The Patriots’ head coaching search could be over quickly.
The New England Patriots have so far been linked to five candidates to fill their vacant head coaching position. While others may still join that group in the coming days, it seems as if the organization is intent on turning the page quickly.
In fact, according to a report by Chad Graff of The Athletic, the Patriots might reach an agreement with a head coach as early as next week:
After those interviews, a decision is expected to come quickly. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has a track record of being decisive when it comes to picking head coaches. The expectation is that this will continue and New England will have an agreement with its next head coach next week.
The Patriots already conducted in-person interviews with Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich earlier this week. They will follow those up with a meeting with Mike Vrabel on Thursday, and a virtual interview with Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson on Friday. In addition, the team also requested to talk to the Lions’ defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn.
Hamilton, Leftwich and Vrabel are all coaching free agents. This means that they can right away conduct in-person interviews with the Patriots — Hamilton and Leftwich doing so allowed the team to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule — and get hired immediately.
Johnson and Glenn, on the other hand, are in a different boat. With the Lions currently in the playoffs as the top seed in the NFC, they will leave the tournament no sooner than January 19. As a consequence, the Patriots would not be allowed to hold in-person interviews with them at any point before January 20. The longer Detroit stays in postseason contention, the further back those potential interviews will move.
If the Lions end up advancing all the way to the Super Bowl, the Patriots would not be able to meet them in person until February 10. They would, however, be allowed to do a second round of virtual interviews between January 27 and February 2 in that particular case.
Given the report mentioned above, the Patriots waiting that long to make a decision seems unlikely. This leaves only two possibilities:
1.) The Patriots will end up hiring one of Hamilton, Leftwich and Vrabel, with the latter the overwhelming favorite among them.
2.) The Patriots would be comfortable hiring a new head coach based of of one virtual interview alone.
Obviously, one also has to consider the coaches in question. Would Johnson or Glenn, for example, even feel comfortable agreeing to a move to New England after one virtual meeting? And if not, how would the Patriots adapt given their apparent desire to fill their vacancy quickly?
As of now, those questions remain unanswered. It seems they won’t be for long, though.