The Titans have parted ways with coach Brian Callahan. As to the question of why, we outlined that pretty thoroughly two weeks ago. Callahan maintained his position after a historic meltdown by the Cardinals in Week 5, but again produced an anemic offense the following week against the bottom-tier Raiders.
That led to the Titans getting the earliest head start on this year’s head coaching market, providing new general manager Mike Borgonzi with a longer runway with which to evaluate candidates. This is a critical hire, given that the future of No. 1 pick Cam Ward, an immensely talented player who has succeeded despite a glaring lack of structure, hangs in the balance. So, too, does the Titans’ ability to attract fans and sponsors for a brand new stadium being constructed in Nashville.
That’s why two people familiar with the search have already mentioned leadership as a top priority for this job, above what we would assume is a desire to mold a young quarterback.
Each year, I compile a list of the rising future head coaches in the NFL, where I do my best to identify the coaches who will make up the upcoming carousel. While this year’s edition of that list is still in progress, here are some early names that I imagine will make up the conversation. And, to note before we get started, you’ll probably wonder why the list is somewhat long. My response would be that, by firing Callahan this early, the Titans are clearly buying themselves time to do homework. The interview list—after team ownership became so infatuated with Callahan the previous time this job was open that, one candidate told me, made him feel like it was already a done deal—will offer the opposite of the open-and-shut process that brought Callahan to Tennessee in the first place.
With that in mind, here are 20 names.
Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator, Chiefs
There was a groundswell for Nagy building during the last cycle, with some wondering if the former Bears head coach—who actually had success with Mitch Trubisky and had his body of work placed under a different perspective during the fallout of the Matt Eberflus era—has served enough time in purgatory. While he is coaching the greatest quarterback of all time, the Chiefs’ offense has been functional enough despite a waning list of complementary skill-position players. Nagy is also a former quarterback and also has head coaching experience. He has worked with Borgonzi in the past.
Arthur Smith, offensive coordinator, Steelers
Smith was a favorite of ownership during his time as the offensive coordinator of the Titans (2019 and ’20). He managed to retrofit the Kyle Shanahan–Matt LaFleur offense into a powerhouse for running back Derrick Henry. Like Nagy, he is a former head coach (of the Falcons) who had his previous body of work looked at differently given what happened to his successor. Raheem Morris, despite a marked upgrade at quarterback, finished with just one more win than Smith in his first year and is 2–2 this season.
Kliff Kingsbury, offensive coordinator, Commanders
Kingsbury has seen the light. As a former Cardinals head coach who dealt with some serious organizational dysfunction, he knows he may only have one more chance at the big time. He’s being selective. I have a feeling Kingsbury would have been interested in the Cowboys’ job last year, given his deep Texas roots, but Jerry Jones went on to conduct one of the least inspiring searches we’ve seen in a decade. Kingsbury, to my knowledge, never got an interview. Would the chance to work with another toolsy college-fresh quarterback in a relatively peaceful market appeal to him? Who knows? But the NFL has definitely come back around on Kingsbury, whose work with Jayden Daniels has ushered in a new wave of offensive thinking at the NFL level. His swift, no-huddle approach could be a boon for Ward.
Marcus Freeman, head coach, Notre Dame
Freeman appeals to the NFL level because the Notre Dame job is basically an NFL head coaching gig. It is a true blueblood program where salesmanship is part of the job, and the Titans are in desperate need of a salesman. Freeman has worked with an NFL-heavy staff, importing former defensive coordinator Al Golden to the Bengals last year. Notre Dame defensive coordinator Chris Ash spent 2021 to ’23 with the Jaguars and Raiders.
Eddie George, head coach, Bowling Green State
George is a Titans legend who interviewed for the Bears’ head coaching job last year. He turned around a Tennessee State program that played at Nissan Stadium before leaving to go to Bowling Green. George could ride the wave of recent player coaching candidates like Dan Campbell and DeMeco Ryans, who have transformed the coaching interview process in recent years. He would also fit into the leadership-first mantra that the Titans will use as a compass during this process.
Mike Kafka, offensive coordinator, Giants
There are people who love Kafka, and now that Jaxson Dart is playing well the former Andy Reid quarterback could once again find himself in the mix. Kafka, who has drawn rave reviews from the NFL’s diversity coaching initiative (he is part Puerto Rican), is now calling plays for one of the league’s more exciting offenses, piloted by a fourth-round pick at running back, a late-first-round pick at quarterback and an offensive line that, by the week, struggles to patch together five healthy starters. The Giants’ recent victory over a Vic Fangio defense with a practice squad receiver leading the way should be at the forefront of Kafka’s highlight reel.
Vance Joseph, defensive coordinator, Broncos
Joseph, like Nagy and Smith, deserves a second look after his initial foray as a head coach (with the Broncos) included a disastrous quarterbacking situation that was laid on Joseph and was impossible to overcome. Joseph has been one of the league’s best defensive coordinators each of the past two seasons. He has been in the top three in points and yards allowed in 2024 and 2025, and currently coaches a unit leading the league in EPA per play.
Josh Grizzard, offensive coordinator, Buccaneers
Each of the past two seasons, the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator has gotten a head coaching job. Following in the footsteps of Dave Canales and Liam Coen, Grizzard, a Yale graduate, came up in a formative Dolphins coaching staff that included a young Ben Johnson, Shane Day and Lou Anarumo. Baker Mayfield has again evolved from win-with quarterback to a legitimate MVP candidate in 2025.
