Can you think of another profession where you are fired one day and hired for the same position at potentially a better organization days later? That is the state of the world in the NFL head coach arena. On Friday, the madness went from bad to worse.
Let’s recap. Every AFC North coach has left his post except for Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor (who perhaps should have been let go), and aside from Mike Tomlin, who reportedly wants to walk away from the hamster wheel of NFL head coaching, all have been rehired.
As Stephen A. Smith put it, the New York Giants act as though they want to erect a statue of John Harbaugh even though he could not get it done in the Lamar Jackson era with the Baltimore Ravens.
Kevin Stefanski has to be breathing a sigh of relief as he has left the Cleveland Browns dysfunction mostly behind to head to Atlanta, but his former quarterback, now with the Tampa Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield, already issued fighting words about seeing him twice a year.
Baker Mayfield is ready to see his former head coach in the NFC South 👀🍿 pic.twitter.com/MdhokhZ5WM
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 21, 2026
Speaking of the Browns, head coaching candidates are required to complete an essay, personality test, and other homework as part of the interview process.
Many were surprised when Sean McDermott was fired by the Buffalo Bills. Let’s face it, an officiating call that had (and in my opinion, should have) gone the other way would have kept McDermott in his job because the Bills likely would have won the game. The Bills are suddenly impatient despite providing little support and resources for Josh Allen but allowed Bills legend Marv Levy coach the team to three losing Super Bowls.
The Mike McDaniel Situation Takes The Cake
However, peak absurdity happened on Friday. Mike McDaniel, the fired coach of the Miami Dolphins who reportedly recently accepted the job as the Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator, is now interviewing for the Buffalo Bills head coaching job that he has rumored to be linked to for days.
Say what? You can now get fired, hired, quit, and shop around for the best job according to this trend.
Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel agreed that he would be the offensive coordinator for the Chargers if you did not get a head coaching job pic.twitter.com/ybbPaNqu80
— ChargersMuse (@ChargersMuse) January 23, 2026
Coach Jim Harbaugh agreed to this crazy deal, but why? He could end up losing out on other quality candidates if McDaniel gets a head coaching job.
NFL, please make this stop. Aren’t there guardrails that can be put in place to curtail this nonsense?
