam Rittenberg of ESPN). “College has eyes on Marcus; NFL has eyes on Marcus. I bet Hollywood has eyes on Marcus. … He’s the absolute best coach in the country for Notre Dame, full stop, one of the greatest college coaches in the country.”

To better its chances of keeping Freeman, Notre Dame will revise his contract on an annual basis, Bevacqua revealed. Doing so will keep Freeman among the nation’s highest-paid coaches.

Aside from Hafley, Freeman, and Colts DC Lou Anarumo (previously reported), Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak are also on the Giants’ radar, according to Russini.

Kingsbury is the only member of the quintet with previous head coaching experience in the pros. The Cardinals went 28-37-1 under him from 2019-22. Kingsbury helped quarterback Kyler Murray to Offensive Rookie of the Year honors and a pair of Pro Bowls during that span. Murray hasn’t revisited that form since. Kingsbury also guided the Cardinals to an 11-6 record in 2021. That stands as their only playoff season of the past decade.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski may join Kingsbury as an experienced possibility for the Giants. The Browns aren’t expected to fire the two-time Coach of the Year, Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post writes, though he contends it wouldn’t be a shock to see the Giants trade for Stefanski.

It’s unclear what the Giants would have to give up for Stefanski, who would be part of the league’s eighth head coach trade since 1997 in this scenario. The most recent deal came when the Broncos dealt a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-rounder to the Saints for Sean Payton and a 2024 third-rounder in February 2023. The Giants aren’t in position to surrender that type of compensation for Stefanski, but it appears he’s another name to keep an eye on during their high-profile search.

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Colts DC Lou Anarumo Expected To Draw HC Interest From Giants

By | at November 25, 2025 11:42 am

Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo is expected to draw interest from the Giants’ regarding their head coaching vacancy, per The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson.

Anarumo, 59, is one of the most respected defensive coaches in the NFL. He began his career with the Dolphins in 2012, serving as their defensive backs coach until 2017 with a brief stint as interim defensive coordinator in 2015. After a year as the Giants’ DBs coach in 2018, Anarumo was hired by the Bengals in 2019 under incoming head coach Zac Taylor.

Anarumo turned a Cincinnati defense that ranked 30th in points and 32nd in yards allowed into a respectable one within a few seasons. However, the unit only ranked among the league’s top-10 in either category during his tenure, though that could also be attributed to the team’s poor draft-and-develop record with defensive players. After the Bengals regressed to the 25th-ranked defense in 2024, Anarumo was fired.

The veteran coach quickly drew DC interest and interviewed with the Colts and the Falcons. He was hired in Indianapolis and has been a major part of their 8-3 start. Though the offense has been the primary driver of the Colts’ success, their defense has more than held up their end of the bargain. The Bengals, meanwhile, are not just the league’s worst defense; they are a historically bad unit.

Anarumo’s success in Indianapolis will likely get him on the radar for open head coaching jobs during the 2026 hiring cycle, including the Giants’ vacancy. He has past experience in New York under the same ownership and a relationship with general manager Joe Schoen. The two overlapped in Miami from 2012 to 2016, where Schoen rose through the scouting department to eventually become the director of player personnel. The familiarity with Schoen as well as Giants owner and president John Mara could certainly be a factor in getting Anarumo an interview.

When asked about his interest in a head coaching position on Tuesday, Anarumo said (via Joel Erickson of the Indianapolis Star) that he would be lying if he said he did not want a top job, but added that his focus was on the Colts’ next opponent.

It will be interesting to see if New York pursues a defensive-minded coach. They have not hired a former defensive coordinator as a head coach since Bill Parcells in 1983.

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Notre Dame HC Marcus Freeman To Emerge As Giants Candidate?

By | at November 15, 2025 9:58 pm

Having fired Brian Daboll on Monday, the 2-8 Giants are in the early stages of finding their next head coach. Mike Kafka will finish the season on an interim basis after a promotion from offensive coordinator. However, barring shockingly strong results from Kafka, it seems probable that Daboll’s successor will come from outside the organization.