Robert Saleh, defensive coordinator, 49ers
Saleh’s tenure as the Jets’ head coach looks markedly different now that Aaron Glenn has started the season 0–6. Saleh’s time with the Jets was marked with a clinically aggressive level of meddling from ownership that derailed a slower build. He returned to San Francisco and has helped keep an injury-riddled unit afloat while adding some much-needed emotional uplift to a team that has struggled to recover from a Super Bowl loss two seasons ago. Saleh was a heavy presence on the interview circuit last year.
Joe Brady, offensive coordinator, Bills
Brady has been a major NFL curiosity since leading Joe Burrow’s LSU Tigers to the national championship in 2019. Despite a wayward stop in Carolina, Brady has recovered his coaching star rise in Buffalo, where he took over for Ken Dorsey in-season and has helped retrofit this Bills offense into one of the most balanced units Josh Allen has ever played in. Despite the lack of a true dominant No. 1 wide receiver, the Bills lead the league in overall EPA and are fifth in rushing EPA.
Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator, Seahawks
Kubiak has been a schematic counterpoint to the highly innovative Mike Macdonald in Seattle and is piloting one of the most efficient offenses in the NFL. Kubiak generated some early head coaching buzz a year ago when the Saints started 2–0 before making the move to Seattle. The son of Gary Kubiak, a Super Bowl–winning head coach with the Broncos, Klint is an NFL lifer with an integral stop in San Francisco during the 49ers 2023 Super Bowl run. Those who know him praise his patience and interpersonal skills.
Adam Stenavich, offensive coordinator, Packers
Stenavich has done important work in Green Bay, despite not being the primary play-caller (though he’s had opportunities and is heavily tied in with Matt LaFleur in terms of crafting the weekly game plan). The Packers have turned into a dominant running outfit, which draws on Stenavich’s origins in the offensive line room. Skilled in creating a tied-together run-pass scheme, Stenavich’s former players praised the overhaul he was able to achieve in the post–Mike McCarthy era, crafting a more dynamic play-action heavy outfit. Stenavich also has a tough-guy personality cut with a dry sense of humor that players say helps disarm difficult situations and puts them into a mindset to learn.
Todd Monken, offensive coordinator, Ravens
While the Ravens are in the doldrums right now, Monken’s transformation of Lamar Jackson’s career has been undeniable. While Jackson deserves plenty of credit, Monken has overseen what should have been back-to-back MVP seasons in 2023 and ’24. Each of the past two seasons marked the best first-down rates in Jackson’s career. Monken, 59, has head coaching experience at the University of Southern Mississippi and was a player favorite at Georgia during the Bulldogs’ dynastic run with Kirby Smart and Stetson Bennett.
Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator, Chargers
Last year, Jim Harbaugh predicted that Minter would be a head coach in 2025. And despite a bafflingly silent coaching carousel last year, the Chargers are still one of the toughest outs in football, despite being wrecked on the injury front yet again. Minter, 42, also spent time on the influential Ravens staff before teaming up with John’s brother at Michigan for the national title run.
Chris Shula, defensive coordinator, Rams
Shula has come from the depths of Sean McVay’s coaching staff to create post–Aaron Donald havoc the likes of which this team has not seen since McVay’s Super Bowl run in 2021. The grandson of legendary NFL coach Don Shula currently coaches a unit that is in the top five in yards allowed, points allowed, takeaways and rushing touchdowns allowed. Shula is great at the podium, skilled at explaining dense concepts and has crafted a pressure-heavy defense that can simulate much larger pass rushes with just a few bodies.
Brian Flores, defensive coordinator, Vikings
Flores, the former Dolphins head coach, was stunningly left without a chair during last year’s head coaching interview cycle, despite producing a historically great defense (he is following a similar path in 2025, with the league’s second-best EPA per play allowed behind only Denver). Flores’s player-led, guerilla approach to defense is incredibly popular and has drawn in the appreciation of veterans and younger prospects alike. Flores was able to learn from a tumultuous Dolphins tenure and has earned the high praise of Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who told me during the 2024 coaching cycle that Flores was a slam-dunk candidate.
Anthony Campanile, defensive coordinator, Jaguars
Campanile has stormed onto the scene as Jacksonville’s first-year defensive coordinator, leaving behind a turnover machine in Green Bay to create another with the Jaguars. The revival of existing talent on the Jaguars’ roster, alongside Campanile’s blueblood coaching background—he is part of a Nick Sirianni–like family coaching dynasty—make the affable and energetic coordinator a fresh new face on the interview circuit this year.
Davis Webb, Declan Doyle, Grant Udinski
I’ll call this group the Three Musketeers. I bundled them together specifically because none are currently play-callers, but all of them work for seminal offensive coaches and are on a head coaching fast track. Webb is the Broncos’ pass-game coordinator, Doyle is the Bears’ offensive coordinator and Udinski is the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator. Each could be worth taking a chance on early before their bingo card gets too full. Udinski was a key part of the Sam Darnold revival in Minnesota last year, as well as Trevor Lawrence’s improvement in 2025. His name also came up in the recent spat between Robert Saleh and Liam Coen. Doyle was at one point the youngest position coach in the NFL under Sean Payton before getting plucked for Ben Johnson’s offensive coordinator role and Webb, a former NFL quarterback, is a favorite on Payton’s staff who is already drawing interest as a future head coach.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Twenty Candidates to Replace Brian Callahan as Titans Head Coach.
