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Marcel Louis-JacquesESPN
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Bills submitted a rule change to the NFL, proposing that any coaching or front-office interviews wait until after the conference championship games and any hiring until after the Super Bowl, a league source confirmed Wednesday.
Sports Illustrated’s MMQB was the first to report the story.
The proposal could be voted on during the NFL owners meetings this offseason.
The Bills’ proposal doesn’t come as much of a surprise considering the attention their assistant coaches received throughout their playoff run in 2020. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was interviewed by the New York Jets and Los Angeles Chargers and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was interviewed by the Houston Texans. Assistant general manager Joe Schoen was also interviewed by the Carolina Panthers.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane was vocal about his opinion of the current rule during a recent appearance on Cris Collinsworth’s podcast, saying it was “tough to ask” coaches to focus on both their upcoming interviews and the game ahead of them.
“To me, it’s an unfair process,” Beane said. “Personally, I would love to see the hiring backed up so when you’re trying to win this game, you work all year … and now you’re having guys have to think, in the back of their head, ‘I don’t want to lose this opportunity with Houston.’ If I’m Leslie Frazier, ‘I want to make sure I’m ready for that interview, but I’ve got to get ready for the Baltimore Ravens and stop Lamar Jackson.’
“I really hope the league will continue to look at moving this thing back, whether it’s after the championship games or after the Super Bowl. I know that’s a long time, but I’m at least going to try and ask for that so that these guys don’t have to worry about it.”
Beane also mentioned that sometimes the losing coach in a playoff game gets the job and the winning coach is passed over because the interviewing team is “tired of waiting.” He mentioned Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches Todd Bowles and Byron Leftwich, as well as Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as victims of that process.
Neither Daboll nor Frazier was hired this offseason.
“It’s definitely a subject I hope the league takes into consideration this year,” Beane said. “Because Leslie Frazier — he deserves a head-coaching job, Brian does, too.”
Beane said he was “disappointed” that Frazier was not hired by the Texans after Buffalo lost to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game.
The Bills aren’t the only team interested in changing this rule. ESPN’s Mike Triplett reported that the Saints and head coach Sean Payton have been pushing for this as well.