NFL Power Shift: Coaching Moves Ramp Up As Super Bowl Nears

Even before Super Bowl LIX is played Feb. 9 in New Orleans, teams out of the NFL postseason mix are feverishly trying to win the unofficial offseason title with a flurry of high-profile coaching and football management moves—further showing the heightening importance of those positions.

The Bears reached a deal with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their new head coach, the latest in a growing series of moves around the league. Chicago, coming off a highly disappointing 5–12 season and grappling with a stalled push for a new stadium, beat out other suitors including the Raiders and that team’s minority owner, Tom Brady. 

Among the other recent coaching and football leadership moves:

• Jets: New York will interview Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on Tuesday, and he is reportedly that team’s top choice for the job. Detroit’s upset loss to the surprising Commanders last weekend has accelerated the coaching market considerably, with both Glenn and Johnson able to interview and accept jobs. 
• Saints: New Orleans will have a series of interviews later this week for its vacant head coaching position, including with Glenn. The sessions were rescheduled due to a rare Gulf Coast snowstorm battering parts of Louisiana and Texas.  
• Titans: Tennessee hired Chiefs GM Mike Borgonzi as its new GM, with his 16-year track record in Kansas City including four AFC championships and three Super Bowl victories. Borgonzi will succeed Ran Carthon, fired earlier this month after two seasons on the job. 

Five NFL head coaching positions remain open after the latest moves in Chicago and New England with Mike Vrabel: the Cowboys, Jaguars, Jets, Raiders, and Saints. The Jets and Raiders also have vacant GM positions.

The fan excitement surrounding the Bears’ hire of well-regarded Johnson—and the hunger for some level of success from the team—led one listener of Chicago sports-talk radio station WSCR-AM to opine that “today we won the offseason Super Bowl, and I am so stoked.”

The Deion Question

As Dallas continues efforts to replace the recently departed Mike McCarthy, rumors continue to swirl regarding the possibility of former Cowboys star and current Colorado coach Deion Sanders taking the job. Such a move would come with no shortage of financial obstacles, and Sanders is reportedly negotiating a contract extension with the Buffaloes going beyond the three years left on his five-year, $29.5 million deal. 

Sanders is not currently on the Cowboys’ list of coaching candidate interviews, but communication between him and team owner Jerry Jones remains open. 

Player Considerations

While the NFL coaching carousel continues to spin, a growing number of star players are approaching their own professional crossroads and considering whether and where they will play football next season. 

In particular, Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and wide receiver Cooper Kupp both said they were uncertain of their futures following the team’s divisional playoff loss Sunday to the Eagles. Both players still have two years remaining on their respective contracts, but such details matter less in the NFL, where acceptance of dead money to protect key roster spots continues to grow.

“Who knows what’s going to happen,” Kupp said. “That’s out of my control. … Obviously, [I] would love to be in L.A., but I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”