The Packers are done a bit earlier than they expected and that means their assistant coaches are now available for interviews with other clubs.
Offensive coordinator Joe Philbin is one of those assistants and the Buccaneers are interested in speaking to him about their head coaching vacancy. Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported Monday that the team asked for permission to interview Philbin and Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that they have received that permission from the Packers.
It’s unknown at this point whether or not Philbin has accepted the interview. We’re not even going to begin to speculate on where his head is at after the death of his son Michael last week, but he did interview in Miami and Kansas City before the Packers got bounced from the playoffs.
The Bucs are making it clear that they are in no hurry to hire a coach so Philbin will have some time to figure out his next steps. With a long list of candidates already under consideration and every indication that Tampa will wait to talk to more assistants from the teams still in the Super Bowl hunt, it will likely be a while before they hire a replacement for Raheem Morris.