ESPN NFL Insider Makes Exciting Prediction for Falcons Head Coach Search

The Atlanta Falcons are in the thick of the search for the 20th head coach in franchise history after parting ways with Raheem Morris following a disappointing 8-9 season. After Tuesday’s news that the Pittsburgh Steelers parted ways with Mike Tomlin, the Falcons are now one of nine teams in the NFL – or 25% of the league – with an opening.

With that in mind, the cycle will prove to be unpredictable, especially given our early stage in the process and the rarity of jobs like those in Baltimore and Pittsburgh becoming available. Despite that fact, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano took a shot at predicting where each team will go in this cycle, and Falcons fans will be pleased with what he had to say.

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Graziano predicts that Atlanta will land former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, saying:

“Falcons team owner Arthur Blank will be willing to spend what it takes to get the top coach available. The Falcons are also looking for a new GM, and that could be appealing to Harbaugh, as he could have some say regarding who gets the role (though the Falcons just hired former QB Matt Ryan as president of football, and he'll obviously have plenty of say in both decisions).

“The question for Harbaugh, or any candidate, is what he thinks of the QB situation in Atlanta. Michael Penix Jr. will be in his third season and coming off a major knee injury, and Kirk Cousins is still hanging around. If a coach thinks they can make that work, Atlanta has a lot to offer.”

Other predictions Graziano made for this cycle included Klint Kubiak to the Arizona Cardinals, Kevin Stefanski to the Baltimore Ravens, Mike McDaniel to the Cleveland Browns, Robert Saleh to the Las Vegas Raiders, Chris Shula to the Miami Dolphins, Jeff Hafley to the New York Giants, Jesse Minter to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Matt Nagy to the Tennessee Titans.

The process is still in its early stages, and the Falcons are still in the process of identifying their primary candidates. Former Ravens head coach John Harbaugh can operate on an accelerated timeline, and he will likely take a job in short order, but most teams will take their time with their hiring decisions.

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In-person interviews with assistants who are under contract with other teams can begin on Monday (Jan 19), unless those teams are still alive for the conference title games. In that instance, the deadline would then extend to January 26 for when those teams are either eliminated from the playoffs or in the midst of their bye week before the Super Bowl.

For assistants in the Super Bowl, they are not permitted to interview in person during that bye week unless they have completed a virtual interview in January.