Wild Card Weekend isn’t just the start of the NFL playoffs. It’s also when teams without a head coach or general manager could begin making hires. The Giants and Jaguars, in particular, seem poised to make big decisions in the coming days, if not hours. We explore all of the latest news and rumors.
NFL News and Rumors Today
Eight NFL franchises made coaching changes since the start of the 2021 season, and three have fired their general managers. Here’s today’s NFL news and rumors and those organizations continue plotting their futures.
Chicago Bears
Fired: Matt Nagy (HC), Ryan Pace (GM)
Scheduled/requested HC interviews:
- Todd Bowles
Buccaneers defensive coordinator - Jim Caldwell
Former Lions, Colts head coach - Brian Daboll
Bills offensive coordinator - Matt Eberflus
Colts defensive coordinator
Monday, January 17 - Brian Flores
Former Dolphins head coach
Friday, January 14 - Leslie Frazier
Bills defensive coordinator - Nathaniel Hackett
Packers offensive coordinator
Saturday, January 15 - Byron Leftwich
Buccaneers offensive coordinator - Doug Pederson
Former Eagles head coach
Wednesday, January 12 - Dan Quinn
Cowboys defensive coordinator
Scheduled/requested GM interviews:
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Browns vice president of football operations - Morocco Brown
Colts director of college scouting - Ran Carthon
49ers director of player personnel - Glenn Cook
Browns vice president of player personnel - Ed Dodds
Colts assistant general manager - Jeff Ireland
Saints assistant general manager
Friday, January 14 - Champ Kelly
Bears assistant director of player personnel
Thursday, January 13 - Omar Khan
Steelers vice president of football and business administration - Joe Schoen
Bills assistant general manager - Eliot Wolf
Patriots director of scouting
The latest: The Bears are running concurrent searches — one for GM, and another for HC. It keeps them in the mix for the best candidates for each opening, but it creates a tricky dynamic. They certainly don’t want to hire one without making sure the other is good with it. As we’ve seen time and again, dysfunction and failure arise when coach and general manager aren’t in lockstep.
Denver Broncos
Fired: Vic Fangio (HC)
Scheduled/requested interviews:
- Eric Bieniemy
Chiefs offensive coordinator - Brian Callahan
Bengals offensive coordinator - Jonathan Gannon
Eagles defensive coordinator - Luke Getsy
Packers QB coach/passing game coordinator
Friday, January 14 - Aaron Glenn
Lions defensive coordinator
Thursday, January 13 - Nathaniel Hackett
Packers offensive coordinator
Thursday, January 13 - Jerod Mayo
Patriots LB coach - Kellen Moore
Cowboys offensive coordinator - Kevin O’Connell
Rams offensive coordinator - Dan Quinn
Cowboys defensive coordinator
The latest: The Broncos’ wide, diverse search crawls on. They completed interviews with the two Packers assistants during Green Bay’s bye week, and Glenn had ample time to sit for his because the Lions’ season is over. Each of Denver’s other seven candidates — Bieniemy, Callahan, Gannon, Mayo, Moore, O’Connell, and Quinn — have games this weekend.
Houston Texans
Fired: David Culley (and offensive coordinator Tim Kelly)
Scheduled/requested interviews:
- Brian Flores
Former Dolphins head coach
Friday, January 14 - Joe Lombardi
Chargers offensive coordinator
Saturday, January 15 - Hines Ward
Florida Atlantic special assistant to the head coach
Saturday, January 15
The latest: The Texans could have the quickest turnaround of any team. Don’t be surprised if they announce a hire as early as Monday. Interviews with their leading candidates — Flores and Mayo — would satisfy the Rooney Rule, and the sense is one of those two candidates will get the job if they want it. Flores, who met with the Texans Friday, has known Texans GM Nick Caserio for some two decades.
