The New York Giants, hot on the trail of John Harbaugh to fill their head coaching vacancy, are continuing to stockpile of lengthy list of other candidates should they need to go to Plan B.
The Giants are reportedly one of three teams that have requested an interview with Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula. The others are the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans.
Per NFL rules, Shula is available for virtual interviews this week after the Rams defeated the Carolina Panthers in the Wild-Card round of the NFC Playoffs.
The Giants will host former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy on Monday night and Tuesday.
- Mike Kafka (Completed)
- Kevin Stefanski (Completed)
- Raheem Morris (Completed)
- Antonio Pierce (Thursday night and Friday)
- Vance Joseph (Completed — Virtual)
- Darren Rizzi (Completed)
- Klint Kubiak (Completed — Virtual)
- Lou Anarumo (Pending)
- Mike McCarthy (Monday night and Tuesday)
- John Harbaugh (Pending)
NFL teams cannot simply get any candidate they want into their building for an interview and then hire that person on the spot. The Rooney Rule requires in-person interviews with at least two external minority candidates before hiring a coach. Mike Kafka, incidentally, would not count as a Rooney Rule interview for the Giants because the “external” requirement. There is also a schedule of when coaches can be interviewed. Here is the breakdown, via The Athletic:
- Teams with open head-coaching positions were able to begin requesting interviews with candidates from other teams on Jan. 6. Those interviews must happen virtually before the end of divisional-round games.
- Last year, the NFL recommended that teams with open head-coaching positions used this “virtual interview window” to set up initial interviews so those teams would be eligible to request a second interview with a candidate from a Super Bowl team during the bye week.
- Note: Teams may not interview employees of other teams that didn’t make the postseason until the third day after the employer teams’ Week 18 game (for example, Jan. 7 for a game on Jan. 4, or Jan. 8 for a game on Jan. 5).
These are the interview requirements for coaches of teams in the postseason:
- If the employer team has a bye in the wild-card round, virtual interviews may begin three days after Week 18 games and must happen before the end of wild-card games.
- If the employer team is participating in the wild-card round, virtual interviews may begin three days after the team’s wild-card game and must happen before the end of the divisional-round games.
Starting the day after the divisional round ends:
- Teams can conduct in-person or virtual interviews with candidates employed by other NFL teams whose seasons ended.
- Teams cannot hold initial interviews with candidates employed by teams participating in the AFC and NFC championship games until the end of the employer team’s season. A candidate’s employer team may not voluntarily grant permission for those interviews.
During the bye week between conference championships and the Super Bowl:
- Second interviews, either in-person or virtual, are allowed with head coach candidates employed by teams in the Super Bowl. The team(s) conducting the interviews must notify the employer team(s).
Contact with head coach candidates in the Super Bowl is not allowed from during the Super Bowl week until the day after the game.
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