UPDATE 1/12/24: The WFT has hired Adam Peters as the new General Manager. From firing Ron Rivera to hiring Peters took right at 100 hours. Peters is linked to a couple of coaching candidates including Bobby Slowik of Houston and Ben Johnson of Detroit. In-person interviews can begin on Monday the 22nd.
UPDATE: 1/11/24
Ian Rappaport is reporting that the WFT GM search is down to two finalists; Adam Peters of the 49ers and Ian Cunningham of the Bears. The choice is supposedly going to happen within a few days.
Peters is a hot commodity. If Harris really wants him then moving quickly is the correct play. More updates coming as events warrant.
Original Post:
There were only a few surprises on Monday. Ron Rivera was fired not long after daybreak. But, his coaching staff was not. In Jacksonville, they kept the Head Coach, but fired pretty much the whole coaching staff. It’s always interesting how teams approach these things. Josh Harris wasted no time in announcing his search team. It includes NBA Executive Bob Myers and Rick Spielman, a former General Manager with the Vikings. Harris also put the pedal to the metal in requesting interviews with Head Coaching candidates. That was pretty visible. The General Manager search is more subterranean. This post will provide updates as they become available.
The NFL rules for interviewing Head Coaching candidates are so Byzantine that only a tax consultant would understand all of them. Basically, there are Zoom interviews only, and only one per candidate, until Jan 22. It gets really complex if the candidate is on a Super Bowl participant. And, there is the Rooney Rule that a minority candidate must be interviewed. Washington has requested interviews with; Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn of Detroit, Bobby Slowik from Houston, Dan Quinn of Dallas, and Mike MacDonald of Baltimore.
On the General Manager side interviews have been conducted already with Adam Peters of the 49ers, Ian Cunningham of the Bears, and Glenn Cook of the Browns. All of these were at Harris’ house in Miami. Scheduled for today, January 10 are Alec Halaby from the Eagles, and the Chiefs’ Mike Borganzi. All of these are currently Assistant GMs. Harris’ team has also requested to interview the Browns’ Glenn Cook and Dallas VP of Player Personnel Will McClay. All of these interviews will be in person.
One thing that will come out of those interviews is the external in-League view of what the Washington team is and what it is not. Interviews with in-Division personnel may be the most revealing. If nothing else, Harris will exit this round of interviews with a better understanding of the “Is Map” of his franchise. Getting from there to fulfilling the vision is another undertaking. But having this unfiltered insight from people other than sports journalists with their biases will prove to be invaluable.
This aggressive and fast approach speaks to a well-formulated plan that was ready to drop as soon as Black Monday came. The wild card is Jim Harbaugh. There are no constraints other than the Rooney Rule for his candidacy. And, there are no permissions required within the League. It could stay totally quiet if the Harris team can keep a lid on it, Harbaugh refused to sign a $15 million contract provision that said he would not leave Michigan for the NFL. He thought he had the Minnesota job before they hired Kevin O’Connell. Read all you wish into those tea leaves.
This will be updated as events warrant. Speculate away in the comments. RW
