Black Monday consistently results in the dismissal of multiple NFL coaches and front office executives. Which franchises decided to pursue significant changes, and who was formally relieved of their duties?
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Baltimore Ravens Part with John Harbaugh
If you had the Ravens firing John Harbaugh in 2025 on your bingo card, you deserve to win it all. This move is absurd, after 18 seasons with a record of 180-113 as an NFL head coach. He led the Ravens to more 12+ win seasons (5) than losing seasons (3). He also led his team to the playoffs 12 times. He holds a 13-11 playoff record and a Super Bowl ring. His resume is among the best in the NFL for active coaches.
He was fired after an 8-9 season in which his starting quarterback missed four games and played injured for much of the season, limiting his effectiveness as a runner. This came after 3 straight playoff seasons. This move suggests that Baltimore believes they are in a Super Bowl-or-bust situation. It likely did not help that they just watched their former Defensive Coordinator turn Seattle around in a single season with Sam Darnold at QB.
Harbaugh is now the most prominent figure in the current coaching cycle. It would be surprising if he were not selected for a Head Coach position in 2026. According to CBS Sports, within 45 minutes, seven teams contacted Harbaugh’s agent. I expect him to be highly sought after this offseason, and it would not surprise me in the slightest to see him have multiple offers to mull over.
As far as Baltimore goes, this firing was such a surprise, and there are rumors coming out that the locker room was fractured. The part here that is tough for the Ravens is they have had such an unprecedented run of success for so long that their hire will have to come in and immediately find success. Currently it appears Kevin Stefanski, and Brian Flores are the early favorites to replace Harbaugh.
I can’t imagine firing Harbaugh and hiring Stefanski would be a very popular move in Baltimore. Yes Stefanski found some success in Cleveland, however he did a lot more losing than winning, and he often had his struggles when his starting quarterback was injured. Lamar’s play style will always lend itself to him taking hits, but can Stefanski weather the storm when he misses time? The NFL is a fickle league, win now or be fired tomorrow.
Atlanta Blows it Up in Advance of 2026
After consecutive 8-9 seasons with quarterback troubles, Falcons owner Arthur Blank opted for another new direction, parting ways with Raheem Morris just two seasons after his hire. Morris was not a bad coach for Atlanta, in face quite the opposite as he had built one of the NFL’s top defenses in 2025.
Morris, however, had his defense playing among the best in the league down the stretch. The Falcons’ defense finished 2nd in sacks with 57, and allowed just over 200 passing yards per game. Winning four straight to finish the season, the defense went on a tear, producing 14 sacks, 7 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. They allowed just 88 points during the winning streak.
Morris was not alone in being let go. Longtime CEO Rich McKay was moved into a different role, and General Manager Terry Fontenot was fired. Greg Beadles adds CEO to his Team President Title. It is expected that the team will hire a President of Football Operations. The expectation is that it will be Matt Ryan. Who the Head Coach and General Manager will be is anyone’s guess currently, although a few candidates may make more sense than others.
John Harbaugh should be candidate 1A for the Falcons followed by every other coach on the open market. Harbaugh is the one coach on the open market currently that you can hire with confidence knowing he is fresh off of nearly 2 decades of winning in Baltimore. He has 12 trips to playoffs, five 12+ win seasons, and only 3 losing seasons during that stretch. He is by far the most qualified candidate, and the most promising. If the Falcons want to win, and win now, Harbaugh is the guy.
Raiders End Their Rebound Relationship
There is a saying in dating that in order to get all the way over your ex, you must date a new person. Oftentimes, during this process, a person’s judgment could be off, leading to less-than-stellar choices in partners. This sums up the series of hires the Raiders have had over the last 25 NFL seasons.
The Raiders seem to be consistently cycling in a series of rebound relationships, trying to forget what they nearly had back in 2001 before allowing Tampa Bay to hire Jon Gruden away. In the 25 NFL seasons since that fateful moment, the Raiders have had 14 head coaches, and the only name on that list to last more than 3 seasons…Jon Gruden, of course.
He is actually the only coach to do this since 1995, and he has done it twice in that 3-decade stretch, which means 13 coaches managed to last a total of 22 seasons. Less than 2 seasons per coach. Pete Carroll being fired after just one season is not abnormal for the Raiders. In fact, they had five others do the same thing in that 30-year stretch. Think about that for a moment.
With Carroll gone, the Raiders will look for their 15th Head Coach since Gruden left the Raiders on the cusp of a Super Bowl season, only to defeat them in that big game with his Buccaneers. Having hired both first-time and veteran coaches during their two-plus decade run of being the bottom dweller of the AFC West, one would expect them to cast a very wide net for this next hire.
Davis Webb has been named as one of their interview requests and hiring Webb would certainly make some sense. Not only do you impact a division rival, you also bring in a noted quarterback developer to solidify that position. Now Webb has not been a coordinator which worries some, but there are several coaches in the league to this day that never served as NFL coordinators but found success as an NFL head coach. Andy Reid anyone?
Browns Fire Kevin Stefanski
Kevin Stefanski has had a fairly abnormal coaching career. A collegiate defensive back at Penn, he graduated after five seasons and joined the front office of the school. He spent just 1 season in this position before being hired by the Minnesota Vikings as the Assistant to the Head Coach.
A glorified title for an errand boy at the time. Well, that errand boy quickly became a trusted asset within the Vikings organization. He slowly climbed the ranks over a 14-year stretch, eventually serving as the Offensive Coordinator for just one season in 2019.
