NFL coaching searches have complicated rules about timing and interviews

The overlap of the NFL playoffs and coaching search season will have many of the league's top assistants pulling double duty this month. While 14 teams are deep into playoff preparations with hopes of winning a Super Bowl, there are five teams that had disappointing campaigns that have led to coaching changes. The search to fill those spots has already begun with the New York Jets, Chicago, New Orleans, Jacksonville and New England already identifying candidates to interview, including several who are on the staffs of the playoff teams. The NFL has strict rules on when — and how long — those coaches can talk to other teams while their seasons are still alive. Here's a look at some of the protocols in place for the coaching searches. When can the interviews begin? Teams could start interviewing candidates not employed by another organization as soon as they had an opening, like the Jets have done with several candidates for coach and GM. For people employed by other teams, the process began this week with teams being able to make an interview request for a coach under contract to another team beginning Monday. For teams that didn't make the playoffs, their coaches can be interviewed virtually three days after their final game — Tuesday for coaches on Cleveland or Cincinnati, or Wednesday for any other non-playoff team. The process is different for assistants on playoff teams. For the two teams with a bye, those virtual interviews can be held between Wednesday and the end of wild-card weekend and are limited to three hours in length. For assistants coaching on wild-card weekend, they can have a virtual interview of up to three hours beginning Tuesday, except for coaches on Minnesota and the Los Angeles Rams, who must wait until Wednesday because they play Monday night. What comes next? In-person interviews with assistants who are under contract with other teams can begin on Jan. 20, unless those teams are still alive for the conference title games. Those coaches must wait until Jan. 27, when either they were eliminated from the playoffs or have a bye week before the Super Bowl. Coaches on the Super Bowl teams are allowed to be interviewed through Feb. 2 but are forbidden from talking to other teams after that until Feb. 10, the day after the Super Bowl. Coaches on the Super Bowl teams are not allowed to interview in person with other teams during the bye week if they hadn't done an initial virtual interview earlier in January. No coach can either sign a contract or agree to sign a contract until their season is completed. What's the Rooney Rule? Teams must abide by the Rooney Rule, which was first implemented in 2003 to boost minority hiring. Before hiring a new head coach, teams are required to conduct in-person interviews with at least two diverse — minority or female — candidates who don't currently work for the team. The rules are the same for all coordinator positions and clubs must interview one diverse candidate for any quarterback coach job. What's new this offseason? The NFL added one new tweak this year to the rules, limiting the length of the interviews with coaches still alive in the playoffs to three hours, including the formal interview, meals or any other part of the process. What about GMs? The rules are a little different for interviewing candidates for general manager. Teams could start seeking permission on Monday to interview candidates from other organizations who weren't the primary decision maker. Teams must conduct in-person interviews of at least two minority or women candidates from outside the organization to satisfy the Rooney Rule. A GM candidate from a team in the playoffs can accept the job before their season is over if their current team provides written permission.