It’s not even NFL Conference Championship weekend yet, and we’ve already got four head coaching vacancies filled. But because of how crazy this year’s coaching carousel has been, there are actually still more open jobs than ones that have been taken.
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There are six posts still available, to be exact. Half of them are in the AFC North (Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns), and the other three are the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, and Las Vegas Raiders.
Most of those are actually pretty decent jobs, but no doubt the most attractive are the three teams that had at least eight wins last year: the Bills, Steelers, and Ravens. Fox color commentator and former All-Pro tight end Greg Olsen was asked which of the remaining vacancies he views as the most appealing.
“I think right now Buffalo is very appealing because every coach wants a quarterback, right? Every coach feels it’s the hardest position to get,” Olsen said on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce.
“And if I have one, now I can put my focus everywhere else… You walk into Buffalo, you say okay that box is checked for eternity,” added the analyst.
As Olsen said, “Most of these jobs, a lot of them are open because the teams weren’t very good.” And that’s not the case in Pittsburgh or Baltimore, and especially not with the Bills, who were just one bad call away from the AFC Championship Game.
However, Baltimore is pretty close to being as good a job as Buffalo’s… if not better. They have some really good pieces on defense when healthy. And of course, they have Lamar Jackson. Did Olsen forget that the two-time MVP is a pretty good quarterback, too? No, he just thinks the Ravens’ next head coach will have some bigger shoes to fill than Buffalo’s.
“You get rid of a guy like John Harbaugh. Are you convinced you can replace him with a better coach?” Olsen asked. “That’s a tall task. That’s not a given just because you make change that it’s gonna be change for the better… Quarterback being checked with Lamar is a great place to start, but uhm… it’s gonna be fascinating.”
With all three of Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore moving on from more defensive-minded/motivational type coaches rather than offensive geniuses, it will be interesting to see if they zig or zag with their next appointment here.
Steelers, Ravens are much further ahead in coaching search
The Steelers have interviewed 10 candidates, and seven of them have defensive backgrounds. The betting odds say that Rams DC Chris Shula is the favorite for the job, with Vikings DC Brian Flores a close second and Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy coming in third.
The Ravens, meanwhile, have interviewed, scheduled interviews, or conducted second interviews with 12-15 different candidates. It’s anyone’s guess who they want as they continue to cast a wide net, but it does look like Chargers DC Jesse Minter is pulling ahead of the pack, according to online buzz.
For the Bills, the search is just barely getting underway with Sean McDermott losing his job the day after the Divisional Round loss. Seahawks OC Klint Kubiak and former Giants HC and Bills OC Brian Daboll are the frontrunners for that gig.
