In 2023, after the Arizona Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon, the Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles swapped draft picks after the NFL investigated Arizona for tampering related to the head coach’s hiring.
The Cardinals received the 94th overall pick and a 2024 fifth-round pick, and gave the Eagles the 2023 66th overall pick.
Days after the Eagles had won the NFC Championship Game, new Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort had an impermissible phone call with Gannon, who at the time was Philadelphia’s defensive coordinator.
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The Cardinals hired Gannon as their next head coach on Feb. 14, just two days after the Eagles lost Super Bowl LVII, which was played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“I made a mistake,” Ossenfort said following the incident. “I own that. You know, it’s a situation that we were able to resolve. I’ve apologized to [Cardinals owner] Michael Bidwill, I’ve apologized to our staff, and I think the deal that we worked out, it is what it is, and we’re just moving on from it and really don’t have a lot more to say on it.”
Ossenfort’s phone call with Gannon took place during the no-contact period between the NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl, as Gannon was still coaching. This violated the NFL’s anti-tampering policy, and the Cardinals self-reported the violation to the NFL.
Bidwill, during Gannon’s introductory news conference, said that since the window to interview Gannon had closed before the Cardinals hired Ossenfort, he didn’t want Arizona to be a disruption for potential candidates who were still coaching. Gannon, in that same news conference, said he was fully engaged in the Eagles’ playoff run.
Now, as Arizona enters a new coaching search to replace Gannon, here are the NFL rules regarding contact of head-coaching candidates.
What are the NFL’s rules about timing and interviews for coaching searches?
The Associated Press
As the 14 playoff-bound teams set their sights on a Super Bowl title, the rest of the teams in the NFL are already on to the 2026 season.
With six teams already looking for new coaches, this month will require several top assistants on playoff teams to balance in both worlds.
The New York Giants, Tennessee, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Cleveland and Arizona have already fired their head coach, setting off searches for replacements that will include playoff-bound assistants.
The NFL has strict rules on when — and how long — those coaches can talk to other teams while their seasons are still alive. Here’s a look at some of the protocols in place for the coaching searches.
Teams can start interviewing candidates not employed by another organization as soon as they have an opening. But for coaches employed by other teams, the process is more formal.
Teams were able to start making interview requests for coaches under contract to another team beginning Monday.
For teams that didn’t make the playoffs, their coaches can be interviewed virtually three days after their final game — Tuesday for coaches on Tampa Bay, or Wednesday for any other non-playoff team.
The process is different for assistants on playoff teams. For the two teams with a bye, those virtual interviews can be held this week, with Seattle’s assistants available starting Tuesday and Denver’s on Wednesday. Those interviews can be conducted through Wild Card weekend and are limited to three hours in length.
For assistants coaching on Wild Card weekend, they can have a virtual interview of up to three hours beginning Jan. 13, except for coaches on Houston and Pittsburgh, who must wait until Jan. 14 because they play Monday night.
What comes next?
In-person interviews with assistants who are under contract with other teams can begin on Jan. 19, unless those teams are still alive for the conference title games.
Those coaches must wait until Jan. 26, when either they are eliminated from the playoffs or have a bye week before the Super Bowl. Coaches on the Super Bowl teams are allowed to be interviewed through Feb. 1 but are forbidden from talking to other teams after that until Feb. 9, the day after the Super Bowl.
Coaches on the Super Bowl teams are not allowed to interview in person with other teams during the bye week if they hadn’t done an initial virtual interview earlier in January.
No coach can either sign a contract or agree to sign a contract until their season is completed.
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