The following season, in his 16th season as a coach, he was hired by the Browns as their Head Coach. He immediately led the franchise to its first playoff trip in years, winning his first of two Coach of the Year Awards. Ironically, these awards came during his only two winning seasons for the Browns.
Stefanski was fired after compiling an 8-26 record over the past two seasons. During that time, the Browns played 7 different quarterbacks. In the ultimate what-if situation, the Browns were 8-4 with Watson as the starter during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
At the time, the trade looked like a decent move, but since then, it spelled the downfall of the coaching staff. Watson has suited up for just 19 games since 2020. He holds a 9-10 record, throwing for just over 3,300 yards, 17 tds, and 12 ints. Not exactly what the Browns had hoped when pairing an elite QB with an offensive mastermind.
Cardinals Axe Jonathan Gannon
Sometimes, as a head coach, being regarded as a “guru” on one side of the ball or the other can buy you time you may not otherwise have gotten as a Head Coach. Sometimes, if one unit performs admirably but the others sink the ship, you may even see a Head Coach stick around long term; however, at some point, a coach has to have something to hang their hat on to survive.
While it’s hard to paint Gannon as a defensive guru, he did get hired as a Head Coach following a Super Bowl appearance as a Defensive Coordinator. The problem is his unit never found success in Arizona. In 2025, they were ranked 29th in scoring defense, allowing 28.7 points per game, and they were 27th in total defense, allowing 357.7 yards per game.
This was actually worse than 2024, when they allowed 22.3 points per game, good for 15th, and 21st in total defense with 342.5 yards per game allowed. His first year in 2023: 31st in scoring defense, 26.8 points per game, and 25th in total defense with 355.7 yards per game. This is downright embarrassing as a former defensive coordinator.
Considering he only spent two years calling plays for Philly, it should not be surprising if he is forced to wait a season before getting calls to be a coordinator. I could see him landing back in Philly working with Siriani once again. Another possibility is Indy with Shane Steichen. It would not be entirely shocking to see him emerge as the top candidate to replace Matt Eberflus in Dallas, either.
The Cardinals will likely look to an offensive minded coach in the future to hopefully jumpstart Kyler Murray‘s career and make use of his massive contract. As of right now Murray is nothing more than a failing project that is need of an offensive overhaul to succeed. I could see Arizona looking into John Harbaugh, Davis Webb, Joe Brady and a few others this offseason.
Previous openings:
Tennessee Titans
The Titans have already begun their search for their next Head Coach. They seem to be leaning heavily toward offensive minded coaches as well. Not a surprise given the young quarterback at the helm needing to be developed. Another Draft Pick at the most important position in football that they can not afford to waste. They have reached out to a long list of candidates about interviewing for the position:
Jason Garrett, Former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach
Mike McCoy Titans Offensive Coordinator/Interim Head Coach
Kevin Stefanski, Former Cleveland Browns Head Coach
Matt Nagy, Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator
Steve Spagnulo, Kansas City Chiefs Defensive Coordinator
John Harbaugh, Former Baltimore Ravens Coach
Vance Joesph, Denver Broncos Defensive Coordinator
Lou Anarumo, Indianapolis Colts Defensive Coordinator
Raheem Morris, Former Atlanta Falcons Head Coach
It appears the Titans would like to hire a candidate that has previous Head Coaching experience. Of the candidates listed above, Garrett, McCoy, Stefanski, Nagy, Spagnulo, Harbaugh, Joesph, and Morris have all served as Head Coaches in the past. This is not the worst idea given their recent run of coaches hired.
New York Giants
The Giants have seemingly barely begun their coaching search, but even with the slower start they still have expressed strong interest in John Harbaugh, Kevin Stefanski, Mike McCarthy, and their interim Head Coach Mike Kafka. Normally in this situation I would advocate for experience, however given how Jaxson Dart performed in 2025 under the guidance of Kafka should be closely examined.
Dart played well under Kafka, and showed flashes of what he can be in the NFL. Scheme fit and familiarity is everything for a young quarterback. Allowing him to build on what he learned in 2025 instead of having to start over in a new system with new verbiage and a new coaching staff seems like the smart move in my opinion. Now if there is a scenario where you can hire a John Harbaugh and retain Kafka as the Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach or something to that effect it could be a winning formula for New York.
Coaching Candidates
With 7 openings in the NFL currently, we can expect some of these coaches who were fired to receive some interest. Raheem Morris and John Harbaugh are the two who make the most sense for other teams. An 8-9 season should not be a firable offense, yet both men were fired following that exact record. Both coaches showed promise in their past stops and may just need a change of scenery and some more faith in their next stop.
There were multiple coaches who stuck with their franchises that likely felt their seat get warm at points. Mike McDaniel in Miami, Aaron Glenn in New York, and maybe even Brian Schottenheimer with Dallas, who some believed was hired as a stopgap for 2025. Instead, all three live to coach another day. They also now go into 2026 as the most likely names to be on the hot seat once again.
- NFL’s Black Monday Results in Several More Firings
- United Football League Completes Coaching Hires
- 2026 American Indoor Football Season Preview
- Ricky Proehl Returns to St. Louis, Hired as Battlehawks Head Coach for 2026
- Ryan Dinwiddie Begins Dealing for Ottawa in Preparation for 2026
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