The Tennessee Titans reportedly prepared a hefty contract offer for John Harbaugh before he was hired as head coach of the New York Giants.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Titans were “all in” on Harbaugh and had a “huge” offer for the 63-year-old.
Rapoport also reported that the Titans were preparing to fly to Baltimore for a meeting with the coach on Wednesday, but he was already finalizing an agreement with the Giants at the time.
Harbaugh ended up signing a five-year deal with New York worth nearly $100 million, per NFL insider Jordan Schultz.
The Titans and Giants appeared to be the two finalists for Harbaugh’s services, as Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported Saturday that the coach had started watching film on Tennessee quarterback Cam Ward and New York signal-caller Jaxson Dart.
Now, the Titans will continue their search for a new head coach to become the full-time replacement for Brian Callahan. Tennessee fired Callahan on Oct. 13 with the team sitting at just 1-5.
The Titans haven’t solely focused on Harbuagh in their head coaching search, as they’ve also held interviews with Lou Anarumo, Jason Garrett, Vance Joseph, Mike McCoy, Matt Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo, Kevin Stefanski, Jeff Hafley, Jesse Minter and Mike McDaniel.
Tennessee could slow down its hiring process with Harbaugh off the board, though.
“I would expect them not to hit pause a little bit, but maybe they take a little bit of a deep breath,” Rapoport reported Thursday. “And the fact they do still have obviously some very, very good candidates that they still would like to interview for the first time.”
“I would expect them to bring in a second round of interviews early next week,” he added.
The Titans are looking to bounce back from 3-14 finishes in each of the past two seasons.