Jacksonville Jaguars
Fired: Urban Meyer (HC)
Scheduled/requested interviews:
- Darrell Bevell
Jaguars interim head coach
Tuesday, January 11 - Todd Bowles
Buccaneers defensive coordinator
Friday, January 3 (Jan. 7 has also been reported) - Jim Caldwell
Former Colts and Lions head coach
Tuesday, January 4 - Matt Eberflus
Colts defensive coordinator
Saturday, January 15 - Nathaniel Hackett
Packers offensive coordinator
Friday, January 14 - Byron Leftwich
Buccaneers offensive coordinator
Friday, January 7 - Kellen Moore
Cowboys offensive coordinator
Friday, January 7 - Bill O’Brien
Alabama offensive coordinator
Thursday, January 13 - Doug Pederson
Former Eagles head coach
Thursday, December 30 - Dan Quinn
Cowboys defensive coordinator
After Cowboys’ regular season
The latest: Expect some resolution here soon. Quinn is the only known candidate yet to sit with Shad Khan, and it’s entirely possible the Jaguars already know he won’t be their guy. Jacksonville’s decision to get a jump-start on the process means they’ll get a head-start on second-round interviews, which will occur in the coming days.
Las Vegas Raiders
Resigned: Jon Gruden (HC)
Scheduled/requested interviews: N/A
The latest: The Las Vegas Raiders’ search could officially begin as soon as 7:30 PM ET Saturday. The Raiders and Bengals open the 2021 NFL postseason, and a loss by Las Vegas could mean the end of Rich Bisaccia’s time as coach. A win, however, makes things very interesting in Sin City.
Miami Dolphins
Fired: Brian Flores (HC)
Scheduled/requested interviews:
- Thomas Brown
Rams assistant head coach - Brian Daboll
Bills offensive coordinator
Sunday, January 16 - Leslie Frazier
Bills defensive coordinator
Sunday, January 16 - Vance Joseph
Cardinals defensive coordinator
- Mike McDaniel
49ers offensive coordinator - Kellen Moore
Cowboys offensive coordinator - Dan Quinn
Cowboys defensive coordinator
The latest: Stop us if you’ve heard this before: The Miami Dolphins fired a coach that didn’t believe in its first-round quarterback and hired one to fix said QB. They did it in 2016 with Adam Gase and Ryan Tannehill. Now Ross apparently wants to run it back. NFL Network reported Saturday that, barring completely unforeseen, Tua will be the Dolphins’ starter in 2022 and the coach they hire to replace Brian Flores will be tasked with developing him, not replacing him.
Minnesota Vikings
Fired: Mike Zimmer (HC), Rick Spielman (GM)
Scheduled/requested HC interviews:
- Todd Bowles
Buccaneers defensive coordinator - Nathaniel Hackett
Packers offensive coordinator
Saturday, January 15 - Kellen Moore
Cowboys offensive coordinator - Jonathan Gannon
Eagles defensive coordinator - Kevin O’Connell
Rams offensive coordinator - Dan Quinn
Cowboys defensive coordinator - DeMeco Ryans
49ers defensive coordinator
Scheduled/requested GM interviews:
- Kwesi Adofo-Mensah
Browns vice president of football operations - Brandon Brown
Eagles director of player personnel - Glenn Cook
Browns vice president of player personnel - Monti Ossenfort
Titans director of player personnel - Ryan Poles
Chiefs director of player personnel - Catherine Raîche
Eagles vice president of football operations - John Spytek
Buccaneers vice president of player personnel - Eliot Wolf
Patriots player personnel consultant
The latest: The Vikings were late to the party, but their coaching search is now picking up serious steam. NFL Network reported Saturday that they have put in requests for at least four candidates.
New York Giants
Fired/retired: Joe Judge (HC), Dave Gettleman (GM)
Scheduled/requested HC interviews:
- None announced
Scheduled/requested GM interviews:
- Ran Carthon
49ers director of pro personnel
w/c January 17 - Ryan Cowden
Titans vice president of player personnel
Friday, January 14
- Quentin Harris
Cardinals vice president of player personnel
Thursday, January 13 - Joe Hortiz
Ravens director of player personnel
Saturday, January 15 - Monti Ossenfort
Titans director of player personnel
Friday, January 14 - Adam Peters
49ers assistant general manager
w/c January 17 - Ryan Poles
Chiefs executive director of player personnel
Thursday, January 13 - Joe Schoen
Bills assistant general manager
Wednesday, January 12 - Adrian Wilson
Cardinals vice president of pro personnel
Wednesday, January 12
The latest: Saturday very well could be the day the Giants name their next general manager. It would behoove them not to wait much longer, considering that the longer they wait, the shallower the pool of HC candidates will get.
Seattle Seahawks
Fired: N/A
Scheduled/requested interviews: N/A
The latest: There has been no official word either way from the Seahawks on Pete Carroll. It seems likely that the veteran head coach will remain. However, after an eventful offseason last year, Seattle remains a place to watch this year.