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1-26-2022 Daily Thread: Head Coach Tracker Edition

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Wednesday’s daily. I did some scouting on the interwebs late last night and though the info below is good info, it might not be ALL that’s out there. It’s fairly up-to-date, but if anyone has better and more current intel on these dudes then embed or link us to it in the comments section. If you post a tweet, be SURE it’s a legit source and not a poser account or some guy named SlimJim McGee with 12 followers. Suspect tweets will be deleted if you don’t delete them yourself.

BEARS
The Bears are making progress, tabbing Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, and former Detroit Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell as finalists. And there’s a late entry into the coaching search: New Orleans Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, a former Raiders head coach. Read more, including the talk that there is a difference of opinion among Polian (Consultant), McCaskey (Chairman), and Phillips (Team President) as to the ultimate choice for Head Coach.

Aaron Wilson tweets that Bill Polian supports Jim Caldwell’s candidacy for head coach.

Benjamin Allbright says multiple candidates said the process was a total mess by the Bears.

BRONCOS
Mike Klis covers the Broncos, one of his tweets says Paton (Broncos) had an 8-hour meeting with Green Bay’s Hackett on Monday, January 24. Another Klis tweet provides speculation (or perhaps knowledge of it as truth? Who knows) that there is…“No rush as it doesn’t appear any candidates close to offer elsewhere, yet.” The three confirmed finalists are: Quinn, O’Connell, and Hackett.

O’Connell cannot have his 2nd interview until Monday at the earliest, which there’s more on that down in the Texans section of this article.

BRONCOS/BEARS
Aaron Wilson tweets that one league source believes Dan Quinn could field more than one offer as he’s a finalist for both the Bears and Broncos HC opening.

DOLPHINS
Seven names according to NFL.com’s coaching tracker: Thomas Brown, Brian Daboll, Leslie Frazier, Vance Joseph, Mike McDaniel, Kellen Moore, and Dan Quinn. Page claims all have been interviewed. Yes, that’s 49ers Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel of Who? Mike Jones?! lore. I think he’s a doof because I don’t care that he’s hip and cool in his presser, so sue me (heh…). McDaniel makes a lot of sense, IMO. Miami is a cool dope scene and Mike is a cool, hip dude as well. I don’t think Daboll goes there. And there’s a lot of “meh” in those other names, like Leslie Frazier and Kellen Moore.

GIANTS
The Names: Brian Daboll (He’s completed his 2nd interview), Brian Flores (Thursday, Jan. 26), Patrick Graham (Wed., Jan. 25), Dan Quinn, Leslie Frazier, and Lou Anarumo. New GM Joe Schoen (Formerly with the Bills FO) slated to have introductory presser today, Wednesday, Jan. 26. Learn more about the Giants candidates via their own head coach tracker article.

JAGUARS
Jaguars SBNation Site With Multiple Reports Claiming Byron Leftwich To Be Named Head Coach.

RAIDERS
NFL.com’s coaching tracker says these three candidates exist: Rich Bisaccia (interim HC), Todd Bowles, and Jerod Mayo. They’re also looking at five GM candidates.

VIKINGS
It might be a shorter list to say who isn’t interviewing for the Vikings HC job. There’s 8 names, and I personally think DeMeco Ryans has the inside track on the job because the new GM was with Ryans in San Francisco this past year. Go read the Vikings’ own head coach tracker article to learn more about the candidates: Nathaniel Hackett, Dan Quinn, Kellen Moore, Jonathan Gannon, Todd Bowles, Raheem Morris, Kevin O’Connell, and DeMeco Ryans. Initial interviews have all concluded and were in order as listed in the previous sentence. Hackett was the first to be interviewed which was Wed., Jan. 16. ‘Meco was interviewed Sun, Jan. 23. NOTEWORTHY: Gannon was Thur., Jan. 20 and O’Connell was Fri., Jan. 21.

TEXANS
Flores, Gannon, Lombardi, Josh McCown, and Hines Ward. Fairly exhaustive search, I hope JackCal Serio are resting up and getting their batteries recharged. Who knows if O’Connell ever interviews. I think it’s safe to say that a virtual interview could have happened prior to Sunday’s game, but maybe he was worn out from his other interviews and needed Saturday to focus on Sunday’s game. More on him, below, in terms of WHEN he can interview per league rules.

FLORES (Bears, Giants, Texans)
Flores is not a finalist for the Bears job and yet perhaps he is still in play for the Giants? I have a feeling that’s Daboll’s job with Schoen (Formerly of the Bills) now the GM for the Giants. Is Nick waiting to see what happens with Flores and the Giants, and if so then why hasn’t he at least held a 2nd interview with Flores during all this time since Flores’ first interview 12 days ago?

GANNON (Broncos, Vikings*, Texans) *1 of 8 candidates interviewed
Gannon is not a finalist for the Broncos job. It’s down to the Vikings and the Texans if Gannon is to receive an offer, with Bleeding Green Nation saying: Gannon is reportedly viewed as a “front-runner” for the Texans gig and Houston is said to have interest in holding a second interview with him. There hasn’t been as much word on the Vikings’ interest in Gannon, though it could be worth noting that Minny ruled out two Eagles executives from their general manager search. There are 8 candidates for the Vikings job, and the new GM is from the 49ers so I’m saying Gannon is probably going to be available if Caserio wants to extend an offer to Gannon The Love Cannon?

When you Google search Gannon Second Interview Texans, you get nothing but “expected to” or “Texans seeking second interview” just a lot of maybes and perhaps types of language. The last somewhat solid intel we had was Zac Jackson of The Athletic who tweeted FIVE DAYS AGO that the Texans are working to set up a second head coaching interview with Gannon, which let’s be honest…Gannon does not have any NFL coaching tasks on his schedule since his team was eliminated in the Wild Card round 2 weeks ago. Also in the same tweet, Jackson said that Caeserio and Gannon are both John Caroll University alums. Aaron Wilson tweeted about 10 minutes later saying Gannon knocked his interview out of the park and made a strong impression with the Texans and is regarded as a very strong contender. Read both those tweets here in a 97.3 FM ESPN article.

O’CONNELL (Broncos finalist, Vikings*, Texans maybe??) *1 of 8 candidates interviewed
I’m not sure if O’Connell is gonna’ end up interviewing here. I Google searched Texans Kevin O’Connell and all I see is the report that he was “expected” to be interviewed, he’d been requested to interview, and that it was supposed to happen over the weekend but that’s a stretch since his team played on Sunday and he had interviewed elsewhere. Elsewhere being the Broncos, which named him as a finalist along with Quinn (Cowboys) and Hackett (Packers).

Hackett has had his 2nd interview with Denver and it’s said that Quinn is planned for his 2nd Broncos interview but no date has been reported yet, according to Mile High Huddle. OF NOTE: The same site says this about O’Connell and the 2nd Broncos interview which hasn’t occurred yet: Viewed potentially as the darkhorse, O’Connell is out of reach for Paton until next Monday at the very soonest. With the Rams set to host the NFC Championship Game this weekend, NFL rules mandate that the Broncos can’t sit down with O’Connell again until after the conference title match. So who the hell knows about O’Connell and if he just said, “No thanks, I’m good…” to JackCal Serio.

LOMBARDI/McCLOWN/WARD
These are all the rejects, the guys they hire if one of the real candidates is not available or declines the offer. These are the B Team puppets that they know will be there to say yes like David Culley did. That’s my take: Two tiers of candidates.