ESPN Insider Predicted Every Coaching Hire Wrong
- Fred
- 9 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Back on January 13, 2026, ESPN's Dan Graziano predicted who would fill the 9 (eventually 10) coaching vacancies in the NFL.
All I did was cut and paste the predictions, then I added 2 Comments:
I said Robert Saleh to the Raiders absolutely would not happen. They wanted a "name" coach.
I said Chris Shula to the Dolphins would be a slam dunk.
Directly from ESPN:
Arizona: Klint Kubiak
Atlanta: John Harbaugh
Baltimore: Kevin Stefanski
Cleveland: Mike McDaniel
Las Vegas: Robert Saleh
Miami: Chris Shula
Giants: Jeff Hafley
Pittsburg: Jesse Minter
Titans: Mike Nagy
Now how did Graziano do with his predictions? Not good.
Let's start with the Buffalo Bills. They surprisingly fired Sean McDermott after the predictions were made. Then, in the Bills' team press conference, the owner defended the firing of McDermott in this way, he said that the Bills needed a fresh voice to take the team to the next level. Then he promptly hired the team's Offensive Coordinator for the position.
So with that being said, it is hard to predict the future when dealing with NFL Owners, some who are no smarter than well versed Fantasy Players.
Who did each team hire?
Arizona: Mike LaFleur - The Brother of the Packers' Coach? Well, that's a surprise. Apparently they were waiting for the Rams' season to end.
Atlanta: Kevin Stefanski - Cleveland is a mess, the Browns did Stefanski a favor by firing him. The Falcons hired a new President of Football, CEO, GM, and Coach. On paper, they all seem like solid hires.
Baltimore: Jesse Minter - Apparently the Ravens were impressed with Minter during his previous stint with Baltimore.
Cleveland: Todd Munken - Yeah, good luck with the Browns. You're gonna need it.
Las Vegas: Klint Kubiak (Pending) - Supposedly the Raiders are waiting until after the Super Bowl to hire the Seahawks coach.
Miami: Jeff Hafley - The DC of the Packers? Apparently he's the choice of "discipline."
Giants: John Harbaugh - I think Harbaugh was easily the best coach available.
Pittsburg: Mike McCarthy - Steelers fans are going to be pissed when their team goes 10-7 again next year.
Titans: Robert Saleh - This seems to be a good fit, but---
If you're keeping track at home, that's 0 for 9. (Graziano also loses points for not knowing the Bills were going to fire their coach if he didn't make it to the AFC Championship Game.)
Now if I'm 0 for 9 at the above predictions, no one says anything, I'm just a dumb blogger. How did one of ESPN's top reporters go 0 for 9? Probably by listening to fickle owners. If you're an NFL Owner playing cloak and dagger with Dan Graziano over who you're going to hire as your next coach, that's a reflection on your stupidity, not his.
Why didn't anyone hire Mike Tomlin? Did he want to take a year off? I could find no confirmations that he interviewed anywhere.
Mike McDaniel pulled his name from the Cleveland coaching search to go back to being an Offensive Coordinator. The Browns hired Todd Munken right before the music stopped in this game of high-stakes musical chairs.
The NFL is a hard place to win. The league is set up for parity, and unless your name is Bill Belichick, few coaches have winning records year in and year out.
You say Mike Tomlin never had a losing record?
His records over the last 5 seasons:
9-7-1
9-8
10-7
10-7
10-7
But, more importantly, he hadn't won a playoff game in 10 years.
Owners want Super Bowls, not playoff appearance. I think sometimes they forget that there are 31 other owners who (supposedly) want the same thing.
Speaking of the Steelers, fans are demanding that the NFL be investigated for circumventing the Rooney Rule, since none of the new coaches are Black. I was surprised because I thought Robert Saleh was Black, but apparently he's Lebanese.