General manager Joe Schoen, who hired Daboll in 2022, is leading the search for his replacement. Schoen and Giants ownership haven’t had “serious meetings” about the traits they want in their new head coach, per Dianna Russini of The Athletic. For his part, Schoen isn’t guaranteed to remain with the organization for the long haul. He’s only under contract through 2026. The Giants will review Schoen’s work at the end of this season, but the belief around the NFL is that he’ll remain in place, Russini reports.

As for who Schoen will hire, there’s no doubt that plenty of potential candidates will come up in connection to New York’s opening in the coming weeks. The Giants “already have a shortlist of candidates,” Russini writes. It doesn’t include North Carolina’s Bill Belichick, according to Russini. Belichick issued a statement Friday saying he’s not interested in the Giants’ job or any other NFL opportunity that may come along. The Giants didn’t contact Belichick before he shot down a possible return to the pros, and it seems doubtful they were ever going to pursue him.

While Belichick isn’t in the mix, one early name to keep an eye on is Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman. The soon-to-be 40-year-old could become the latest successful college coach to try his hand in the NFL.

If Freeman is interested in the job, there’s “some buzz” that the Giants may talk to him, per Dan Graziano of ESPN. Meanwhile, Dan Duggan of The Athletic regards Freeman as an early front-runner for the position, placing him behind Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and the out-of-work Mike McCarthy.

Freeman has gone 40-12 with the Fighting Irish since the former linebacker took over for the departed Brian Kelly in December 2021. He guided Notre Dame to the national championship game last season, but the team suffered a 34-23 defeat to Ohio State. Just days before Freeman & Co. lost to the Buckeyes in January, the Bears reportedly sought an interview with him. That didn’t come to fruition, though, and the Bears ended up hiring Ben Johnson.

Anarumo, a well-respected coordinator, has been a popular figure in the rumor mill since the Giants moved on from Daboll. The Staten Island native is a former Giants assistant who was a candidate for the HC job before Daboll landed it. Anarumo’s son currently works for the Giants as a pro scout.

McCarthy, 62, brings vast experience as a head coach. His teams have gone an impressive 174-112-2 in the regular season. He led the Packers from 2006-18, winning one Super Bowl with Aaron Rodgers during that 13-year period, and the Cowboys from 2020-24.

In limbo with the Cowboys last winter before Jerry Jones replaced him with Brian Schottenheimer, McCarthy interviewed with Chicago and New Orleans. After he began losing ground with the Saints, who chose Kellen Moore, McCarthy withdrew as a candidate. He hasn’t found another job since then, though perhaps the Giants will look in his direction.

The Johnson pick has worked out so far for the Bears, who are 6-3 and already guaranteed a better record than last year’s 5-12 mark. If they make the right hire, the Giants may have a chance to enjoy a similar turnaround in 2026.

23 comments New York Giants

Giants GM Joe Schoen To Lead HC Search

By | at November 10, 2025 9:48 pm

Giants general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll joined the organization together in 2022, but they’re not leaving as a package deal. After Daboll steered the Giants to a 20-40-1 record, including a 2-8 start this year, they fired him on Monday. Owners John Mara and Steve Tisch agreed it was time to move on from Daboll during a phone conversation on Monday morning, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post reports.

Mara and Tisch made the decision to choose offensive coordinator Mike Kafka as the Giants’ interim head coach, according to Schwartz. The team later announced that Schoen is staying on to lead the search for a full-time successor to Daboll.

“We feel like Joe has assembled a good young nucleus of talent, and we look forward to its development,” said Mara. Unfortunately, the results over the past three years have not been what any of us want. We take full responsibility for those results and look forward to the kind of success our fans expect.”

The Giants’ official statement will be the last time they address the Daboll firing for now, Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports. They’re not planning to make ownership or Schoen available for interviews this week.

This isn’t the ending the Giants envisioned when the Schoen/Daboll reign began in promising fashion in 2022. The Giants went 9-7-1 and won a wild-card playoff game over the Vikings before losing to the Eagles in the divisional round. Daboll earned Coach of the Year honors.

New York has posted horrid results over the past two-plus years, but Mara and Tisch continue to hold Schoen in high regard, per Ralph Vacchiano of FOX Sports. Giants ownership is of the belief that Schoen has been a significant upgrade over predecessor Dave Gettleman, who was at the helm from 2018-21. The Giants stumbled to a 19-46 mark under Gettleman and failed to earn a playoff berth.

