Detroit Lions Bring Back a Familiar Face

The Tennessee Titans will be in the market for a new Head Coach once Mike McCoy’s interim tenure comes to an unceremonious end in early January. Their search won’t begin in earnest until the final couple weeks of the season, but the groundwork is undoubtedly being laid already for their exhaustive interview process. President of Football Operations Chad Brinker led a detailed, multi-step hiring process last winter to land on Mike Borgonzi as the team’s new GM, and I expect that to be the model for how they go about the search for their new HC.

With a whole football world of candidates to choose from, here are 13 names to watch down the stretch of their seasons—3 in college, 10 in the NFL—who have everything to gain or to lose in bolstering their résumé’s:

Lane Kiffin

The head coach of Ole Miss is at the helm of the sixth-seeded team in the College Football Playoff with just Mississippi State left to play before the postseason. He’s on the cusp of potentially taking his program to a place it’s never been before, and yet the deafening noise surrounding him has to do with where he’ll be coaching next. It doesn’t take particularly high levels of cynicism to assume that’s just the way he (and his agency) likes it. If he can get through the Egg Bowl in one piece and make some noise in the playoffs, that noise will only grow louder—and the money dangled in front of him won’t get any smaller either.

Steve Sarkisian

Things haven’t gone exactly to plan for the head coach of the Texas Longhorns this season. The preseason number one seed in the AP poll has three losses to their name and are out of the playoff picture heading into the final weekend of the regular season, but they’ve finished strong and will likely be in a prominent bowl game. His name has already been floated (rather explosively) by Dianna Rusinni earlier this season as having interest in making the leap to the NFL. He aggressively denied this report, but usually where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

Marcus Freeman

Head Coach of the #9 ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Marcus Freeman is looking to avenge his 2024 loss to Ohio State in the National Championship. I’m not sure this Notre Dame team has that kind of juice, but all you have to do is punch your ticket to the postseason and get hot at the right time. They’ve got the running back to do it, I know that part is sufficient at the very least. If he can make another CFP splash this year, his name will get plenty of buzz for job openings around the nation.

Robert Saleh

Alright, now onto the NFL candidates. Generally speaking, this is the pool I feel strongly about producing the next head coach of the Tennessee Titans. College coaches making the leap have a… less than stellar history.

I wrote a full profile of Saleh’s candidacy for this opening which you can read here. In short, he’s the kind of culture-builder who deserves a second chance at being the head guy after getting the boot from New York. His defense has suffered the most catastrophic injuries of any such unit in the league this season (Nick Bosa, Fred Warner both out for the year) but he’s had his guys fighting valiantly nonetheless. They get a couple of easier weeks against the Browns and the Titans (say hello to your future interviewers, Robert!) before facing a gauntlet to propel them into the postseason: Chicago, Indianapolis, and Seattle.

Play those teams tough, show well in the postseason, and I think he lands another job somewhere this offseason. I think he wants it.

Mike McDaniel

The lone prospective coordinator on this list is current Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, who has been on rocky footing in his current job for most of this season. But the Dolphins fired their GM just before the trade deadline, and all the messaging out of Miami reflects a confidence in McDaniel from his bosses.

His team hasn’t quit, and things have been trending in a better direction after a rough start to the year. If they were to decide to send him packing after the season, he would be a dream OC candidate to pair with a defensive-minded head coach. But what McDaniel stands to gain or to lose down the stretch is his current seat at the top with the Dolphins, and I think he’ll achieve that goal.

Vance Joseph

Broncos DC Vance Joseph is one of the least-discussed head coaching candidates so far this cycle, but I think that’s a mistake that will remedy itself the closer we get to January. He’s coaching one of the best units in the league, and he’s widely regarded as one of the sharpest defensive minds in the sport. He’d be a second-time head coach, and has years of playcalling experience. He’s going to get some buzz whether people realize it or not, and a big finish to the year in Denver will only help his case.

Klint Kubiak

Perhaps the front runner in the eyes of Titans fans for the job today, Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak just got a front row seat to the Cam Ward show in Week 12 in Nashville. It’s funny how hot a name can get with one change of scenery: Kubiak burst onto the scene as the Saints’ OC when they started 2024 red-hot, but then faded as his team did. Joining the Seahawks to scheme up Sam Darnold, JSN and crew has put him firmly back into the limelight as a top candidate this cycle. Just don’t fade down the stretch…

Jesse Minter

Chargers DC Jesse Minter is one of the hottest young names in the game today, and he has Jim Harbaugh’s gravity to thank for that in part. But he’s no nepo-candidate; Minter has captained one of the tightest ships relative to the talent as his disposal in LA for a couple of seasons now. He lacks the experience many others on this list have, but if his defense can help get a limping Chargers offense into the postseason to try to make some noise, he’ll start to get looks.

Arthur Smith

I am morbidly curious to see how this potential reunion would be received by Titans faithful. Everywhere the former Titans and now Steelers offensive coordinator has gone since leaving Tennessee has grown grumpy over him. His offense is effective, but you have to live with the quirks of the way he likes to deploy his personnel. And right now in Pittsburgh, his reputation and the offense he’s leading is heading in the wrong direction narratively. He stands to lose consideration from any prospective team if he can’t keep the Steelers from doing what they seem to always do: be good, then fade quietly into a draft pick in the early 20’s.

Mike LaFleur

Next, let’s look at a pair of McVay assistants. His tree is often picked from by teams around the league, and for good reason. The Rams are an elite operation. His current OC in LA, Mike LaFleur (younger brother of Packers HC Matt LaFleur), has been at the helm of his unit for three seasons. He doesn’t call the plays—McVay handles that—so I’m not sure the Titans want to go down that road again like they did with Callahan. But if they aren’t bothered by this fact, the Rams may very well win the Super Bowl this season. That’s a pretty strong thing to have on your resume.

Chris Shula

The DC of the Rams is Chris Shula, and he’s been with the Rams since 2015 in various roles. He’s been in charge of the defense now for two seasons, and the shine of the Rams’ and McVay’s success is going to be carried by him into any interview room just the same as it will be by LaFleur.

Matt Nagy

Everybody’s favorite dot-connecting for a relationship hire by Mike Borgonzi is Chiefs OC Matt Nagy. He’s a former head coach, sure, but he’s not the play caller. Considering that fact, on top of the Chiefs not being able to have much more success than what they’ve had the past half decade, I’m not sure how much he can actually help or hurt himself down the stretch of this season. The expectation remains, though: he’s probably getting an interview!

Mike Kafka

And finally, we have Giants OC-turned-Interim head coach Mike Kafka. Click here for the profile I did on him potentially parlaying this experience into a full-time head coaching job. Needless to say, how he looks with the Giants the rest of this season will go a very long way for his prospects of ever landing a head job.