The Las Vegas Raiders are promoting run game coordinator/defensive line coach Rob Leonard to defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Leonard worked closely last season with Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby, whose future in Las Vegas remains uncertain. Leonard joined the Raiders in 2023 after spending one season as the Baltimore Ravens outside linebackers coach. Prior to Baltimore, Leonard spent three years (2019-21) with the Miami Dolphins, where he held multiple positions during his tenure.
Doyle, who at 29 happens to be the same age as star quarterback Lamar Jackson, becomes the youngest offensive playcaller in the NFL. Doyle was an offensive coordinator for one season with the Chicago Bears last year, but head coach Ben Johnson called the plays. This is a bold move by new Ravens coach Jesse Minter, who hired Doyle after interviewing him in Baltimore on Friday. Doyle has never been an offensive playcaller and has only seven years of NFL coaching experience.
Cal football general manager Ron Rivera may not be done with the NFL after all. The former coach of the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders interviewed recently with the Arizona Cardinals for their vacant coaching position, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic. Rivera, 64, took over the Golden Bears' football program less than year ago, aiming to use his NFL experience to help his alma mater fast-forward into the new world of college football, complete with Name, Image and Likeness,
"Before the season even started here, I knew that he wanted an opportunity to have his own show. He's been a head coach. He was Coach of the Year [in 2018 with Chicago Bears]. All the things I've said about him I still feel [that way] about him."
The Pittsburgh Steelers have reached an agreement to hire Mike McCarthy as their next coach, the team announced. McCarthy is set to succeed Mike Tomlin while becoming only the team's fourth head coach since Chuck Noll was hired way back in 1969. A Pittsburgh native, the 62-year-old McCarthy took the 2025 season off after spending the previous five seasons as the Dallas Cowboys' coach.
Orr, 33, succeeded Mike Macdonald as the Ravens' defensive coordinator in 2024. The unit regressed at the beginning of his debut season, but moving Kyle Hamilton back to a traditional safety role and inserting Ar'Darius Washington into the starting lineup stabilized the secondary. This past season, Baltimore's defense had another rough start with an especially weak pass rush. Another round of midseason adjustments - including trades for Alohi Gilman and Dre'Mont Jones - yielded some results, but they did not last through the end of the season.
The Atlanta Falcons hired Raheem Morris believing he could take a roster that had been built in slow and disappointing fashion under Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot and take it to the next level. It was a gamble on a coach players and fellow coaches love, one who had already had a stint in Atlanta where he played numerous roles, and one that overlooked Morris's losing record with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
He went to Cal, where he played receiver and in 1957 was voted team captain. Immediately after graduation, White joined a Cal coaching staff that would later include Walsh. After six seasons at Cal, White went to arch rival Stanford to join a staff that included Vermeil. In 1972, White was offered the head coaching job at both schools, and returned to his alma mater.
The news conference room at the Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid is bigger than the makeshift room at Hard Rock Stadium where Miami Dolphins players and coaches typically speak after a game. This one is more of an auditorium, complete with a stage and about 100 ivory white chairs with Real Madrid's crest stitched into each seat. It's where Miami Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II spoke following his team's overtime win over the Washington Commanders in November. While Gordon spoke, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel snuck off the side of the stage and sat in a chair in the second row.
Morris elected to go the "CEO" route as a head coach, bringing in rookie offensive and defensive playcallers and choosing to take on a higher-level management role. Given his experience on both sides of the ball, this approach made some sense. Unfortunately, Morris has struggled in that role and his lack of control in all three phases-and in-game management-has become a major issue for the Falcons.
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- If he loses to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, Aaron Glenn will be the first coach to start his New York Jets career with an 0-5 record. That covers more than 60 years, 18 full-time coaches and a lot of futility. Glenn didn't expect it to go like this, but he knew the inherent challenges in taking over a team that had experienced only one winning season in its previous 14.
They are both energetic and entertaining football lifers. They have made their marks over the past few decades as high-profile coaches, both in college and in the NFL. They have won at almost every stop, lifting every team. I bet we could have been really good friends, Harbaugh said of Carroll. Harbaugh and the Chargers and Carroll and the Raiders meet on Monday night in Las Vegas, a chance to renew an acquaintance that goes back years,
I don't think there was really a big reaction. Every team, every year is different. There's obviously a lot of people on a lot of teams in the league that we all have familiarity with and know well. Certainly there's still some people there that I know well and have relationships with that hopefully we'll have forever. Just excited for our opportunity.
Measuring the quality of NFL coaching is difficult. Beyond win-loss record, there are no stats. No wins above replacement or adjusted wins, either -- just wins, losses and the occasional tie.
