Nicki Jhabvala is as plugged in as it gets on the Commanders’ initial GM and head coach searches, and confirmed to JP Finlay that Josh Harris is hosting five interviews for the top spot at his home in Miami between Tuesday and Wednesday, so the ‘rapid but thorough’ process could be moving VERY quickly.
Ideally, Harris wants to have the head of football ops in place before hiring a head coach, and at the executive level, these interviews can happen at any time now that the season is over, so there could be a hire in place sooner.
That’s different for coaches, because no one can be interviewed in person until the end of the divisional round, and the Rooney Rule requires two in-person interviews of minority/female candidates, which means that they can’t even satisfy requirements for another two weeks or so.
But as the former process moves quickly, is perhaps 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters a leader in the clubhouse based on familiarity?
“You look at the NFL, and there’s always connections and familiarity, right? That’s what made Baltimore so intriguing once they hired Eugene Shen,” Jhabvala said. “Same thing here – Bob Myers is very close to Adam Peters and worked for Wasserman Media Group, who is Peters’ representatives.
There are some significant ties here that people can logically put together.
They’re not discounting the other candidates by any means, but Adam Peters is a top candidate for a lot of teams, and you can see what Washington is doing to add to their appeal for Peters, because I’d agree he’s at the top of their list.”
Jhabvala thinks Washington is “the most most attractive place for coaches and GMs, which is the difference from the sale last year,” but Tennessee just being added to the list makes a difference – and also means that ‘you have to make a call’ to Mike Vrabel, who ‘is a very intriguing candidate.’
So if you add Vrabel, and then say Bill Belichick and Jim Harbaugh, there are 10 names that are seemingly the beginning of the list…and while again, Baltimore’s coaches could want to come here because of Shen, or the GM choice could bring a personal favorite (see also Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll in New York), anything can happen.
