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Seattle Seahawks

Here’s how long it might take for the Seahawks to replace Pete Carroll

Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks celebrate after a fourth-quarter 2-point conversion goes their way Sept. 24, sealing a win against Carolina in Seattle.  (Tribune News Service)
By Bob Condotta Seattle Times

SEATTLE – After the storm of Wednesday when the Seahawks decided to move on from the winningest coach in their history, Pete Carroll – or fire, if you prefer – there might be a little bit of calm.

And that’s how the NFL, in part, wants it.

The league has grown increasingly prickly the past few years about assistants employed by teams that are still in the playoffs being distracted by interviews to become head coaches elsewhere.

This year, the NFL further adjusted the rules for the head coaching hiring process.

As part of the most recent changes approved in October, and as stated on the league’s website, teams are prohibited “from conducting in-person Head Coach interviews with candidates who are employed by other NFL clubs until after the conclusion of all Divisional Playoff games. Before the conclusion of Divisional Playoff games, hiring clubs are permitted to conduct in-person Head Coach interviews with candidates who are employed by the hiring club or who are not employed in the NFL.”

That last sentence means college coaches or anyone not on a current NFL staff can be interviewed anytime.

But if a candidate is still with an NFL team, nothing in person can happen until the week after the divisional round, or Jan. 22.

The Charlotte Observer recently summarized the following:

• Candidates working during wild-card weekend can interview virtually during the following week, but those interviews need to be conducted before the divisional round on Jan. 21.

• Teams were allowed to request interviews with candidates from other teams last Monday. Teams will have until Jan. 21 to conduct initial virtual interviews with candidates who are employed by other teams.

• Staff members of the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens can interview during their playoff bye week, three days after their regular-season concludes, similar to nonplayoff teams.

• Starting Jan. 22, teams may host in-person interviews with candidates who are employed by teams who aren’t in the postseason at that time.

• If a team hasn’t had a virtual interview with a candidate participating in the AFC or NFC Conference Championship Games before that round, it can’t interview the candidate until after their season has concluded.

• Teams can conduct second interviews – in-person or virtual – with coaches working in the Super Bowl from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4. After Feb. 4, contact is prohibited.

• And teams can’t officially hire candidates until their current team is out of the playoffs.

Got all that?

Essentially, the rules are designed to push the hiring process back a week from last year.

And as stated by the league in October, the purpose is in part to slow the process some with the hope that will lead to owners “taking a broader – and potentially more diverse – look at candidates.”

Even with the previous rules, though, NFL.com reported that the average coaching hire has taken 26 days in recent seasons compared with 13 “a few years ago.”

And with the Seahawks rumored to likely consider Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, their search could take awhile.

The earliest Quinn could be interviewed virtually is next week, and the earliest he can do an in-person interview is after the divisional round.

It could be argued that Seattle doesn’t need to do much information gathering on Quinn because he was the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014. He is thought to have retained close ties with Seahawks General Manager John Schneider, who is running the hiring process.

But the league tried to send a strong message – that it wants and expects teams to play by the rules – last April when the Arizona Cardinals were penalized in the form of draft picks for alleged tampering in their process of hiring Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon as coach.

The Cardinals were found to have talked with Gannon before the Super Bowl, in violation of the rules.

Partially in response to that situation, the NFL also strengthened its rules enforcing accountability, stating that, “Clubs must maintain complete records and provide them to the league upon the Commissioner’s request.”

Another factor is the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview two external minority candidates in person before making a hire.

But the NFL offseason schedule also means teams can take some time.

Unlike in college, in which recruiting is essentially a daily endeavor and going even a week or two without a coach can mean potentially losing a foothold on some players, the NFL calendar hits a bit of a lull for teams not in the playoffs.

Aside from the playoffs, the next big event on the NFL schedule is the scouting combine, which this year will be held from Feb. 26-March 4 in Indianapolis.

Shortly after that will come the new league year and the free-agent signing period. Teams can begin talking to free agents March 11, with signings of external free agents allowed to become official March 13.

The Seahawks undoubtedly will want a new staff in place as soon as possible to begin preparing for the combine and free agency.

But with Schneider and the personnel staff staying in place – and with Schneider appearing to have final say in all personnel matters – much of that work can continue while the team conducts its search for a coach.