If it feels like NFL head coaching search pools have never been more extensive, that’s because they haven’t. Teams are looking far and wide for qualified candidates as they conduct interviews to find their next HC. Comprehensive candidate pools could prolong the head coaching hiring process, but that’s mostly by design.
How much have NFL candidate lists grown over the past decade? Let’s take a look at the data before examining a few root causes of the expansion.
NFL Head Coaching Search Pools Have Never Been Larger — Here’s Why
Eight teams were searching for new head coaches this offseason, leaving ample opportunity for qualified coordinators and other assistants to land top jobs. While the Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots have already hired HCs, six clubs are still looking for their next head coach.
This hiring continued a league-wide trend of growing head coach candidate pools. Here’s how many average candidates each team with an HC vacancy over the past 10 offseasons interviewed:
- 2015: 7.3
- 2016: 5.7
- 2017: 6.3
- 2018: 5.1
- 2019: 7.0
- 2020: 4.8
- 2021: 7.5
- 2022: 8.1
- 2023: 9.8
- 2024: 8.9
The numbers from 2024 are understated because the Raiders and Patriots didn’t conduct vast searches before hiring new head coaches.
Las Vegas interviewed two external candidates and then removed the interim tag from Antonio Pierce‘s title. New England had already designated inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo as its head coach-in-waiting.
Delete those two searches from our data, and the average candidate list size for 2024 jumps to 11.2. But even without those adjustments, it’s clear that teams are meeting with far more candidates than they have in years past.
The Atlanta Falcons (14), Carolina Panthers (11), Los Angeles Chargers (15), and Tennessee Titans (11) have already met or requested interviews with double-digit HC candidates. Only nine total teams from 2015-23 interviewed at least 10 candidates in an individual search.
What’s driving the increase in candidate pool size? It’s not happenstance. Here are three reasons behind the NFL’s expanded head coaching searches.
The Rooney Rule
The Rooney Rule, named for the late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, has been part of the NFL’s hiring process since 2003 and is designed to promote candidates from underrepresented backgrounds in coaching searches.
The policy initially required each team hiring a head coach to interview at least one diverse candidate before selecting a new HC. In 2021, the NFL altered the Rooney Rule, stipulating that teams looking for head coaches must interview at least two external minority candidates as part of their HC search.
The Rooney Rule also applies to general manager, coordinator, and quarterback coach hiring processes.
Whether or not the Rooney Rule is actually working as intended — or is simply a box for primarily older, white, male owners to check — remains up for debate. It doesn’t help when NFL reporters suggest (knowingly or not) that specific candidate interviews are geared explicitly toward Rooney Rule compliance.
Changes to the Interview Process
The Rooney Rule has been on the books for over two decades, but the NFL recently adopted other changes that have slowed down the annual hiring cycle.
Hoping to reduce the burden on assistant coaches balancing playoff game preparation with interview requests, the league shifted the interview schedule to draw out the process further.
Teams were not allowed to conduct in-person interviews with any candidate employed by an NFL team until Jan. 22. Before that date, all meetings had to be virtual.
MORE: 2024 NFL Coordinator Interview Tracker
Even this week, candidates from the four teams poised to meet in the Conference Championship Game — the Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Francisco 49ers — are barred from interviewing in any capacity.
Candidates from this weekend’s losing clubs can freely meet with interested teams. But assistants from the two squads headed to the Super Bowl will only be allowed to interview during the bye week with clubs that previously hosted them for virtual meetings.
As such, candidates like Lions OC Ben Johnson, Ravens DC Mike Macdonald, and others cannot currently be hired for head coaching positions. If their teams make the Super Bowl, they can’t accept new jobs until the day after the game (Feb. 12).
Teams hoping to hire Johnson, Macdonald, Ravens OC Todd Monken, Lions DC Aaron Glenn, or 49ers DC Steve Wilks may have to get comfortable playing the waiting game.
NFL Teams Are Searching for New Ideas
This might be more esoteric, but NFL teams generally seem more interested in poaching ideas from any and all sources than they might’ve been a decade ago.
Off the field, clubs are looking under every rock to acquire talent and hiring more front office personnel with financial and analytical backgrounds. On the field, coaches on both sides of the ball consistently pilfer schemes and play designs from one another as they try to solve the NFL meta.
That increased search for knowledge may have emerged in the head coaching hiring cycle. Why shouldn’t teams use this opportunity to speak with every coach they can, gleaning ideas on roster management, culture, and team-building along the way?
MORE: 2024 NFL Head Coach Interview Tracker
By default, clubs looking for a new head coach typically need a reset. Things didn’t exactly go well for teams like the Falcons, Panthers, and Chargers in 2023. But those franchises have made the most of their chance to meet with effective coaches around the league.
Even if the Falcons don’t hire Johnson, they might learn something about how he designed Detroit’s high-powered offense. The Washington Commanders might not hire Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, but they can gain insight from a coach who’s been to a Super Bowl.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!