After a busy few hours, it seemed the drama of the NFL’s Black Monday (the day after the final regular-season game when most head coaches are fired) was over. But John Harbaugh getting the boot made things a whole lot more interesting again.
Advertisement
Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens announced that they had parted ways on Tuesday, a couple of days after a loss to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers cost Harbaugh’s team a playoff berth. But according to his agent, Harbaugh was not lonely for long. And he likely won’t be on the unemployment line for much longer either.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Harbaugh’s agent said that within 45 minutes of the head coach beginning his life after the Ravens, he received calls from seven different teams interested in him. If you’ve been following along this week, you know that after Baltimore let Harbaugh go, the number of head coaching vacancies in the NFL rose to seven. And there are seven teams reportedly interested in him.
That means representatives for the New York Giants, Tennessee Titans, Atlanta Falcons, Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and Arizona Cardinals likely all contacted Harbaugh’s people. But that’s only six teams. And the report said there were seven interested.
And while math test scores are hitting all-time lows across America, even the least intelligent can figure this arithmetic out. Who is that mysterious seventh team? NFL fans were not shy about throwing ideas out there.
“The funniest explanation here is that Baltimore immediately regretted their decision and begged him back,” one fan hilariously suggested on X.
The funniest explanation here is that Baltimore immediately regretted their decision and begged him back. https://t.co/q1q6taUunW
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) January 7, 2026
“That means a franchise that currently has a head coach reached out to Harbaugh’s agent,” calculated Giants beat writer Art Stapleton.
“The twist: Dolphins are the secret team. Mike McDaniel then becomes Lamar’s OC in Baltimore after Robert Saleh is hired as head coach,” posited one podcaster.
“Has to be Tampa or Dallas,” guessed another fan.
Without a doubt, the funniest possibility suggested above is the one that would see Harbaugh getting a call from Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, mere minutes after canning him, to tell him that he already regrets his decision.
That is almost certainly not the case, however. As Stapleton so shrewdly pointed out, seven teams calling Harbaugh means there is one franchise out there that is making calls to other head coaches while they already have one in-house. That’s the NFL head coaching equivalent of cheating! Shame on you, mystery team!
And while this is pure speculation, we would agree with that last fan that it certainly seems like something shady Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would do.
