Beginning Monday, NFL teams with vacancies at head coach and/or general manager can request permission to interview candidates currently employed by other teams for their top jobs.
NFL rules and timelines around the hiring process this year are similar to last year with minor tweaks. In recent years, the league has sought to slow down the hiring process, and in-person interviews for head coach 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 openings at head coach as of Monday morning. The Jets are the lone team with a GM vacancy so far. Final decisions with the Cowboys and Raiders remain.
Coaches on the top-seeded Chiefs and Lions, as well as coaches on non-playoff teams, can take part in virtual interviews for head-coaching jobs three days after the conclusion of the regular season. So coaches from Saturday's games can begin interviewing on Tuesday while the others can start Wednesday.
Coaches on playoff teams who are playing in next weekend's wild-card round cannot interview for jobs at all until three days after their wild-card game. And they'll have a short window to get those initial interviews set.
For general manager candidates, he or she can interview with teams beginning Monday, and those interviews can be 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, with former Jets coach Rex Ryan due to interview Tuesday.
With the Chiefs and Lions clinching a first-round bye, coaches on those teams can begin their interview process this week. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is widely considered one of the top candidates this cycle, though sources have stressed he will be selective in what interviews he takes. Both he and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn -- who's considered an early top candidate with the Jets and Saints - can begin virtual interviews Wednesday.
Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy is expected to get multiple interviews this cycle. And Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo could also get looks as the only coordinator in NFL history with four Super Bowl rings.
Two of the biggest adjustments to the league's rules surrounding interviews are to length and location. Teams interviewing coaches on teams still in the playoffs must limit the entire length of the interview to a maximum of three hours. Additionally, once in-person interviews are permitted in two weeks, those interviews of coaches remaining in the playoffs must be conducted in the employer team's city or at a location approved by the employer's team.
For teams in the wild-card round, interviews won't be allowed at all until a few days after the game -- win or lose. Coaches on teams playing Saturday and Sunday can interview virtually beginning Tuesday, Jan. 15. For coaches on the Vikings and Rams who play Monday night, they can interview beginning Wednesday.
That means, for example, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores cannot begin interviewing for jobs until Jan. 16, and then he'd have just a few days to complete those initial interviews before the next playoff game should Minnesota beat the Rams.
The league is stressing to teams to take advantage of the early window to interview coaches. Once the conference championship teams are finalized, initial interviews with coaching candidates who are on those teams won't be allowed until the end of their season. So a team hoping to speak with a coach on a Super Bowl team won't be allowed to until Feb. 10 if they miss their window before the divisional round of the playoffs.
For teams in the Super Bowl, coaches can conduct their second interview either in-person or virtual during the bye week. But all contact between coaches and their prospective new employers must be suspended beginning Feb. 3 through the day after the Super Bowl.
Teams looking to hire a head coach or GM must interview at least two external candidates who are persons of color and/or women in-person before filling a position, per the Rooney Rule requirements.
Also, decision-makers involved in the hiring process must complete inclusive hiring training the league provides before beginning their search. If a team has done that training within the last two years, they don't have to re-take the training. But any new person involved in the search who hasn't done 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 process.
