NFL schedule 2021: Limiting interview, hiring timetables one of many proposed rule changes

NFL coaching and front office changes have always been a top storyline in the league, and a proposed rule would affect the process.

League owners will soon vote on multiple proposed rule changes, one of which deals with how teams conduct interviews with possible head coaches, coordinators and general managers.

According to the proposed rule, interviews for head coach, coordinator and general manager positions could take place only after the two conference title games. Also, hirings could only take place after the Super Bowl.

The rule change was proposed by the Buffalo Bills, according to CBS Sports. Under current rules, teams can interview candidates once their season ends, and coaches can be hired after their team is eliminated, according to The Boston Globe.

NFL owners can vote on the proposal, as well as the numerous others submitted, this offseason.

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NFL schedule 2021: How would proposed rule affect NFL hires?

Los Angeles Chargers v Kansas City Chiefs

If enacted, the rule would shake up NFL coaching and general manager carousels, and ideally put teams on a more equal level in making hires.

Current rules arguably work against successful coaches, as ones who have helped lead their teams on deep playoff runs must either juggle interviewing for jobs while coaching their current team, or not go for open jobs at all.

For example, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy interviewed for numerous openings during the past hiring cycle, not landing a job; since his team made it to the Super Bowl, he interviewed for jobs while also preparing Kansas City's offense for its weekly games.

Some NFL fans and analysts have theorized that his team's success forced Bieniemy to juggle too much at once with interviews and his current job, holding him back from being hired for a head coaching position.

"Between the end of the 2020 regular season and Super Bowl LV, seven NFL teams hired a new head coach," The Kansas City Star's Pete Grathoff wrote. Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy either spoke with or was contacted for each of those jobs, but all the while he remained busy preparing for the Super Bowl. In the end, each team chose someone else as head coach."

Under the new rules, interview processes won't even start until only two teams remain in contention. That would give a leg-up to coaches on winning staffs, and may just put better candidates in interview rooms and, eventually, in the chairs of the jobs they desire.