Hiring a head coach isn’t a science. It’s art. A picture NFL teams often get wrong, leading them to start the process all over within years of claiming they found “their guy.” But how do teams evaluate and hire a head coach in the first place? It’s a process the Pittsburgh Steelers haven’t been involved in for nearly 20 years, and a landscape that’s changed in the two decades since tabbing Mike Tomlin.
Like the hire itself, there is no uniform process. But here’s a look into how things can happen and the big-picture steps the Steelers are taking to find the franchise’s next leader.
The search begins with building a list of possible candidates. Names of those who might be on the initial interview list. That can be done solely in-house, but often, and often quietly, it’s handled by outside search firms.
Ominous as it sounds for external forces to have a hand in a franchise’s decision, that isn’t always bad. As Dan Hatman, former NFL scout and current Director of Scouting Development at the Scouting Academy, explains:
“I might think that this guy could be a really good head coach,” Hatman tells me of how an NFL owner or general manager might think about the process. “And I’m vetting him through the lens of I’m talking to players that have played for him, and I’m talking to coaches that have worked for him. And I’ve done all that. I’m gonna have somebody else go figure out: Does he have a closet full of skeletons legally that I don’t wanna deal with? And that firm could just be doing that kind of work.”
Carried over from COVID protocols, interviews now often begin virtually, and recent NFL rules enforce that. The benefit is casting a wider net of candidates, opening up more doors for coaches and giving teams more perspective. During Pittsburgh’s 2007 search, there were only five initial candidates. In 2026, there were nine. Teams like the Tennessee Titans considered nearly 20 names.
The downside, however, is feeling far less connected than in a face-to-face.
“It was so absurd last year with Zoom interviews,” longtime NFL agent Bob LaMonte told ESPN in 2022. “You don’t feel a person in a Zoom interview. It’s like watching a Netflix show. If you don’t like it, you turn it off and get another one.”
The virtual interview doesn’t bring the nitty-gritty. There isn’t an in-depth discussion on roster construction, coaching staff, or ultimate vision for the franchise. Think first date rather than a marriage proposal.
“It’s a way to triage the list more on personality,” Hatman says. “And perceived personality fit than any sort of hard skill piece of it…If you’re a GM-centric organization, I want my own direct path. I don’t want to report to anybody. [In a] GM-centric situation, I’d be like, ‘Yeah, well then you’re not a good fit here because you’re gonna report to me.’”
A trimmed-down list proceeds to in-person meetings. The collection representing the franchise can vary. It could be just with an owner. It could be with what feels like an entire planning committee. When new Miami Dolphins GM Jon-Eric Sullivan was introduced Friday, he thanked a Brady Bunch-long list of names: Tom, Danny, Steven, Troy, Brandon and Dan.
During his post-Tomlin press conference, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said he and general manager Omar Khan will lead the search and make decisions. Perhaps they will consult outside opinions. But Pittsburgh will have a tighter circle.
Interviews can last hours. Even the entire day. Each organization’s approach is different. Sometimes it’s a conversation. Sometimes it’s more hands-on. Like a planned “activity” to see how a coach actually works.
“One coach said he was just left with assistants for a few hours, simply to see how they’d work together as they would in creating a game plan for an opponent,” this 2025 Fox Sports article noted.
When the Philadelphia Eagles interviewed Doug Pederson in 2016, the final “test” meant flipping the script.
“[Howie Roseman] said, ‘We’re going to leave the room for 10 minutes,” he told Sports Illustrated in 2018. “When we come back, we will sit on the sofa over there, and we would like you to make a presentation. Act like we are your new team, your new players, and this is your first team meeting in the spring. Tell us what you would say to the team.’ So they exited the room, and I grabbed my notepad, and I jotted down my thoughts.”
When they returned, Pederson gave his speech. He noted the type of team his Eagles, of which he was not yet the coach, would be. How they would play, how they would practice, how they would carry themselves. Attack everything, fear nothing.
Pederson got the job.
The prep work is heavy on both ends. For candidates, thick binders were the universal sign of a finalist interview. Containing everything from coaching staff hires to practice schedule to thoughts about the team’s current roster, they’re often built not just in a day or cycle but over years as coaches begin betting on themselves and their chances of one day getting an interview. That binder isn’t built alone, either.
“I’ve got plenty of friends in the industry that have built books either in GM side or the coaching side for interviews,” Hatman notes. “Or have been a part of the build of them. Or this guy built this section, and this guy built this section…When you see a young person following a head coach into a new building, and you’re like, ‘I don’t know who the heck is this person.’ They were probably involved in prepping them for the interview.”
That’s not a negative, either. Coaching is about delegation. Those who balance it well are often most successful.
The only change these days is that presentations are usually PowerPoint or passed around on iPads. Leave a binder, and the team has all your information to use against you. The iPads don’t stay with the team.
Coach interviews are like the SATs. There are plenty of prep courses. Agent Brian Levy, who represented Tomlin throughout his entire head coach tenure, has the answers to the test.
“Levy’s company, Goal Line Football, conducts an offseason workshop for its clients,” Rich Cimini wrote in the above ESPN article. “He hosts about 150 coaches, putting them through various exercises to prepare them for interviews. He actually hires former GMs to run mock interviews, he hires body-language specialists to critique them on-camera. (Careful, no rocking back and forth.).”
These also include scouting reports on each hiring team. A quick reference guide for a coach to understand each landing spot’s cap space, roster and reason for needing a new coach in the first place.
