Raheem Morris and Dan Quinn are getting in-person second interviews, and Eric Bieniemy got one last week…but that's about all we know about the Commanders' head coach search so far, because four of the other five names they requested to interview are still in the playoffs, and Bobby Slowik was just eliminated Saturday night.
And as ESPN's John Keim told BMitch & Finlay Monday, as 'thorough but rapid' as the GM search was, this one is less the latter just because of the NFL's rules.
"So they can start doing the second and in-person interviews with coaches whose teams are out, so Morris and Quinn are expected to come in this week," Keim said. "Bobby Slowik, they did the Zoom with, they can bring him in starting now, too, and then when Baltimore and Detroit are out, they can bring those guys in – and to their credit, they've been very secretive about this whole process, and I think it's gonna stay that way. So, there may be one or two other names we don't know about yet, not the big names that we've heard from other places, but I think those are the ones right now that certainly jump out."
It doesn't look like Bill Belichick or Jim Harbaugh are in that mix for various reasons, most notably the structure the Commanders are building, with Atlanta or the Chargers maybe more a fit for Harbaugh at least – but regardless of who comes in, the power structure has to be clear.
"If you have a guy that wants too much power, it's not gonna work here," Keim said. "Adam Peters is a football guy, he's the number one guy and it's gonna flow down from there. There's guys that clearly can coach, it just doesn't mean every place is a good fit. It seems when you talk to people, the expectation is Belichick and Harbaugh will end up in Atlanta or Los Angeles."
So given all of the uncertainty, can we really peg a favorite, even if Vegas has installed Ben Johnson as one?
"It's hard for me to say who the front-runner is – like, with the GM search, Adam Peters was always the front-runner; my understanding certainly was that he was far and away the No. 1 guy, and it was just a matter of getting it done," Keim said. "With the coaching search, I think it was viewed as a more equal situation as far as like multiple guys I think are impressive on that list. I would say clearly, Johnson would be high on that list, and guys like Quinn and Raheem, because you have to think what are they looking for, and leadership is a major, major emphasis on their part."
Morris and Quinn have previously been head coaches, so they may have a leg up in terms of available info there, although Johnson does work for a noted alpha in Dan Campbell, so…
"Ben Johnson's offensive acumen is very high, he's done a great job there so we know that he can run an offense and you hear good things about him in other ways," Keim said, "but the one I hear a lot about are Raheem and Quinn. And, Mike MacDonald, you'd have to kind of put him high on the list just because, like, look what they've done, and I think he's an adaptable coach."
Realistically, it may come down to the vision Peters has for the future and ideas for where to go with the No. 2 overall pick.
"When you have that pick, if you're gonna go quarterback, clearly, you have to put an offensive guy pretty high on the list, and then somebody else has to kind of blow your doors away to say like this is the way you have to go," Keim said. "But, Adam Peters said publicly that it's not offense or defense, it's who's gonna align and the leadership, et cetera. That's going to be a big deal for them, and that's why it's hard to say who would be the front-runner. I think you can deduce certain things, but I think the other ones have a lot in their corner as well."
