By Ross Jackson
It’s not the worst thing to happen, but it’s not great either. The New Orleans Saints had three potential in-person interviews for their open head coaching position scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, thanks to a Tuesday winter storm that is covering the state of Louisiana in snow, those interviews are being pushed back.
Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Saints will reschedule their Tuesday interview with New York Giants offensive coordinator and assistant head coach Mike Kafka, while their Wednesday interviews with defensive coordinators Anthony Weaver of the Miami Dolphins and Aaron Glenn of the Detroit Lions will be postponed to later in the week.
While the delay is unlikely to directly impact the Saints’ candidate pool, it is a bit of a letdown for New Orleans, which appeared to be moving full steam ahead on its search following the divisional round. However, it likely won’t cost them much.
The risk of losing out on Glenn is more about his Tuesday interview with the New York Jets than it is about when the Saints were scheduled to meet with him afterward. The fact that Glenn chose to visit the Jets first put the Saints in a wait-and-see position, whether his interview in New Orleans was set for Wednesday, Thursday, or next week. The risk there is the risk.
Other candidates like Weaver and Kafka don’t seem to have a heavily populated market demanding their attention. Meanwhile, other candidates like Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingbury, and Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Kellen Moore all cannot do in-person interviews until the bye week between the conference championships and Super Bowl.
So many of the Saints’ top options will still be available regardless of the weather delay. The team’s other big fish, ex-Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy was reportedly also scheduling an interview with the Saints this week. It seems that those discussions already included awareness of the weather’s impact.
Yes, the Saints will get a slower start to their in-person interview phase at head coach, but it will not have a massively negative impact on their timeline.
