#coaching-candidates

#coaching-candidates

John Harbaugh has completed his first interview. Although the Giants have come up as the most interested party, they did not land the first meeting. The Falcons did. Atlanta announced an interview with Harbaugh occurred Monday. More meetings will be expected for the in-demand candidate, but it is certainly notable the Falcons completed the first one. Even with the Giants showing persistent interest, the Falcons joined them in closely monitoring Harbaugh even before the Ravens fired him.

The NFL playoffs begin Saturday, but we're also keeping an eye on coach movement. What's new with Mike Tomlin and Pittsburgh? How did the John Harbaugh-Ravens split go down? What are the Raiders thinking after securing the No. 1 pick and moving on from Pete Carroll? The NFL coaching carousel is spinning fast, and only accelerating with Harbaugh's dismissal. We canvassed sources across the league to gather intel on potential moves every team could make.

The Raiders have a solid core of players, and could be considered one of the better worst teams in recent memory. Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, and Kolton Miller are all mainstays on the offense, while Maxx Crosby is under contract next season and could be used as trade bait. Aside from Jeanty, the Raiders also made four picks inside the top 100 last year, giving them a young crop of players to work with.

As always, in season shopping is a bit more limited, and impulse buying has been a mistake in the past and accepting the best of inferior options is part of what has got the Leafs into their current predicament. Although Brad Treliving provided Craig Berube with a second vote of confidence on December 23, it probably doesn't hurt to at least know who is out there and if there is a potential fit for the Leafs on the coaching or managing side of the business.

Dan Graziano is a senior NFL national reporter for ESPN, covering the entire league and breaking news. Dan also contributes to Get Up, NFL Live, SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, Sunday NFL Countdown and Fantasy Football Now. He is a New Jersey native who joined ESPN in 2011, and he is also the author of two published novels. Oct 8, 2025, 06:30 AM ET

In my opinion, I've always maintained both publicly and privately that Atlanta would likely stay in-house when it came to their next manager. The cynic in me figured that the writing was on the wall when Fredi González returned to the fold as the "new" third base coach for the Braves earlier this season. Even if it wasn't Fredi, Walt Weiss is here as well and while he's never sat in the big chair for the Braves, he has had that experience with the Rockies.

Martin's experience stems from difficult personal background, shaping his football philosophy influenced by greatness—evolving possession play aspirations from high-ranking clubs like Barcelona.