Bills’ offensive coordinator Brian Daboll was not lacking in interest as a head coach, and will almost certainly be in demand next year as well, but will remain with Buffalo in 2021, the sources said. This is due, at least in part, to the peculiarities of the NFL’s hiring rules and Bills’ long playoff period.
The Eagles fired coach Doug Pederson more than a week after the end of the regular season, missing the opportunity to conduct initial interviews with the technical assistants involved in the Wild Card round. Daboll was a prominent name on the team’s list, the sources said, but they could not guarantee an interview because Bills denied them permission to speak to Daboll last week, the sources said, as is their right in the process. The Eagles contacted a Bills official late last week, trying to arrange an interview with Daboll in the short term, but did not submit a formal application form.
The Bills granted permission to the Texans to interview defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier last Sunday after his victory over Baltimore in the divisional round, as the Texans submitted that request days before the game, giving Buffalo enough time to schedule him around his playoff planning schedule. Owners can make exceptions for certain interviews to take place outside normal regulatory regulations. The Chiefs also granted permission to offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to interview Texans last week, which they could have blocked if they wanted to.
The Eagles continued their process last week and were very impressed by Colts’ assistant Nick Sirianni, who is very close to former Eagles coach Frank Reich; Reich is highly regarded by the Philadelphia chiefs for his previous work with Carson Wentz. The Philadelphia nine-person search committee chose to offer Sirianni the job last week, making him the team’s chief coach. They would have to wait until the bills faced the bosses to try to speak to Daboll during a period that would normally be reserved for a second interview.
Sources said the Eagles were unsure whether they could have definitely interviewed Daboll if the Bills had advanced to the Super Bowl, as it would not be a second interview. The Bills informed the Eagles that Daboll would be allowed to speak to them “when the season is over,” the sources said. With coach Sean McDermott a former defensive coordinator with experience on that side of the ball, the Eagles selection committee understood why Frazier may be allowed to interview and Daboll not.
There remains a vacancy for head coach remaining in Houston, and Daboll is not a candidate for that at the moment, the sources said. He was on the original list of candidates before hiring general manager Nick Caserio, the sources said, but that search was in a different direction when quarterback Deshaun Watson’s discontent with the process became national news, which continued to dominate the headlines of the NFL. Texans are expected to request a second interview with Frazier after the completion of the Bills game today.