Who gets hired? An impressive interview helps, of course. But often, teams enter their search with an idea of the type of coach they want – the opposite of the guy just fired.
“I remember it from the Jets when I had gotten there. Because that was when [Rex Ryan] had just gotten hired,” Hatman says. “And so much of the chatter in the building was that the process that led to the Rex hire was heavily, heavily skewed to be like the opposite of [Eric] Mangini.
“All the things that were negative characteristics about Mangini – the way the building felt, the micromanagement, the negativity. They wanted the exact opposite. It was a focal point. And it’s not a surprise to say, if you look at Eric Mangini, you look at Rex Ryan, they both are defensive minds. Both had coaching pedigrees. But as people, they’re diametrically opposed. And that was on purpose.”
That holds true around the NFL. The Dolphins went from laid-back and offensive-minded Mike McDaniel to replacing him with defensive-minded, toughness-first Jeff Hafley. The Tennessee Titans whiffed on first-time head coach Brian Callahan. Of the 17 names they considered, 13 had previous head coaching experience. Their choice, Robert Saleh, spent more than three seasons leading the New York Jets. Opposites attract in dating and head coach searches.
Questions from teams are wide-ranging. Having a vision of the roster is important, as is a list of the potential new hire’s coaching staff. They often come with multiple options. One executive noted that many lists are comprised of coaches under contract who won’t be allowed to break away from their old teams. An attainable list is key.
ESPN’s deep dive noted the questions can get specific to determine personality and coaching style. What happens if your star player is skipping voluntary offseason workouts? was a common way to discern how that coach handles each situation – and maybe how they’d handle the media, too.
On the other side, candidates are evaluating where they fit best. And where they’re most likely to be favored.
“Hey, this is the job that I want, but I’m 12th on their list,” Hatman says of what one head coach might think. “And then the second team that I want, I’m second on their list. Maybe we’re putting more effort into team two. They’re not my team one, but they want me more than team one does.”
A job’s attractiveness can vary. Beauty, after all, is in the eye of the beholder. Hatman sees a handful of core elements to consider.
“The way I’ve heard it best said, the five elements to winning a Super Bowl: owner, GM, head coach, quarterback, luck. So I think those are pretty pervasive in terms of focal points in the decision-making. So if you are the head coach, you’re studying the other four, well, three, because you can’t really study luck.
“But you are looking at who’s this owner? Can I manage up? And if they’re difficult. And if they’re not difficult, that’s a plus. I’m looking at the GM. Again, can I manage and work with this person or are they just gonna make it easy on me? If they make it easy, it’s a plus. Or, if it’s already my buddy and we’re getting hired together, that’s a plus.
“And then quarterback. This thing that’s either there and makes a Buffalo or a Baltimore, or I guess the Giants, marketable jobs. Despite the fact the Giants haven’t had a winning record in a while, Harbaugh still chose that job because, ‘Well, I don’t have to go search for a quarterback right away.’”
Coaches will rank the jobs on the board in those categories to determine which makes the most sense. All 32 NFL jobs are scarce, but coaches must be smart about where to choose for several reasons. If there are multiple options, if there’s a job they’d “only” be settling for (Ben Johnson turned down multiple chances before finding a fit with Chicago last year), or a “retread” who knows there are only ever second chances, not thirds, for NFL head coaches.
Just as only one team can win the Super Bowl, only one man can get the job. Sometimes, they’re the last to know.
“A few days later, I called [my wife] Jeannie from the office, and she said, “I just heard the news!” “Pederson said in his SI story. “I’m like, “What news?” She said, “Ian [Rapoport] and Adam Schefter are saying you’re going to be the next head coach of the Eagles. That’s awesome!”
Except no one had told Pederson. It would be days until the Eagles officially contacted him to offer the job.
Pittsburgh’s search remains ongoing. No one knows who the favorite is. Not for a team that searches less often than the Vatican elects a Pope. Not for a franchise willing to enter the process with an open mind, surprising many by tabbing Tomlin over Russ Grimm all those years ago. Hatman, though, isn’t shocked by the current pool of candidates.
“Everybody I’ve ever met from Western Pennsylvania, and the way they carry themselves, there’s a consistency to it. In terms of what the makeup is for that. I can’t imagine taking someone that really doesn’t feel like they’re from Pittsburgh and shoving them into that situation.
“I think they’re going to draw from the temperament, toughness, character of the last three coaches…guys like Weaver or Flores who are tough dudes, that doesn’t surprise me for a second. McCarthy’s from Pittsburgh. That doesn’t surprise me for a second. Shula’s from Ohio. The personality traits and those kinds of guys would make sense.”
After such a long tenure with Tomlin leading the way, there’s an opportunity to do things differently – if the franchise wants to.
“I think they’re gonna have to have some honest reflection about touch points in the last handful of years where the team hasn’t been in AFC Championship Game-plus,” Hatman said. “Why do we think that’s the case? What areas do we think the Tomlin tenure could have done a little better?”
It’s an uncommon line for a franchise to walk. The head coach stepped down. He wasn’t fired, meaning his exit wasn’t a clear repudiation of his shortcomings. Rooney said as much, aiming to bring him back for 2026 had Tomlin chosen to spend a 20th season in the captain’s chair. Pittsburgh may opt for someone similar. Brian Flores and Anthony Weaver fit that mold, though both are their own men with new and fresh ideas. If the team uses the moment to change, Nate Scheelhaase might be the target.
No matter where the search ends, this is how it starts and evolves. All in the hopes of making the right hire and avoiding this process for another 20 years.