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The NFL’s head coach hiring cycle was turned on its head final week when the Baltimore Ravens fired John Harbaugh.
Whereas the hourglass on his time in Baltimore ran out, Harbaugh immediately grew to become the highest candidate in the marketplace for the remaining seven groups seeking to fill a head teaching emptiness. His availability has prompted groups to succeed in out in earnest to arrange conferences to pitch the veteran head coach on becoming a member of their franchise. Harbaugh has but to interview for any openings formally, however that may change briefly order.
Harbaugh beforehand instructed Fox Sports activities that whereas loads of groups have reached out, he’ll slim his search to roughly three or 4 groups after which undergo the interview course of with these franchises. Sports activities Illustrated experiences that Harbaugh had preliminary calls with the Browns, Cardinals, Dolphins, Falcons, Giants, Raiders, and Titans, and after listening to these preliminary pitches, he’ll now determine which groups he’d wish to interview with.
As Harbaugh scouts for his subsequent vacation spot within the NFL, let’s do the identical. Under, we’ll rank the three most closely fits for the pinnacle coach.
In line with The Athletic, Harbaugh spent the previous couple of days watching movie on a few younger quarterbacks, together with Cam Ward. The No. 1 general choose within the 2025 NFL Draft flashed down the stretch of his rookie yr, albeit throughout a forgettable 3-14 marketing campaign for Tennessee.
NFL Media added on Monday that Harbaugh likes what he sees in Tennessee, due to Ward’s presence together with the group successfully being a clean slate.
Sure, the roster must be rebuilt, however the group has the ammunition to jump-start a turnaround. The Titans are armed with a projected $100-plus million in cap area, the second most within the NFL in the mean time. On high of that, they’ve the fourth general choose within the 2026 NFL Draft, and the presence of Ward permits them to take probably the greatest non-QB prospects within the class. If you pair these property with Ward, it is a robust start line for Harbaugh.
Rating head teaching vacancies: Which of those eight jobs is probably the most fascinating?
Jared Dubin
A Matt Ryan-John Harbaugh-led Falcons franchise appears like an awfully highly effective duo. The franchise has already employed its former MVP quarterback as its first-ever president of soccer, and now it must discover a head coach to exchange Raheem Morris. If Atlanta have been to lure Harbaugh, it might immediately possess one of many high mind trusts within the league, which is one thing Harbaugh seemingly acknowledges as effectively and the 2 sides have already performed an interview.
From a soccer perspective, the Falcons are a robust candidate on a few completely different fronts. They’ve a great deal of star energy on the roster. Offensively, Bijan Robinson is likely one of the finest operating backs within the NFL, whereas wideout Drake London is an up-and-coming star on the place in his personal proper. On protection, the unit options All-Professional cornerback A.J. Terrell and a few fascinating first-year gamers, comparable to move rusher James Pearce Jr. and security Xavier Watts. On high of that, the Falcons play in a really winnable division within the NFC South.
The main sticking level with this potential pairing is the quarterback place, particularly Harbaugh’s view of Michael Penix Jr. The previous first-round choose is coming off a season-ending ACL tear and has been up and down over the course of his younger profession. If Harbaugh thinks he can win with Penix, then the Falcons test a ton of containers.
There is a actually good argument to be made for the Giants as the highest job for Harbaugh. We famous that Cam Ward was one of many quarterbacks Harbaugh is reportedly watching tape on — effectively, so is Jaxson Dart.
New York is a vacation spot that has a younger quarterback in place, and Dart flashed a tremendously excessive ceiling throughout his rookie marketing campaign. That stated, he’ll should be reined in with a few of his scrambling, which Harbaugh ought to view as a simple repair. As soon as Dart will get that honed in, he’ll be fairly the dual-threat quarterback, which Harbaugh is aware of one thing about after teaching Lamar Jackson to 2 NFL MVP awards.
However the Giants are usually not only a good match due to Dart. The roster has potential, with wideout Malik Nabers and operating again Cam Skattebo headlining a younger skill-position group, together with a defensive position that options Brian Burns, Dexter Lawrence and Abdul Carter.
New York additionally has the fifth general choose within the 2026 NFL Draft, so there may be one other avenue to usher in an instant-impact participant. That is the kind of group that may flip round in a rush with the suitable coach, like Harbaugh, and he appears to acknowledge that.
Giants govt Chris Mara instructed The Athletic that he met Harbaugh for lunch on Sunday and had an off-the-cuff assembly on the coach’s home. The report provides that Harbaugh stays very within the New York job.
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