Matt Johnson
The moment the Detroit Lions were eliminated by the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Road, NFL rumors erupted with buzz on coordinators Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. Both can now be hired immediately by teams, which could have a massive domino effect on the NFL coaching carousel.
Days out from the NFC Championship Game and the AFC Championship Game, there are currently six NFL head-coaching vacancies. The Dallas Cowboys, who started their coaching search last week, are likely to be the final team to hire a head coach.
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However, the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars are deep into their coaching searches. Each of the clubs is in the second round of head-coaching interviews, narrowing down the pool of candidates to a select number of finalists. Soon, hirings could be announced.
During an appearance on Sunday’s SportsCenter, ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter said that “most, if not all” of the vacancies in the NFL coaching carousel could be filled by the end of the week.
“That was one of the byproducts of that upset last night in Detroit, because the NFL coaching hiring cycle now has been ramped up dramatically and we can see most if not all of these openings filled by the end of this week.”
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter on the timeline for hirings in the NFL coaching carousel
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While coordinators with the Philadelphia Eagles (Kellen Moore), Washington Commanders (Kliff Kingsbury), Buffalo Bills (Joe Brady) and Kansas City Chiefs can’t be hired yet, that’s not the case for eliminated teams. Furthermore, Moore and Kingsbury are much more on the Cowboys’ radar than other teams.
Glenn’s choice could come down to the Jets and Saints, franchises that he has ties to from his playing days (New York) and as a defensive backs coach (New Orleans). Whichever job he picks, the team that misses out on him will likely have a backup option it wants to hire.
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Meanwhile, the Raiders and Bears seem to be competing for Johnson and the Lions’ offensive coordinator is now free to meet with both franchises in person before making his decision. Assuming he’s hired as head coach, that will fill up another vacancy.
While the Jaguars are still after Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is also reportedly high on their radar. If Johnson picks Chicago or Las Vegas, Jacksonville could then move quickly to hire Coen. Most importantly, the NFL coaching carousel should be moving quickly this week and that will open the door to first-time head coaches poaching assistants from other staffs for their coordinator positions.
