It only took two days for the 2026 NFL hiring cycle to completely flip on its head.
The league’s three known head coach vacancies at the conclusion of the regular season grew to four early on Black Monday, when the Cleveland Browns officially parted ways with Kevin Stefanski. It didn’t take long for teams to come calling for the Browns’ coach of six years, with ESPN’s Adam Schefter reporting that the Titans, Falcons and Giants all planned to speak with Stefanski about their HC openings.
He was the headliner of this year’s hiring class for barely a day, however, as John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens shifted the entire NFL landscape on Tuesday evening.
Harbaugh is done in Baltimore after 18 years and 12 playoff appearances. He won his lone Super Bowl appearance in 2012, and the Ravens celebrated six AFC North titles during his tenure. It’s extremely rare for a coach of Harbaugh’s pedigree to shake free, and the 63-year-old culture-setter is expected to be in high demand.
The Browns will almost certainly have interest in speaking to Harbaugh, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll have interest in their current rebuild. He certainly enjoyed playing Cleveland during his time in Baltimore, as the Ravens went 27-8 against the Browns during his tenure.
Harbaugh is a Toledo native, though, who played defensive back at Miami of Ohio in the early 1990s. His family ties to the state suddenly have Browns fans dreaming about a major hire that nobody thought would be possible.
John Harbaugh could have a chance to save the hometown team he grew up rooting for
The Harbaugh brothers, John and Jim, grew up as die-hard Browns fans. That John wound up taking over the Ravens in 2008, 12 years after Cleveland’s original franchise moved to Baltimore, is a story made for a Hollywood movie.
There’s been plenty of storybook moments since, including the Harbaugh Bowl in 2013, when John’s Ravens beat Jim’s 49ers 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII.
Now, John Harbaugh has the chance to do the craziest thing: take over a Cleveland franchise that’s won only one playoff game since its re-establishment in 1999 and lead it to the promised land as a last hurrah.
According to Browns reporter Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, it’s not as crazy as it sounds.
“A Toledo native, Harbaugh is extremely well thought of by the Browns organization,” Cabot wrote. “He also has deep Cleveland roots, with his mom, Jackie, having graduated from Shaw High. He still has plenty of family here, and he and his brother Jim, head coach of the Chargers, grew up attending Cleveland Indians games and were huge Browns fans.
But if the Browns really want him, they’ll likely have to fight hard for him. He’s expected to become a leading candidate for the Giants, who are interviewing Stefanski on Wednesday.”
Again, this might be wishful thinking, as Harbaugh technically spent the past 18 years coaching the team he grew up rooting for, just in a different city and state.
ESPN’s now resurfaced early-season report on Shedeur Sanders is only fueling the speculation, however. According to Schefter, the Ravens were planning to make Sanders the 141st overall pick in the fifth round, but he told Baltimore that he preferred to go to a team with a quicker path to playing time; the Browns traded up to select Sanders three picks later.
Cleveland might not be the most attractive destination for coaches in this cycle, but if Harbaugh likes the quarterback, and is intrigued by a roster already stocked with some young talent, a homecoming in Ohio can’t be ruled out.