Titans seem to make the cut for head coach John Harbaugh after glowing report from national insider

It seems John Harbaugh will be giving the Titans a serious look after all.

Easton Freeze — Tennessee Titans Beat Writer
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There are a staggering eight head coaching seats to fill in the 2026 NFL coaching carousel, and the whole dance is in a holding pattern waiting on a move from John Harbaugh.

Since his shocking firing the Tuesday after Week 18, Harbaugh and the Ravens’ job have been independently considered the top of their respective heaps.

But would he ever seriously consider the Tennessee Titans opening when other, more stable franchises have jobs, and he could always take the year off? If you’d asked me last week, my answer was leaning towards a firm and realistic “no.” But after all the smoke we’ve seen this weekend, I have significantly softened my position to a cautiously optimistic “maybe.” Here’s why:

Have the Titans made John Harbaugh’s short list?

They say not to bury the lede, but in this case, it’s best to work through it chronologically. There are new developments in this fluid situation at the bottom of this article, but let’s see how we got there first.

The Ravens fired Harbaugh, shocking the whole league. Holy cow, they actually did it. So he jumped to the top of everybody’s list of candidates, and his agent’s phone reportedly rang off the hook with calls from teams who need a head coach (and at least a couple who, technically, don’t).

Harbaugh made it clear through the press that he would take some time to regroup and consider his options this past weekend, which included evaluating Jaxson Dart and Cam Ward’s tape.

This was the first real indication of Harbaugh’s potential interest in coaching the Titans. He still didn’t release any kind of list, besides sourcing, making it clear that he only intended to seriously interview with no more than three or four teams in the end.

This is a rare reversal of roles. Harbaugh is whittling down the list of places he might coach, while teams are cutting down their lists of coaches they might hire. It’s why his decision is holding up every domino that will eventually fall this cycle.

There was a report late last week out of Cleveland from longtime Browns reporter Tony Grossi that Harbaugh’s list of “demands” for his next gig included a $20 million annual paycheck, $10 million in staff budget, “full” roster control, and say in who the actual GM of his next team is in the first place.

This presented a potential holdup for owners like Amy Adams Strunk, who probably aren’t rushing to take all power away from their established football people to crown Harbaugh the judge, jury, and executioner of their operation on a whim.

But CBS’s Jonathan Jones reported that no such demands actually exist.

There’s no doubt he’ll want some say over the roster and a significant salary given his tenure in the league. But the true nature of these “demands” is being overblown. Almost all of his landing spots have something already in place that would go against the initially reported demands.

Plus, Harbaugh comes from arguably the most stable and successful front office situation in the league. Certainly, he knows how much of an advantage it can be to him to trust the people in his front office and focus on his duties as the head coach.

Reports early this week turned to which teams would make his cut of interviews, and the general consensus seemed to be that the Falcons and Giants had a leg up on a third-place Titans or Browns situation.

But here’s where things got rolling quickly, beginning with a curiously-timed and worded tweet from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. He explained how the Titans’ job is expected to be quite attractive to the veteran coach, thanks to Ward, GM Mike Borgonzi, and ample draft and free agent resources.

Moments later, the first announcement of a Harbaugh interview came down from the Falcons.

So Atlanta made his cut. Will New York and Tennessee be next? Right after the Falcons released their announcement, ESPN’s Adam Schefter posted that Harbaugh has had extensive discussions with the Giants, Titans, Browns, Raiders, and Cardinals.

He’s working to determine which of them he’s going to interview with next.

Could that really be the Titans? All signs are pointing to yes at this point.

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