From Monday, NFL teams with head coach and/or general manager vacancies may request permission to interview candidates currently employed by other teams for their most important positions.
NFL The rules and deadlines for the hiring process this year are similar to last year, with minor changes. In recent years, the league has sought to slow down the hiring process, and in-person interviews for head coaching candidates currently under contract with another team cannot take place until Jan. 20 at the earliest.
The Jets, Bears, Saints, Patriots and Jaguars all have head coaching vacancies as of Monday morning. The Jets are the only team with a general manager vacancy so far. Final decisions with the Cowboys and Raiders remain.
Coaches of the top-seeded Chiefs and Lions, as well as coaches of non-playoff teams, can participate in virtual interviews for head coaching positions three days after the end of the regular season. So coaches for Saturday’s games can start their interviews on Tuesday while others can start on Wednesday.
Coaches of playoff teams playing next weekend’s wild card round cannot have a job interview until three days after their wild-card match. And they will have a short window to organize these initial interviews.
For general manager candidates, he can interview with teams starting Monday, and those interviews can take place in person.
Coaches who are not currently employed by other teams have been free to interview with teams with vacancies. Former Titans coach Mike Vrabel has already interviewed with the New York Jets, as has former Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera, and former Jets coach Rex Ryan is scheduled to be interviewed Tuesday.
With the Chiefs and Lions having earned a first-round bye, those teams’ coaches can begin their interview process this week. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is widely considered one of the top candidates this cycle, although sources have stressed he will be selective in which interviews he goes through. He and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn — who is considered an early top candidate with the Jets and Saints — can begin virtual interviews Wednesday.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is expected to get several interviews this cycle. And Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could also be considered the only coordinator in NFL story with four Super Bowl rings.
Two of the biggest changes to the league’s rules regarding interviews concern duration and location. Teams interviewing coaches of teams still in the playoffs must limit the total interview time to a maximum of three hours. Additionally, once in-person interviews are permitted in two weeks, interviews with remaining playoff coaches must be conducted in the employer’s team city or at a location approved by the team’s team. ’employer.
For teams participating in the wild-card round, interviews will only be allowed a few days after the match – win or loss. Coaches of teams playing Saturday and Sunday can interview virtually starting Tuesday, January 15. For Vikings and Rams coaches who play Monday night, they can interview starting Wednesday.
That means, for example, that Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores can’t begin job interviews until Jan. 16, and then he’ll have just a few days to complete those initial interviews before the next game playoff if Minnesota beats the Rams.
The league is urging teams to take advantage of the first window to interview coaches. Once the conference champion teams are finalized, initial interviews with coaching candidates who are on those teams will not be permitted until the end of their season. So a team hoping to speak with a coach on a Super Bowl The team won’t be allowed to do so until Feb. 10 if it misses its window before the divisional round of the playoffs.
For Super Bowl teams, coaches can conduct their second interview in person or virtually during the bye week. But all contact between coaches and their potential new employers must be suspended from February 3 until the day after the Super Bowl.
Teams seeking to hire a head coach or general manager must interview in person at least two external candidates who are people of color and/or women before filling a position, per the requirements of the Rooney Rule.
Additionally, decision-makers involved in the hiring process must complete inclusive hiring training offered by the league before beginning their search. If a team has completed this training within the last two years, they are not required to repeat it. But anyone new to the research who has not completed the training must do so.
Teams wishing to interview offensive, defensive or special teams coordinators must follow a similar set of rules as the head coach.
