NFL makes important changes to coach hiring process to stop teams from poaching 

The NFL is adjusting the hiring process for its 32 franchises in order to "nudge the owners towards a more fair, thorough, and inclusive process for interviewing and hiring head coaches," according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

These changes were instituted to give coaching candidates already on a staff more time to prepare for interviews as the season is winding down in its final weeks.

There are two main components of the edict, according to Florio. The first, as he describes, focuses on the time period when head coaching candidates can be interviewed.

"First, teams cannot interview a head-coaching candidate who is employed by another NFL team until the third day after the conclusion of that team’s Week 18 game. This specifically applies to assistant coaches working for teams that did not qualify for the playoffs or that earned a first-round bye. For teams that play in the wild-card round, assistant coaches cannot be interviewed until the following Tuesday (for Saturday and Sunday games) or Wednesday (for the Monday game)."

The rules are different for coaches in ancillary roles who haven't landed a head coaching job yet. Currently, only those not in the league are able to interview before the end of the wild-card round, as Florio goes on to detail.

"Second, no in-person interviews are permitted with candidates who are employed by other teams until after all wild-card games have ended. Before the end of the wild-card round, in-person interviews may occur only with candidates employed by the team hiring a head coach or candidates not currently employed by the NFL."

Miami Dolphins almost breaking Rooney Rule forced NFL's hand this offseason

Tom Brady and Sean Payton almost became the quarterback and head coach of the Miami Dolphins, but their plot was foiled before the franchise could violate the Rooney Rule.

Brian Flores' class action lawsuit - which confirmed those rumors and alleged that the Dolphins owner Stephen Ross was trying to force Flores to tamper with Brady before he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers - submarined that possibility.

The league's hand was forced by the Dolphins' unsavory hiring plans for their head coach role this past offseason. Moving forward, the NFL offseason has been altered. We will see the results of the changes this coming January.