Next Offseason Could Have as Many as 12 NFL Coaching Vacancies

When it comes to coaching vacancies, this off-season has been a buyer's market. Assistants Josh McDaniels and Jason Garrett turned down opportunities for head-coaching gigs, and Kirk Ferentz opted to stay at Iowa instead of pursuing NFL jobs.

But as FOX Sports' Jay Glazer writes, next year will be a completely different story.

While there were only four opening this off-season, a year from now, there could more than a dozen. Glazer lists the Seahawks, Eagles, Bengals, Vikings, Panthers, Cowboys, Chiefs. Colts, Lions, Rams and 49ers as teams who could be looking for new head coaches for the 2009 season.

The Seahawks, Colts and Cowboys are in the process of lining up successors -- word on the street has Jim Mora, Jim Caldwell and Jason Garrett all set to replace incumbents, if not next year, eventually -- but the other nine teams will be looking outside their organizations for the next head coach.

Glazer points out that Browns' offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski could be next year's Garrett, and there's no doubt McDaniels will still top many owners' lists next spring.

Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, who is as deserving of a head-coaching opportunity as any assistant in the league, could finally get his shot. And while Gregg Williams probably isn't all that excited about losing out on the 'Skins job, he'll certainly get some interviews too. Other names that we'll certainly be hearing from: Tennessee's Jim Schwartz, Indy's Ron Meeks, and San Francisco's Mike Singletary.