The Atlanta Falcons struck out big time in their pursuit of John Harbaugh, as he'll be coaching the New York Giants in 2026. All it took was one visit to the Giants' facility to flip the Falcons' coaching search on it's head, and reports are all over the place pertaining to the direction they could go.
Luckily, the search for a new coach and GM is in its preliminary stages, so Matt Ryan is being gifted time to make things right. Unfortunately, things aren't off to a great start, as the Dirty Birds interviewed two more defensive-minded coaches on Thursday after the Harbaugh news sunk in.
In addition to having interviews planned with Ejiro Evero and Antonio Pierce in the coming days, among others, the Falcons' coaching search is finally starting to take a direction. This roster desperately needs an offensive coach to lead them into the new era, but who knows anymore.
Falcons are starting to primarily chase defensive-minded coaches in their coaching search
Atlanta interviewed Chargers' defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Packers' DC Jeff Hafley on Thursday afternoon, which saw their interview total increase to eight. Of those eight names, four of them come from a defensive background, and more defensive coaches have interviews lined up.
Minter was Jim Harbaugh's right-hand man at both Michigan and with the Chargers, so he's heralded as one of the brightest young defensive minds in football. Meanwhile, Hafley turned around an underperforming Green Bay defense basically overnight, but the Micah Parsons trade helped also.
Both Minter and Hafley are really solid coaching candidates who are expected to land head coaching opportunities this offseason, but it would be surprising if it were with the Falcons. A leader in the pack is starting to emerge, but it's unclear how serious either of these candidates will be until a GM is hired.
The Falcons are clearly willing to cast a wide net, even if it goes against what the fanbase wants and what the roster needs. Blank tends to gravitate towards coaching candidates with previous head coaching experience, but the new head coach is meant to help fulfill Ryan's vision of this team.
The only three offensive minds the front office has spoken to so far are Klint Kubiak, Kevin Stefanski, and Mike McDaniel, and at this point it could be any of them. No Falcons fans would complain about any of those outcomes, especially after having to endure a talented offense look truly pitiful in 2025.
Just because Ryan is starting to zero in on defensive coaches doesn't mean that's the way things will shake out, but a lot can change going forward, so it's something to keep an eye on.