The 5 O’Clock Club: Is it time to change the rule on interviewing and hiring coaches?

The 5 o’clock club aims to provide a forum for reader-driven discussion at a time of day when there isn’t much NFL news being published. Feel free to introduce topics that interest you in the comments below.

Everyone knows what happened with Josh McDaniel; I don’t need to detail it here.

In a recent article, the idea of changing the rules on interviewing and hiring NFL coaches was discussed.

[T]he bigger issue is the league’s policy which makes teams play peek-a-boo and charades when they want to hire a coach from a successful team, and Quinn said he hoped it would change. Now, teams can interview assistants on playoff teams only during the wild card week for teams with playoff byes, and after the first round of the playoffs for those in wild card games. From Dan Quinn to Kyle Shanahan to Patricia and McDaniels, it creates as much of a distraction by making them dance around an obvious topic during Super Bowl week as letting them accept the job effective the end of the season would.

“There was a consideration last year to make a change of that rule, which I think in light of our situation and maybe what happened in Indianapolis, it even makes it more appropriate to reconsider it,” Wood said. “I think it’s tough on the candidates, Matt and Josh. Pat Shurmur had to wait (for the Vikings season to end to take the Giants job), obviously, too. It’s tough on the teams that are waiting for those candidates. I understand the rationale about not disrupting the season of somebody in the playoffs, but I think there’s a way maybe to have both sides be happy.”

If the issue comes up again this year, the Colts would certainly vote for it.