$56.7 million college football coach linked to NFL team's head coach opening

The NFL coaching carousel is in full swing in the weeks following the end of the 2025 regular season.

The Tennessee Titans and New York Giants did not wait until the season's end to make their decisions, firing their coaches on Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, respectively. In the week after the regular season, the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Las Vegas Raiders, Atlanta Falcons, and Arizona Cardinals all decided to move on from their sitting head coaches.

The coaching changes in the 2026 NFL offseason will not be limited to teams that missed the playoffs. Following NFL Wild-Card Weekend, Mike Tomlin announced he was stepping down from his post as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coaching changes are regular occurrences throughout the NFL, but they are few and far between with the Steelers. Tomlin had held the position since the 2007 season, succeeding the 15-year tenure of Bill Cowher. The Steelers' coach before Cowher's arrival was Chuck Noll, who held the position from 1969 to 1991.

The coaches viewed as the best candidates in the 2026 NFL coaching carousel are those who have been successful in previous NFL head coaching jobs, such as Kevin Stefanski and John Harbaugh. There are not many coordinators looking to make the jump to head coach in this cycle.

College coaches are always an option for NFL teams looking for new leadership. Notre Dame head Marcus Freeman's name has been mentioned in both the Giants and Steelers searches, but he is remaining with the Fighting Irish.

Another college head coaching name that has been thrown around for the Steelers vacancy is Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti. Former NFL defensive lineman and ESPN analyst Marcus Spears made the case for Cignetti to take the Steelers job on "NFL Live."

"Cignetti out of Indiana. I think his personality would fit with Pittsburgh."@mspears96 is throwing the Indiana head coach's name in the hat 🎩🔥 pic.twitter.com/SRwS28v3tl
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 13, 2026

"I think his personality would fit with Pittsburgh," Spears said. "I'm not sure how all of that business part goes. But what I've watched this dude do with a university that absolutely not even thought of potentially ever winning a national championship in this landscape of college football, and the rapport that he has as a head coach and what he's done with this team, I think it would make him an enticing hire, especially with a team that loves stability."

Prior to his tenure with the Hoosiers, Cignetti made head coaching stops at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Elon and James Madison, amassing a 119-35 record along the way. In just his second season, Cignetti has No. 1 Indiana (15-0, 9-0) playing in the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship game against No. 10 Miami (13-2, 6-2) at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Monday.

If the Hoosiers were to win the national championship and Cignetti left for the Steelers job, he would be the second coach to leave a national champion team for the NFL in three seasons. Jim Harbaugh left Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers vacancy following the Wolverines' 2023 national championship victory.

Curt Cignetti before the 2025 Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Georgia. — Indiana Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images