Report: NFL Expected to Allow Hiring of Coaches with Teams in Playoffs

After one organization got burned under the current rules, the National Football League may be making changes that will affect head coaching searches in the future.    

On Tuesday, Judy Battista of NFL.com reported the league is expected to allow teams to hire coaches whose squads are still playing in the postseason. Currently, teams are not allowed to officially hire a coach until his season is over.       

This topic, of course, comes during the same offseason in which the Indianapolis Colts thought New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was set to be their next head coach. They waited for New England's season to be over after Super Bowl LII before announcing they hired him, but McDaniels left the Colts hanging. 

Had Indianapolis been able to hire McDaniels the moment the sides reached an agreement, perhaps he would not have backed out at the last second. The team ultimately wound up hiring Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich as head coach.

Of course, the Colts' situation was more of an outlier than the standard. The New York Giants and the Detroit Lions were able to successfully get their coaches (former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, respectively). 

An argument could be made the current rules do more harm than good. Qualified candidates may miss out on jobs because teams don't want to wait to do interviews, and teams may miss out on backup plans if their top choices reverse course.

Battista noted this isn't the first time the league has discussed tweaking the rule. Perhaps the Colts' issue will be all it takes to get the momentum for a change.