The 6-8 Las Vegas Raiders are still hanging around in the playoff hunt with interim head coach Antonio Pierce and interim general manager Champ Kelly. And if they keep looking like they did in Thursday night’s 63-21 win against the Chargers, the interim titles may be removed entirely.
But even if owner Mark Davis wants to move Pierce and/or Kelly into a permanent role, he will still have to go through a full interview process, league sources tell CBS Sports.
The NFL views the Raiders head coach and GM roles as being vacant, after Davis fired Josh McDaniels and Dave Ziegler on Halloween. League rules do not permit vacant primary positions to be filled without the process. So if Davis knows at the end of the season that he’s keeping the interims, it will take weeks for the process to be complete.
Teams can interview general manager candidates as soon as the regular season ends. And teams must conduct in-person interviews with at least two external candidates who are either people of color or women.
The same rules apply to head-coaching candidates. But teams cannot conduct in-person interviews with candidates currently employed by other teams until after the divisional round of the playoffs in late…
