Green Bay - Winston Moss, the Green Bay Packers’ assistant head coach and linebackers coach, is poised for his second head-coaching interview in a week.
A National Football League club source on Thursday said that Moss will be interviewed in person by owner Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders, probably this weekend. Moss was interviewed by the St. Louis Rams last Saturday.
Meanwhile, Packers coach Mike McCarthy interviewed former San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan in Green Bay for the defensive coordinator’s job. Nolan was the first candidate in the door to discuss the opening created when Bob Sanders was fired Sunday.
McCarthy’s interest in Nolan is well-documented. Nolan hired McCarthy as his offensive coordinator shortly after he was named the 49ers’ head coach in 2005. McCarthy left a year later for the job in Green Bay.
Nolan, 49, is a very strong candidate who appears to have the inside track based on his relationship with McCarthy, but he is not considered a lock for the position.
McCarthy still is trying to set up an interview with former Jacksonville defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was in New Orleans interviewing for their open position.
Williams, 50, concluded his interview with the Saints Thursday and there were no indications yet that an agreement was being considered. His agent, Marvin Demoff, said Thursday there had been no new developments with the Packers Thursday.
Presumably, McCarthy was tied up with Nolan all day and would try to get in touch with Williams later.
McCarthy would like to interview Williams soon, probably before the weekend is over so that he can make a decision on whom to offer the job. Or he might wait to interview an assistant whose team is eliminated from the playoffs.
When Moss speaks with Davis, it will be a reunion of sorts. Moss played linebackers for the Raiders from 1991-’94 under coach Art Shell.
It appears as if Davis is going to make interim head coach Tom Cable his permanent coach, maybe early next week. Cable went 4-8 after replacing Lane Kiffin.
But NFL teams must comply with the Rooney Rule, which requires teams making a change of head coaches to interview at least one minority candidate.
Davis, 79, has been having health issues and wasn’t able to work from the office until Wednesday, when he officially interviewed Cable. On Saturday, Davis spoke by telephone with offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride of the New York Giants for 90 minutes in what the Raiders described as a conversation, not an interview.
Last weekend, the 43-year-old Moss, who has been an NFL position coach for 10 years, interviewed with Rams general manager Billy Devaney in St. Louis.
I talked to the people at the Rams,
the NFL club source said. Even Winston admitted he wasn’t ready to be a head coach. They started asking him questions about defense and he wasn’t very good with it. He said, ‘I think I’d just hire coordinators. I’d be the motivator.’
Making Moss’ candidacy in Oakland even more of a longshot is the fact that every coach Davis has hired since linebackers coach John Madden in 1969 has come from an offensive background. In order, the list includes Tom Flores, Mike Shanahan, Shell, Mike White, Joe Bugel, Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan, Norv Turner, Shell again, Kiffin and Cable.
However, Moss might have a shot at the defensive coordinator’s job in Oakland if he impresses Davis. Rob Ryan, the Raiders’ coordinator for the past five seasons, departed Wednesday for the same job in Cleveland.
It’s possible that Moss might find it hard to remain on McCarthy’s staff if Nolan, Williams or someone else is named coordinator instead of him. However, Moss probably is much more highly paid than a position coach because of his assistant head coach’s title.
In the meantime, the Packers will have another berth on their staff to fill after McCarthy fired yet another coach. This time, it was Ty Knott, the offensive quality control coach and the first member of the offensive staff to go.
Knott, 43, coached alongside McCarthy for two years in New Orleans before joining his staff in 2006.
Of the 20 assistants coaches listed by the Packers, McCarthy has fired seven and from appearances convinced another, Mike Stock, that it would be best if he retired.
Lionel Washington, one of the team’s secondary coaches for the last decade before being canned Monday, has talked to Davis this week about a job in Oakland, according to a source. Washington played cornerback for the Raiders from 1987-’94.
McCarthy appears in no hurry to replace Stock on special teams. However, it doesn’t appear as if Shawn Slocum, Stock’s assistant for three years, is going to get the job.
Slocum, 43, has told people that he’d like to coach a position on defense. One NFL special-teams coach said it was his understanding that Slocum would be realigned to a berth on defense.
Slocum coached linebackers and special teams at Texas A&M from 1994-’97, inside linebackers and special teams at Southern California from 1998-’99 and the secondary and special teams back at Texas A&M from 2000-’02. Oakland’s Shane Lechler, an all-time great punter, was tutored by Slocum from 1995-’97.
He also served as assistant head coach and linebackers coach at Mississippi in 2005.
The Packers also are beginning interviews with position coaches. They have one scheduled with Bill Johnson, who coached the defensive line in Atlanta (2001-’06) and Denver (2007-’08).
