The Buffalo Bills are reportedly going to propose a change in hiring practices that could benefit future head coaching and front office candidates, while changing the dynamics of the offseason.
According to Sports Illustrated senior NFL reporter Albert Breer, the Bills have submitted a proposal that would force teams to wait to interview people for head coaching and front office positions until after the AFC and NFC championship games. Breer added the proposal would also force teams to wait until after the Super Bowl to hire the candidate of their choice.
One of the complaints that candidates have had regarding top coaching candidates is that the deeper the teams go into the playoffs, the fewer opportunities they have had to interview.
Each of the seven head coaches that were hired in this offseason accepted jobs before the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, candidates whose teams made it to the championship games, such as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Bills’ offensive coordinator Eric Daboll, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles were shut out of jobs.
Breer said that owners could have the chance to vote on the proposal as soon as this offseason. [Reply]
The excuse has always been that waiting until after the Super Bowl to hire coaches means that the new coaching staffs, and possibly front office personnel, would be behind the curve in terms of The Combine and draft prep.
In my opinion, that's always been a lame and stupid excuse.
Move The Combine back two or three weeks. No one would care or notice, especially given the fact that the draft doesn't happen until late April/early May, leaving April as mostly a "dead month" in terms of football activities. [Reply]
I agree with Dane. Move the combine back a couple weeks. Most teams have a pretty good idea who they would like to draft and there's always the pro days. [Reply]
The issue isn't only the combine but also the Franchise player designation period, new league year, and workouts that happen from late Feb through early April.
If I were to say I'd agree, I think it would be creating periods and completely revamping the offseason schedule.
It seems that, over time, the SB has been later and later every year. I remember it being the 3rd Sunday in January or thereabouts quite often when I was younger. Then it got pushed to the last Sunday in January, and now it's generally the first Sunday in February. I don't know why it needs to be so late in the year, just start the season a couple of weeks earlier instead.
Allow teams to coordinate/schedule staff candidate interviews immediately following the end of the regular season through the 3rd Monday of January for the interview/offer period (later).
Set the date of the Super Bowl back to the last Sunday of January and adjust the regular season up to accommodate.
Set the Front Office & Coaching interview and offer period to be from the Monday following the SB through 4 PM the 3rd Monday of February.
Move the Franchise & Transition period to be the 1st Tuesday in March until 4 PM the 3rd Tuesday in March.
Set the Combine to be the 3rd Thursday in March through its proceeding Sunday.
Set the League Year and Free Agent Period to begin the 4th Tuesday in March and end the 4th Tuesday in April.
The last day to match RFA offer sheets should be the 4th Wednesday in April
Start offseason workouts for all teams to begin the 3rd Monday in April and get rid of the offseason workout addition for new coaches.
Make the Draft the 1st Sunday of May and its preceding two days.
A sample schedule for 2021 would have been:
Regular Season Start Date - Sep 3
Staff Interview Scheduling Period: Dec 28 to Jan 18
Super Bowl - Jan 31
Staff Interview & Offer Period: Feb 1 to Feb 15
Franchise & Transition Period: Mar 2 to Mar 16
NFL Combine: Mar 18 to Mar 21
League Year and FA Period: Mar 23 to Apr 27
Last Day to Match RFA offer sheets Apr 28
Offseason Workouts: Apr 19
NFL Draft: Apr 30 to May 2
That still puts a alot of pressure on a new staff to adequately address the offseason.
I'm not sure it should be changed, or that it is good for teams looking to make a change. [Reply]
The perennial crappy teams will hate it. They have a built in advantage right now. They probably know by week 14 or 15 if they're going to can their coach. They may not be able to interview candidates at that point, but they're for sure working behind the scenes and asking around about possible coaches. They can have interviews set up the day after the season ends. They also like the current set up because it puts the successful teams at a disadvantage. If the good teams play late into the playoffs and lose a coordinator the pool of potential replacement is already depleted from the early coaching hires. [Reply]
Originally Posted by rydogg58:
A change that makes so much sense it will probably get voted down. There's no reason not to do this.
Yeah, because we have a winning team that is consistently playing an extended season. Shitty teams like the Raiders and Chargers and Broncos will NOT support this. [Reply]