The National Football League goes through a coaching carousel every season that shapes the course of football’s future and often dominates the news cycle. However, the NFL coaching hire process has always had quite a few flaws that caused frustration for many of the league.
One of the many NFL coaching hire rules that has aggravated team executives, assistant coaches and many others in and around the league regards when clubs can interview a head-coaching candidate.
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Teams that fire their head coach during the regular season have an early advantage, with the ability to begin vetting coaching candidates and building a list of quality interview targets before the offseason. However, the timing of when those interviews are done has been the problem.
Under prior NFL rules, teams with a head-coaching vacancy could begin interviews with candidates employed by another eliminated club immediately after the regular season ended. If a team wanted to interview an assistant coach on a playoff team, it could do so after the regular season.
It forced teams with head-coaching vacancies to move through the process quickly, fearing one of their top targets could be hired by another team. It also put assistant coaches on playoff teams in disadvantageous positions, requiring them to both prepare for an interview and a potential Wild Card matchup.
In the spring of 2023, the league adjusted its policy. Teams could now interview employed coaches on eliminated clubs after the third day after Week 18 and assistants on playoff teams could be interviewed after the Wild Card round. However, the rule did very little to slow down the hiring process and it put assistant coaches on Super Bowl contenders in a disadvantageous position compared to other coaching candidates. Now, a change could reportedly be on the horizon.
According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the NFL is reportedly weighing further changes to the process. League officials will consider pushing back interviews, requiring that teams can’t interview coaching candidates who are employed by another club until after the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
It’s a change that is widely supported by many around the NFL, including among team executives who conduct the hiring process. Teams want more time to evaluate candidates and pushing back the opening date for in-person interviews means top assistants on the NFL’s best teams will have a more equal shot at landing an interview and potentially becoming a head coach.
If the new rule is passed, teams would still be allowed to conduct in-person interviews with internal candidates after the regular season. In addition, clubs could meet face-to-face with candidates not actively employed by another team or they can interview external candidates virtually.
With prominent 2024 coaching candidates on the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers, the rule change could provide their assistant coaches with an opportunity in 2024 that might not’ve existed prior.