NFL

Another domino falls in the 2026 coaching carousel as Saleh gets his second crack at head coaching duties, this time with the Titans. Long heralded for his aggressive and unrelenting defensive tendencies, Saleh will look to improve upon his .357 career win rate as a head coach after a tumultuous tenure in New York after peaking at a 7-10 record in 2022 and 2023. He steps into a near full rebuild after the Titans unloaded numerous key pieces at the trade deadline.

Parker will interview with the Cowboys on Wednesday before heading straight to Green Bay to interview for the same defensive coordinator position. Viewed as a “rising star” in many inner circles, Parker appears to have a good chance at his first defensive coordinator gig at the NFL level.

Former Cardinals offensive coordinator Drew Petzing landed on his feet after less than two weeks on the open market following his termination in Arizona, hired by the Lions for the same position. Terrell, who worked under Petzing with the Cardinals, has also been a hot commodity this coaching cycle after picking up interviews with the Commanders and Chargers. Terrell has coached at the NFL level for eight season as he attempts to land an offensive coordinator gig for the first time in his career.

Jones has drawn a lot of interest this coaching cycle after contributing to a defense that allowed the fewest pass yards per game in 2025 at only 158.5. That was also part of the reason the Vikings faced one of the highest rush rates over expectation during the regular season. All of the interest in Jones has come for defensive coordinator vacancies, which makes sense considering the highest position he has held at the NFL level came in 2025 when he added defensive pass game coordinator to his resume.

The Steelers reportedly completed virtual interviews with seven coaches during the previous week, to include, Evero, Packers DC Jeff Hafley, 49ers OC Klay Kubiak, Chargers DC Jesse Minter, Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase, Rams DC Chris Schula, and Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver. The team will also reportedly conduct in-person interviews this week for the select few that made it through their first round of questioning. More to come following the unexpected departure of Mike Tomlin, who had been the league’s longest tenured coach.

Saleh is currently interviewing with the Titans for their head coaching vacancy. If he lives without a deal, he will be on his way to Arizona for a second meeting with the Cardinals on Tuesday. Saleh has made the rounds this coaching cycle, meeting with four different teams to discuss their head-coaching vacancies, with the Cardinals being the first team to put in a second request. The former Jets head coach returned to the Bay Area in 2025 to lead the Niners defense to a 13th-ranked finish in points allowed, and is clearly a valued candidate on the coaching market despite going 20-36 in his first try as a head coach.

Saleh was initially set to meet with the Titans virtually on Sunday, but instead pushed his interview to Monday so he could hold an in-person meeting with the team. His interview comes shortly after the team wrapped things up with former Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy, who is believed by some to be the front runner to land the position. Schultz reported earlier that Saleh, Nagy, and Jeff Hafley were believed to be the top three choices for the Titans, who recently saw Hafley get taken off the market by the Dolphins. If there’s any truth to Saleh and Nagy being the Titans’ top options, they’ll likely move quickly to close the deal with their preferred candidate as they look to find the coach best fit to lead the franchise and No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward into the future.

This news comes via NFL Network’s The Insiders, as Hafley is expected to sign a deal to become the next head coach of the Dolphins in the very near future. Ian Rapoport notes that while a deal still needs to be worked out, Hafley and the Dolphins are highly motivated to get a deal done. The move to Miami will reunite Hafley with new Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, who worked with Hafley in Green Bay over the last two seasons. Hafley re-joined the NFL ranks in 2024 after spending five seasons in the college ranks, and helped lead the Packers defense to top-12 finishes in both of his seasons. He’ll now look to round out his first coaching staff in the coming days as he prepares to lead a Dolphins team that finished 7-10 last season while ranking 24th or worst in scoring on both sides of the ball.

49ers DC Robert Saleh is meeting with the Titans this afternoon and giving his final sales pitch. McCormick adds that Packers DC Jeff Hafley may get “full-court press[ed]” by the Dolphins this afternoon before he can get to Tennessee. Nagy and the Titans have been a rumored pair for a long time — it was one of the first names to emerge after the firing of Brian Callahan. Perhaps the sudden availability of Sean McDermott will get the Titans to keep things cool for a bit — it sure doesn’t feel like anyone else is as imminently interested in hiring Nagy as they are, as the Titans are the only place so far we have with a reported second interview for the former Chiefs OC. Or perhaps this is going to wrap up in short order. Stay tuned.

Apparently, there wasn’t much to think about when deciding whether Andy Reid would be interested in running things back with Bieniemy. Bieniemy was a member of Reid’s coaching staff from 2013 to 2022 and served as offensive coordinator beginning in 2018 until leaving for the Commanders during the 2023 offseason. During Bieniemy’s time as OC, the Chiefs never finished worse than sixth in scoring, although some of that could also be a direct reflection of the team having Tyreek Hill in his prime to stretch the field and make defenders miss. Last year’s offensive coordinator, Matt Nagy, saw his contract expire at the end of this season and he is in the mix for multiple head coaching opening across the league. The Chiefs had their worst offensive season of the Patrick Mahomes era in 2025. Hopefully, an infusion of young talent this offseason coupled with the return if Bieniemy can lead to a bounce-back for an offense that was among the league’s best the last time he coached the team.