NFL allowing head coaching interviews in

The NFL head coaching carousel is getting started a little earlier this year, as the league pa sed a one-year trial ( Chad Bettis Jersey ) on allowing teams with head coaching vacancies the opportunity to interview candidates in-season beginning Tuesday at 8 a.m. (12 days before the regular season ends).Under the prior rules, teams that had head coaching vacancies couldn't interview candidates until after the season concluded. With the NFL regular season ending on Jan. 9 thanks to the 17-game season, teams now have extra time to interview head coaches and have their new hires a semble their staff.Here's the catch: Only teams that currently have a head coach opening or told their head coach that they won't be back can interview free agent coaches or request permi sion to interview a sistants for other jobs. The and are the only teams that currently can actively search for head coaches since their head coaches (Urban Meyer and Jon Gruden) were fired midseason.Will there be other teams joining the Jaguars and Raiders prior to Tuesday at 8 a.m. or in the coming days? Let's take a look at four teams that may have head coaching vacancies sooner rather than later: Matt Nagy's hot seat has never been warmer with the Bears eliminated from the playoffs amidst all the dysfunction that has gone on in the organization this year. The Bears are coming off a playoff appearance in 2020, yet dropped to five wins in 2021 with struggling throughout his rookie campaign.Nagy may have coached his last game in Chicago as the Bears could look to get a head start on their next head coach, especially since Chicago doesn't have a first-round pick as a result of the Fields deal on draft day. With Fields heading into his second season and the talent on both sides of the ball, Chicago might be one of the more attractive jobs available this hiring season -- especially if general manager Ryan Pace is shown the door.Will Houston fire David Culley after just one season, a year which the Texans decided to make inactive and still were able to overachieve and win four games? The Texans have a bottom-four offense and defense in points and yards, yet are 3-3 in their last six games. Culley may be a bridge coach for a washed year anyway, giving general manager Nick Caserio an opportunity to hire a better candidate. Houston can get a head start on that proce s since the Tony Wolters Jersey Texans are already eliminated from the playoffs and have a top-five draft pick lined up. Then there's a matter of potential draft compensation for Watson, once a potential resolution on his legal matter clears up.Carolina gave Matt Rhule a lot of money to be the head coach for seven years, so firing Rhule after two seasons is le s than ideal. The Panthers have lost nine of 11 since a 3-0 start and are just 10-21 in Rhule's two seasons. Whether Rhule has lost the locker room or not is another story, but Carolina is in a worse situation now than when the franchise fired Ron Rivera two years ago.Rhule is two seasons into a seven-year, $62 million contract, so that's a lot of money for owner David Tepper to eat up if he makes a proactive move. The Panthers need a franchise quarterback before anything else, making the job a lot le s attractive. May be best to give Rhule another year and get back healthy. The Vikings are still in playoff contention, one game out of the final playoff spot in the NFC, yet it may be time to move on from Mike Zimmer. Minnesota is one lo s away from its second Daniel Murphy Jersey consecutive losing season -- a first under Zimmer -- and is just 32-30 since reaching the NFC Championship Game in 2017.The Vikings should be better than their record indicates, yet are 6-8 in one-po se sion games and have played in 12 straight games with the final score being eight points Kyle Freeland Jersey or le s. This team could use a change of culture after eight years of Zimmer, but probably won't move on from him while being in the thick of a playoff race. Minnesota may hold off on a decision for another week or two.The Giants should be No. 1 on this list, but reports are head coach Joe Judge is expected back after this season. Why the Giants would bring Judge back is anyone's gue s. Judge is just 10-21 in his 31 career games as a head coach and has the Giants at 4-11 in his second season at the helm, good for the second-worst record in the conference and last place in the NFC East. Judge has already made one significant head coaching change this season, firing offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in November. The Giants offense has actually gotten worse since firing Garrett, as their points per game dropped from 18.9 to 11.8 and their yards per game dropped from 322.8 to 264.8 (five games).The Giants seem to want to give Judge another opportunity with a healthy and a healthy roster. Based on the first two years, this may be a recipe for disaster. Pete Carroll has been the best head coach in Seahawks history and has been with the franchise for 12 years, winning the organization's lone and five NFC West titles. This season, in which Seattle is eliminated from the playoffs, is Carroll's first losing campaign since 2011. Carroll deserves an opportunity to turn the franchise around, especially if is back in 2022 (which is another cloud hanging over the franchise). There's a chance Carroll could step down after the year (he is 70 years old), but that doesn't help Seattle get a head start in finding his replacement.At the moment, Carroll remains with Seattle.Denver is still barely in the mix for a playoff spot, and Vic Fangio hasn't exactly done a terrible job this year. The Broncos are in the midst of changing ownership -- which complicates the proce s -- and general manager George Paton may want to hire his own head coach after the year. Until Denver is eliminated, Fangio's future likely won Jake McGee Jersey 't be decided.