Although the team Schoen has assembled will miss the playoffs for the third year in a row, the Giants have enough talent to make their head coaching job a “coveted” opening, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says. A new head coach stands to inherit first-round quarterback Jaxson Dart, No. 1 wide receiver Malik Nabers, co-NFL sacks leader Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, and Dexter Lawrence, among other enticing pieces.

While it could be a couple of months before the Giants name their next head coach, Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, former Raiders HC Antonio Pierce, and Colts DC Lou Anarumo are among names to watch, Rapoport relays.

Spagnuolo has won four Super Bowls as a coordinator, including one with the Giants under Tom Coughlin, but he finished an ugly 10-38 as the St. Louis Rams’ head coach from 2009-11. Spagnuolo then went 1-3 as the Giants’ interim head coach in 2017, briefly taking over after the firing of Ben McAdoo.

Pierce had a great run as a Giants linebacker from 2005-09, winning a title as part of a Spagnuolo-coached defense. Like Spagnuolo, though, Pierce’s initial experience as an NFL head coach didn’t go well. The Raiders dismissed Pierce last January after going 9-17 under him in parts of two seasons.

Anarumo is a Staten Island native who worked as the Giants’ defensive backs coach in 2018. His son currently serves as a pro scout in the organization, Vacchiano notes. Anarumo, then the Bengals’ D-coordinator, interviewed for the Giants’ head coaching job before it went to Daboll. The longtime assistant “left a strong impression” during that meeting, sources told Vacchiano. With Anarumo an important part of the Colts’ unexpected turnaround this year, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the Giants or other teams in the market for a head coach speak with him in the coming months.

21 comments Cincinnati Bengals Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs New York Giants

Titans’ HC Search Underway; Team To Prioritize Previous HC Experience?

By | at October 19, 2025 9:13 am

Titans president of football operations Chad Brinker might have final say over roster decisions, but both he and first-year general manager Mike Borgonzi will run the search for the club’s next head coach in the wake of Brian Callahan’s dismissal. As Albert Breer of SI.com reports, the duo is not waiting to begin the process and is already researching potential candidates.

Breer adds that Tennessee is not hiring a search firm to aid in the hunt. He also says Brinker and Borgonzi intend to be open-minded and will not focus on a particular “type” of coach.

It is unclear whether he simply means the Titans will consider offense- and defense-oriented coaches, or if the club’s open-mindedness will extend to candidates without previous HC experience. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the lack of success with Callahan – who had not risen above the coordinator ranks when he was hired in 2024 – makes it likely Tennessee opts for a candidate with a head coaching gig on their resume (along with “strong leadership qualities”).

Several of the names that already have been floated as potential targets, Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, do have recent experience in an HC post. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, who first reported Nagy’s and Smith’s candidacy, subsequently added Mike McCarthy and Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to the list, and those coaches have also served as bench bosses in the past (McCarthy with the Packers and Cowboys, Joseph with Denver).

However, both Rapoport and Dianna Russini of The Athletic (subscription required) name Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo as a candidate to watch, with Russini also identifying Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver as someone who could interest Tennessee brass. Both men have interviewed for HC positions in recent history, with Anarumo earning a second interview for the Cardinals’ top job in 2023 and Weaver advancing to the second interview stage with the Saints, Falcons, and Commanders over the last two years.

Although neither Anarumo nor Weaver have landed a head coaching job yet, they could be popular interviewees in the upcoming cycle. Whether the Titans are the club to give them their first HC opportunity in light of the disastrous Callahan tenure remains to be seen, but even though Schefter says the club prefers an experienced hand, the ESPN scribe acknowledges Brinker and Borgonzi will cast a wide net in their evaluation process.

As Schefter also points out, Brinker was part of the Packers’ last HC search, which culminated in the Matt LaFleur hire. Titans assistant GM Dave Ziegler, who worked as a personnel advisor with the Saints last year, was part of New Orleans’ hunt for a new head coach after Dennis Allen was fired during the 2024 campaign. The Saints hired Kellen Moore shortly after Ziegler accepted his current job with the Titans.

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