NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans concluded their first week of their search for a new coach Saturday by interviewing two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year Kevin Stefanski.
The Titans announced they had wrapped up interviews with seven candidates to start the process of hiring a second head coach in two years.
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Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy celebrates a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FILE - New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett watches players warm up before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FILE - Tennessee Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi before the start of a football game in Nashville, Tenn, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski walks on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
Stefanski, 43, is the third to interview in person with the Titans. He was fired Monday by Cleveland with a 46-58 record and two playoff berths in 2020 and 2023 only to go 5-12 this season. He led the Browns to a wild-card win over Pittsburgh in the 2020 season.
The Ravens interviewed Stefanski for their open coaching job Friday.
The Titans also met in person with interim coach Mike McCoy, who went 2-9 replacing Brian Callahan when fired Oct. 13, and former Dallas head coach Jason Garrett on Friday.
The team interviewed Denver defensive coordinator Vance Joseph on Wednesday, Kansas City offensive coordinator Matt Nagy and Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo all virtually.
This is the first coaching search being run by first-time general manager Mike Borgonzi, hired less than a year ago by the Titans. Tennessee is mired in a skid of four straight losing seasons.
The Titans also have requested interviews with Mike McDaniel, fired by the Miami Dolphins, Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter and Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula, a person confirmed Friday to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Titans are not commenting on individual interviews during the search.
That puts the Titans’ list of candidates at 15 with requests in to interview Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Green Bay defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley.
NFL rules limit when teams can talk to coaches whose teams are currently in the playoffs. Coaches in the wild-card round can do a virtual interview of up to three hours beginning Tuesday, except for Smith who can’t until Wednesday with Pittsburgh playing Monday night.
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Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike McCoy celebrates a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FILE - New York Giants offensive coordinator Jason Garrett watches players warm up before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
FILE - Tennessee Titans general manager Mike Borgonzi before the start of a football game in Nashville, Tenn, Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski walks on the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nationwide protests challenging Iran's theocracy saw protesters flood the streets in the country's capital and its second-largest city into Sunday, crossing the two-week mark as violence surrounding the demonstrations has killed at least 116 people, activists said.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. But the death toll in the protests has grown, while 2,600 others have been detained, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency.
Those abroad fear the information blackout will embolden hard-liners within Iran's security services to launch a bloody crackdown, despite warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump he's willing to strike the Islamic Republic to protect peaceful demonstrators.
Trump offered support for the protesters, saying on social media that “Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous U.S. officials, said on Saturday night that Trump had been given military options for a strike on Iran, but hadn’t made a final decision.
The State Department separately warned: “Do not play games with President Trump. When he says he’ll do something, he means it.”
Online videos sent out of Iran, likely using Starlink satellite transmitters, purportedly showed demonstrators gathering in northern Tehran's Punak neighborhood. There, it appeared authorities shut off streets, with protesters waving their lit mobile phones. Others banged metal while fireworks went off.
Other footage purportedly showed demonstrators peacefully marching down a street and others honking their car horns on the street.
In Mashhad, Iran's second-largest city, some 725 kilometers (450 miles) northeast of Tehran, footage purported to show protesters confronting security forces. Flaming debris and dumpsters could be seen in the street, blocking the road. Mashhad is home to the Imam Reza shrine, the holiest in Shiite Islam, making the protests there carry heavy significance for the country's theocracy.
Protests also appeared to happen in Kerman, 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Tehran.
Iranian state television on Sunday morning took a page from demonstrators, having their correspondents appear on streets in several cities to show calm areas with a date stamp shown on screen. Tehran and Mashhad were not included. They also showed pro-government demonstrations in Qom and Qazvin.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has signaled a coming clampdown, despite U.S. warnings. Tehran escalated its threats Saturday, with Iran’s attorney general, Mohammad Movahedi Azad, warning that anyone taking part in protests will be considered an “enemy of God,” a death-penalty charge. The statement carried by Iranian state television said even those who “helped rioters” would face the charge.
Iran’s theocracy cut off the nation from the internet and international telephone calls on Thursday, though it allowed some state-owned and semiofficial media to publish. Qatar’s state-funded Al Jazeera news network reported live from Iran, but they appeared to be the only major foreign outlet able to work.
Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who called for protests Thursday and Friday, asked in his latest message for demonstrators to take to the streets Saturday and Sunday. He urged protesters to carry Iran’s old lion-and-sun flag and other national symbols used during the time of the shah to “claim public spaces as your own.”
Pahlavi’s support of and from Israel has drawn criticism in the past — particularly after the 12-day war. Demonstrators have shouted in support of the shah in some protests, but it isn’t clear whether that’s support for Pahlavi himself or a desire to return to a time before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media shows protesters dancing and cheering around a bonfire as they take to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
