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Seeking a head start Submitted proposal looks to amend hiring process
Updated: Sunday February 25, 2001 8:27 AM
By Don Banks, Sports Illustrated INDIANAPOLIS -- They're calling it the Lewis and Fox Amendment, even though the co-sponsors of the proposal would rather have not had their names become synonymous with opportunity denied. Three weeks ago, thanks to the experiences of Super Bowl defensive coordinators Marvin Lewis and John Fox, the hottest topic in the NFL was the rule that prevents assistants from interviewing for head-coaching jobs until after the Super Bowl. And while the controversy has died down, the debate about the rule figures to intensify in the coming weeks, thanks to a proposal now before the league. Ray Anderson, the agent for Baltimore's Lewis, said Saturday that he submitted a formal request to NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue last week on Lewis' behalf, offering specific language that would allow teams to contact, interview and hire coaching candidates in the three days after the conference title games. In addition to the commissioner, the proposal also has been sent to head coaches Tony Dungy and Dennis Green of the NFL's competition committee -- the body that oversees any rule change -- NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw, and Larry Kennan, the executive director of the NFL Coaches Association. "I think we've got very broad-based support for this," said Anderson, who was encouraged by Tagliabue to send the league a proposal on how the rule should be amended and why. "And I anticipate very strong support for it next month at the league's annual meeting, where the competition committee will hopefully have it on the agenda. "Everyone knows the rule has no real value anymore, and that the harm it does to a candidate's chances outweighs any anti-tampering benefit it once had. This has been a very hot topic of conversation around the league, and I expect it to get a lot of attention next month." Lewis and Fox were the opposing defensive coordinators in the Super Bowl, and despite being considered the two leading candidates for head-coaching jobs this January, only one team, Buffalo, kept their vacancy open long enough to interview them. The Bills wound up hiring Tennessee defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, whose team was eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs. The eight other teams that hired new head coaches since the opening of the 2000 season all did so before Lewis and Fox were eligible for consideration. Tampa Bay's Dungy, a co-chair of the coaches committee on the league's competition committee, was vocal in his criticism of the rule and the hiring process which resulted in Lewis and Fox being left out of this year's round of head-coaching hires. "It's a terrible rule and the league needs to do something about it," said new Bills general manager Tom Donahoe on Thursday. "The league says it's a distraction to talk to those coaches before the Super Bowl is over. My feeling is it's a distraction not to talk to them. Because everyone knew we were going to talk to them. "So wouldn't it be better that sometime during that bye week before the Super Bowl to tell the team that's interested, "OK, you've got four hours on Tuesday night. You go to Baltimore or you go to New York and conduct your interview." And I think the owner of that team would say that's great. They'd come in and get it over with and it wouldn't distract a team. It doesn't disrupt the team and it's over with." Anderson said both Ravens head coach Brian Billick and Baltimore owner Art Modell also were sent a copy of the proposal and support the amendment. Anderson acknowledged that the competition committee will have to massage the rule to fit in the seasons that don't end with a two-week build-up before the Super Bowl. Next year's game, in New Orleans, will have just one week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl. In that case, Anderson said, the open window for talking with head-coaching candidates whose teams are still alive might fall during the week of the wild-card games, when at least four teams have first-round byes. Or perhaps on the Monday or Tuesday of the divisional round week, two weeks before the Super Bowl. The amendment also includes the stipulation that clubs seeking to interview a coach must travel to that coach's city to conduct the interview. Exploratory visits by the coaching candidate to the hiring club's team facilities would be mandated to no more than 24 hours in length, Anderson said. "Some adjustment is needed in order to give those coaches an opportunity to interview and make their case," Anderson said. "It's got to happen where there's a significant change to the current system. The current system simply doesn't work." Anderson said he initially contacted Tagliabue about making a rule change in recent weeks, and was instructed to submit a specific proposal that had some level of support within the league.
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