NFL Coaching Hiring Reactions

Jack Danetz: John Harbaugh to New York

When the New York Giants hired John Harbaugh as their new head coach, it wasn’t a simple replacement; it was a statement that the franchise wanted to make real progress.

After parting ways with Brian Daboll midseason, the Giants explored multiple candidates, but Harbaugh quickly emerged as the front-runner.

Finishing 4-13 in the 2025 season, New York sat near the bottom of both offensive and defensive rankings, struggling to sustain drives and stop opponents.

The team averaged just 21.4 points per game on offense and allowed 27.5 points per game on defense.

Harbaugh arrives with a resume few coaches can match. Over 18 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, he posted a 180-113 regular season record, made 12 playoff appearances and won Super Bowl 47.

One of the most exciting parts of this hire is the talent already on the Giants’ roster. On offense, Harbaugh inherits QB Jaxson Dart, who has already shown flashes of being a franchise QB. Pro Bowl WR Malik Nabers is expected to return from injury next season, as well as breakout rookie RB Cam Skattebo returning from a season-ending injury.

Defensively, he’ll work with stars like Dexter Lawrence II, a dominant interior lineman, and rising playmakers such as edge rusher Abdul Carter and versatile defender Brian Burns. Tyler Nubin and Deonte Banks add play-making abilities to the secondary.

I’m excited about this hire, but it doesn’t come without the team's fixes. Harbaugh brings discipline, leadership and the ability to develop players. But this won't happen overnight; offensive consistency and defensive gaps remain.

This is a statement hire. With Harbaugh's track record, including developing a two-time MVP QB, the Giants could quickly go from inconsistent to a team that demands respect. The 2026 season just got interesting.

Brenden Kern: Jesse Minter to Baltimore

At the end of the 2023-2024 NFL season, the Baltimore Ravens made the wrong coaching decision.

After finishing the year with a 13-4 record, the Ravens seemed to have found the future of their coaching staff in defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

Macdonald’s defense led the league in points allowed per game (16.5), sacks (60) and takeaways (31). After allowing just 20 points in a playoff run that ended in the AFC Championship, all signs pointed towards Macdonald taking over as the Baltimore head coach.

Instead, the Ravens chose to run it back with John Harbaugh, allowing Macdonald to walk to the Seattle Seahawks.

Flash forward to the present day, and the Seahawks are the NFC representative in Super Bowl LX in Macdonald’s second season, and the Ravens' defense has floundered since the loss of their former coordinator.

After firing John Harbaugh this offseason, Baltimore was in desperate need of a defensive mind to regain the identity that led them in 2023.

Jesse Minter is the man for the job.

Previously the defensive coordinator for the Chargers, Minter led his unit to the fifth-best total defense in the league in his first year, after it had ranked 24th in points and 28th in yards.

More importantly, Minter runs a defensive scheme extremely similar to Mike Macdonald’s. This past season, both coaches ranked top three in zone rate, and both ranked top five in split-safety looks.

In addition, Minter’s defense in Los Angeles blitzed the fourth-least of any team in the NFL while generating the 11th most sacks.

His knack for getting the most out of his pass rushers was most evident when the Chargers traded for Odafe Oweh from Baltimore mid-season. Oweh, who did not have a sack in five games with the Ravens, recorded 10.5 sacks in 13 games under Minter.

The thought of what Minter could do with a defense led by All-Pro safety Kyle Hamilton should be frightening for any Ravens opponent this season. This Baltimore team, whose defense has plagued them in years past, should see a revitalization on that side of the ball.

The Ravens let Mike Macdonald leave the organization just two years ago. Hiring Jesse Minter is as close to a replacement as Baltimore could have gotten. Expect the Ravens to be right back towards the top of Super Bowl conversations next season.

Owen Buchholz: Mike McCarthy to Pittsburgh

After 19 non-losing seasons and one Super Bowl, Mike Tomlin’s tenure as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers officially came to a close following his 30-6 wild card loss to the Houston Texans. This marked Tomlin’s seventh consecutive playoff loss, with his last coming in the 2016 divisional round.

After Tomlin stepped down, the Steelers' front office was under heavy pressure to find a suitable successor. Since 1969, Pittsburgh has had just three head coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin.

All three have won a Super Bowl, with Noll winning four in the 70s.

Less than two weeks after their blowout loss in the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced their next head coach, Mike McCarthy.

There was a mixed reaction from Pittsburgh fans after the hire, but it was mostly negative.

The storyline and fairytale dream are there for McCarthy. A man from Greenfield, Pennsylvania, right outside of the Squirrel Hill tunnel, who’s bled black and gold since birth. The question is, is this what Pittsburgh really needs?

McCarthy has been a head coach in the NFL for 18 years and has just one Super Bowl title. He also has a career win percentage of 0.602, with most of his success coming under a legendary future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Sound familiar? This resume is eerily similar to Mike Tomlin, the coach Pittsburgh’s trying to move on from.

Pittsburgh has been in a constant state of mediocrity for nearly 10 years now. With McCarthy coming to take over, the mediocrity trend may continue in the steel city.

Brady Welsh: Kevin Stefanski to Atlanta

After an extremely disappointing 2025 campaign in a weak NFC South, the Falcons knew exactly what they needed to do. After firing GM Terry Fontenot and realizing that Raheem Morris was not cutting it, the Falcons needed an offensive mind to properly develop their young core. Legendary Falcons quarterback and new team President Matt Ryan made the call to bring in a big-name head coach who had just been let go: Kevin Stefanski.

Previously the head coach of the NFL laughing stock Cleveland Browns, Stefanski’s track record speaks for itself over the last five years. In 2020, he became the first Browns coach to lead the team to the playoffs in his debut season, securing their first playoff berth since 2002 with the team going 11-5. They crushed the rival Steelers in the wild card round for the franchise’s first postseason victory in 26 years before losing a divisional heartbreaker in Kansas City.

Stefanski earned AP Coach of the Year honors in 2020 and again in 2023 after making the playoffs a second time with five different quarterbacks getting snaps, the first Browns coach to ever win the award twice. The weak roster finally caught up in the end, as after winning a measly eight games combined over the last two seasons, Cleveland parted ways in a controversial move.

Now the 43-year-old Stefanski gets a well-deserved second chance in a better organization that’s on the rise. He led an offense that didn’t have much in Cleveland to the playoffs twice and now has an up-and-coming young quarterback, a top-three running back in the sport and an elite young receiver with a 1200-yard season under his belt.

There’s still work to be done, but if the Falcons want to run a weak NFC South for the near future, this is an incredible first step. The next five years in Atlanta are going to be fun.

Jack Danetz is a fourth-year majoring in media studies. To contact him, email jzd5987@psu.edu

Brendan Kern is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bwk537@psu.edu

Owen Buchholz is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email obb5166@psu.edu.

Brady Welsh is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bdw5435@psu.edu