The NFL frequently has one or more teams waiting to officially hire their new head coach until their choice’s current employer are done with a playoff run and that usually results in a lot of winking and nodding until the contract can be finalized.
This month brought a different outcome for the Colts and Josh McDaniels. The Colts announced that McDaniels would be their new head coach, but McDaniels opted to remain the Patriots’ offensive coordinator and Indianapolis reopened a search that ended with Frank Reich getting the job.
That kind of scramble may not be necessary in the future. Judy Battista of NFL Media reports that the league is expected to change the rule barring coaches from being hired until their current teams have finished playing.
Battista notes that such proposals have been made in the past without getting enough support for a change, but that the McDaniels situation has generated greater support for this attempt to alter the rule.