Titans could get next Head Coach gift-wrapped to them by two franchises who make reactionary firing mistakes

The Tennessee Titans are now one of two NFL teams set to find a new head coach this winter, following the New York Giants’ firing of Brian Daboll. While Daboll won’t likely be landing any head coaching interviews in the immediate aftermath of his Giants’ tenure, he’s expected to be fiercely sought-after as an offensive coordinator candidate. He may even repair his image in a similar way to his old NYC counterpart, former Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who is already atop head coach hot boards again in his first season returning to San Francisco as DC.

But Saleh is the perfect segue into the primary focus of this article. Before landing in San Fran again as a coordinator, he actually had head coaching interest in the hiring cycle immediately following his dismissal from New York. And while it’s extremely rare to see a freshly-fired head coach land another top gig immediately, I think it’s exactly what could happen with two coaches on the hot seat right now.

Kevin Stefanski and Matt LaFleur won’t really get fired… right?

Once we reach the double digit weeks of the NFL calendar, we usually have an early coaching vacancy or two and a handful of others firmly on the hot seat for the holidays. That’s where we find ourselves today upon the conclusion of Week 10, except a pair of coaches getting the most chatter regarding job security are pretty shocking.

Cleveland Browns’ head coach Kevin Stefanski has been a slowly growing topic of discussion on this front, sitting today at the bottom of their division with a 2-7 record. And hot off the heels of a disgusting Monday Night Football loss, Green Bay Packers’ head coach Matt LaFleur has both local and national media buzzing over his job security.

Despite winning Coach of the Year in both 2020 and 2023, and widely being regarded as one of the best coaches in the league who has been plagued with poor circumstances for most of his tenure, Stefanski comes in as the fifth most-likely coach to be fired next according to Bet Online.

And while LaFleur isn’t listed in these odds yet, you can’t check in on NFL media of any sort this week without hearing about his sneaky-tenuous job security. Packers beat writer for the Athletic Matt Schneidman wrote this on Tuesday following their latest home loss: “Jeff Hafley is coordinating a championship defense. LaFleur’s offense is far from that caliber. That might need to change over the next two months for him to keep his job.”

If either of these men get fired this season, they will absolutely be asked to interview for the Titans vacancy. Their reputation precedes them, and Tennessee surely won’t be the only team seeking their services. I think it would be crazy for either franchise to part ways with their guy. But just how likely is that to happen? Well instead of relying on internet betting odds, let’s ask a pair of experts plugged-in on these franchises.

The likelihood of LaFleur or Stefanski being available for the Titans to interview

I reached out to A to Z Sports Packers writer Wendell Ferreira and Browns writer Brandon Little for their understanding on both of these coaches today.

Ferreira- Matt LaFleur was supposed to enter this season with as much stability as possible in the NFL world. He led the youngest roster in football to the playoffs in each of the past two seasons, made the offense work pretty well last year even when Jordan Love wasn’t available and starting Malik Willis at quarterback, and he finally found a good defensive coordinator in Jeff Hafley.

However, new president Ed Policy started the conversation in the offseason that he would use the 2025 season as an evaluation period — LaFleur’s contract goes through 2026, and next year would be the perfect timing for an extension. When Policy said that about LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst, that put alarm bells around the situation.

It’s still questionable at best to consider firing a head coach that has been as successful as Matt LaFleur has, especially a respected offensive mind and play-designer, but the crowd wanting to get rid of him has gotten bigger and bigger around Green Bay.

The Packers still have an 81% chance of making the playoffs, so LaFleur won’t be fired during the season — or at least not before the team gets eliminated. But if the offense plays for the rest of the season like it has for the past month, the conversation around LaFleur could get a lot more real, beyond weekly social media overreactions.

Little- Kevin Stefanski is a two-time Coach of the Year who firmly has to be on the hot seat right now with the Cleveland Browns, given how this season has gone. The Browns’ head coach is 42-51 during his time in Cleveland, but just 5-22 over the last two seasons. Cleveland entered last year with what was thought to be a top-12 roster in the league at worst, and a healthy Deshaun Watson they hoped could finally work out. That wasn’t the case — Watson got injured, and quite frankly, he wasn’t playing well before that happened.

The massive swing and miss on Watson remains the biggest anchor dragging the Browns down. Stefanski has led the Browns to their only two playoff appearances in the past couple of decades since taking over in 2020. However, the decision to move on from Baker Mayfield to Watson has left the team stuck in quarterback purgatory — a situation they haven’t been able to escape. When you factor in the lack of offensive weapons and the regression of the offensive line over the past couple of seasons, Stefanski, as the leader of the offense, has to shoulder a lot of the blame.

The Browns managed to win games with poor quarterback play in 2023 before Joe Flacco arrived, but Stefanski hasn’t been able to replicate that success since. Cleveland’s offensive creativity and overall scheme have taken a noticeable step back this season, culminating in Stefanski handing play-calling duties to Tommy Rees — a move that in itself signals that his seat is heating up. Stefanski has certainly dealt with circumstances beyond his control in Cleveland, and that’s unfortunate, but his inability to generate any sort of consistent offensive progress over the past two seasons is concerning.

It’s hard for me to envision Stefanski landing another head coaching job immediately if things continue to spiral, given how bad this season could end up for Cleveland based on their current trajectory. The Browns could realistically finish with four or fewer wins, which would be a tough pill to swallow considering how strong the defense is. If that happens, it’s hard to see Stefanski surviving — regardless of whether it’s the right move or not. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he took the Mike Vrabel route of helping a team as an assistant to the head coach for a year, then jumping back in the head coaching carousel.