NFL Rule Change Sets Interview Time Limits for Coaches Still Alive in Playoffs

Timothy Rapp@@TRappaRTFeatured Columnist IVMay 22, 2024

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NFL owners passed a new rule on Tuesday establishing a three-hour interview limit for head coaching candidates who are employed by teams still in the playoffs, according to the Associated Press.

Such candidates will also only be permitted to interview at a location of the choosing of their current organization if it’s an in-person meeting with a prospective employer.

The NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, Jonathan Beane, said the new rule was created to put fewer time constraints on coaching candidates who are trying to balance interviews with their preparations for playoff games.

He noted that some coaching candidates in the past were interviewing with individual teams for six to eight hours at a time, sometimes with multiple interviews per day leading up to a playoff matchup over the weekend.

“While this is something that will only affect a certain number of candidates, we do feel that it will make the process so a coach can focus on winning the ball game and preparing their team and themselves, in addition to engaging in an opportunity that could allow them to be a head coach,” Beane noted.

Of the eight new head coaches hired this offseason, two of them (Mike Macdonald to the Seattle Seahawks and Raheem Morris to the Atlanta Falcons) were on teams that made the playoffs this past season.

While there may remain calls to simply move the hiring process to the end of the playoffs instead, Tuesday’s new rule should make the process a bit less stressful for prospective head coaches..