The NFL Coaching Carousel Isn't Broken, But Peter King Wants to Fix It

Peter King had an idea today that would change the way the coaching carousel works. Instead of bedlam on Black Monday as teams fire coaches and start looking for immediate replacements, King suggests delaying coaching searches until the Monday after the Super Bowl. It is a fine idea until you think about it for a couple minutes and realize that it wouldn't actually change anything except the timing of the news cycle.

King's main concern seems to be that coaches on successful teams like Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and Baltimore Ravens OC Greg Roman are missing out on jobs because they can't be hired until their teams are done with the playoffs. Considering Bieniemy interviewed for the Panthers job last week and had another interview lined up with the Giants, I'm not sure how this helps him.

You have to go all the way back to the last offseason to find the last time a coach from a playoff team became the head coach of another team. That's when the Cincinnati Bengals hired Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor. They waited until after Taylor coached in the Super Bowl. The Bengals had parted ways with Marvin Lewis two full months prior to hiring Taylor.

Oh, and the Dolphins hired Brian Flores after the Super Bowl. Flores had coached in the Super Bowl for the Patriots. So other than two examples of guys who were hired as head coaches after the most recent Super Bowl, it's pretty rare.

If the Cleveland Browns are smart, they're working on setting up interviews with Bieniemy and Roman as soon as they are available. As it stands, they're the only team that still has options. And as unattractive as the position is, it remains one of the only 32 NFL head coaching jobs in the world and there are hundreds of guys who want it.

Another example of a team hiring a coach who participated in the playoffs last season is the Broncos hiring Vic Fangio after the Bears were eliminated on Wild Card weekend. Just like the Giants did with New England's Joe Judge this year.

And if you're worried that under the current system coaches from playoff teams don't have time to hire any coaches, know that Josh McDaniels reportedly took some time off from preparing to hang 13 on the Titans last week to start lining up a staff for some jobs that he didn't get.

All this rule change would do is encourage more secret negotations. Would teams still be allowed to interview with the coach's current team's permission? It would just result in less transparency. Coaches would be signing at 12:01 a.m., an hour after the Super Bowl ends.

For now, if you want a coach whose team is in the Super Bowl, wait a few days.