Titans coach candidates stock watch: Who's on the rise, who's falling?

The 2025 NFL season is two-thirds of the way through, and the list of potential candidates for the Tennessee Titans coaching search isn't getting any shorter.

In the six weeks since the Titans fired Brian Callahan, the twists and turns of an NFL season have boosted the way certain coaches looked and docked others.

As the calendar careens toward December, let's take a look at some coaches who've seen their stock rise, and others who've experienced a bit of a tumble.

Titans coaching search stock watch

Stock down: Joe Brady, OC, Buffalo Bills

When Callahan was fired, the oddsmakers considered Brady to be the Titans' second-likeliest hire after Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. And although reports of the Bills' offensive demise are certainly premature (they rank top five in scoring, yards per play and yards per game while leading the NFL in rushing), their recent lulls against Miami and Houston have pointed some flak Brady's way. He'll still be a factor in interviews this offseason, but it's tougher to imagine Brady holding the position as the NFL's most-sought after offensive candidate.

Stock up: Jeff Hafley, DC, Green Bay Packers

In Green Bay's three losses this year, the Packers have allowed 13, 16 and 10 points. If they scored just 21 points in every game this season, the team would still be 8-3. Hafley, a former college head coach, opened as a down-ballot candidate in a year with plenty of big-name defensive coaches who'll theoretically be available (Robert Saleh, Brian Flores, Chris Shula, Jim Schwartz, etc.). He now has to be considered one of the best defensive options available.

Stock up: Klint Kubiak, OC, Seattle Seahawks

The Titans saw up close and personal how well Kubiak's offense works. Seattle has a top-three scoring offense and the NFL's best passing offense by yards per attempt. He doesn't have the long-term experience of other offensive-minded candidates like Mike McCarthy, Arthur Smith, Kliff Kingsbury or Nagy, but he's coaching arguably the hottest offense in the league, and the name recognition associated with his dad, Gary Kubiak, and the family's connections to the Shanahans can't hurt.

Stock up: Matt Burke, DC, Houston Texans

Burke's Houston defense is the NFL's best. And here are two peripherals that work in his favor for the Titans job: One, like Titans GM Mike Borgonzi, Burke is an Ivy League-educated football guy from Massachusetts. Two, the Titans found success the last time they hired a defensive coordinator away from their division rivals (Mike Vrabel). As if seeing that Houston defense dominate the Titans twice wasn't enough justification to at least consider Burke.

Stock down: Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Washington Commanders

Kingsbury was a fine head coach in Arizona, but his reputational rehab assignment as Washington's OC went so well in 2024 that his name has some heat back on it. Well, maybe not as much as it did a few months back. Injuries have decimated Washington's offense, and without some of those star players, Kingsbury's unit hasn't looked nearly as impressive. Not all of that falls on the coordinator, obviously, but it'll be harder to justify hiring a coach from another team with a top-10 pick.

Stock down: Todd Monken, OC, Baltimore Ravens

As with Kingsbury, it's not fair to put all of the Ravens' offensive woes on Monken. But the point remains that Baltimore's offense is averaging 100 fewer yards per game than in 2024. It'll be tough to convince Borgonzi to buy that dip.

Stock up: Mike Kafka, interim HC, New York Giants

Yes, the Giants have lost both their games since Kafka took over for Brian Daboll. But both were led by the quarterback who started the year third on the depth chart; both were against playoff teams; and the Giants led in the fourth quarter in both. Kafka was already a hot name in past hiring cycles, he has experience in the Kansas City system and now he's proving he can get players to buy in. That's not a bad set of traits.

Nick Suss is the Titans beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Nick at [email protected]. Follow Nick on X @nicksuss. Subscribe to the Talkin’ Titans newsletter for updates sent directly to your inbox.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Stock up, stock down for 7 potential Titans coach search candidates