What's with coach interview "permission"?

Actually the rule was tweaked slightly. Not needing permission only applies to head coaching spots.. A "promotion" to a coordinator spot would need permission if the person is currently under contract.

Parcells specifically talked about that last year during the Dallas/NO game timeframe. Since teams can be creative with titles like "Assistant Head Coach" they were manipulating the system to make it look like it was a promotion. That prompted the switch.

Yeah - the Redskins were the worst abusers of this loophole. They got Greg Williams from Buffalo and later Al Saunders from Kansas City in what amounted to lateral moves (coordinator to coordinator) but they dressed it up by giving them the title "Assistant head coach" :rolleyes: