As seven NFL head coaches lost their jobs Monday, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan implied offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, his son, wouldn’t agree to interview requests until after Washington’s playoff run ends.
“At least my opinion, at least this is my feeling when I was an assistant, it’s not time to interview during the season,” Mike Shanahan said. “It’s time to concentrate on your job. After the season is over with, I think there’s plenty of time for all those things. That’s my gut feeling.”
Kyle Shanahan, 33, designed and called plays this season for one of the NFL’s top offenses. The Redskins, buoyed by the addition of playmakers such as rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, rookie running back Alfred Morris and receivers Pierre Garcon and Joshua Morgan, averaged a league-best 6.17 yards per play.
Last season, the Redskins ranked 20th with 5.22 yards per play.
Kyle spearheaded the addition of the pistol formation, the quarterback zone-read option and the triple option, among other new wrinkles, to the offense this season.
Kyle — or any other Redskins assistant, for that matter — is ineligible to interview for a head coaching job until after the wild-card round concludes Jan. 6.
If the Redskins defeat Seattle in their wild-card game Sunday at 4:30 p.m. at FedEx Field, any Redskins assistant would be eligible to interview for a head coaching job between the conclusion of the wild-card round and the conclusion of the divisional round Jan. 13, according to the league.
If Washington loses to Seattle, assistants would be free to interview because the Redskins’ season would be over.
“You’ve got a job to do, and you should do that first,” Mike Shanahan said. “But after the season is over, if somebody wants to interview him or something along those lines, I think it’s great opportunities for assistant coaches to interview for head coaching jobs.”
Playoff tickets sold out
Tickets for the Redskins’ playoff opener against the Seattle Seahawks are sold out, the team announced Monday.
Season-ticket holders had until late last week to register for tickets in the event the Redskins captured the NFC East and hosted a game at FedEx Field.
When that happened Sunday night, the team made tickets available at the stadium.
It didn’t take long for inventory to go. But, “in the event there are player or visitor team ticket returns, fans are encouraged to check with Ticketmaster for availability,” the team said.
Kickoff is set for 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Parking lots will open at 11:30 a.m. and stadium gates at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday night’s victory over Dallas drew a raucous crowd of 82,845.
“Had a couple games there where it was Giants and Ravens where they had a lot of fans, man. I was disappointed, but our fans were strong today,” nose tackle Barry Cofield said. “Hopefully, they’ll be strong again next week.”
Ratings record
Sunday night’s Redskins-Cowboys game for the NFC East title was the most-watched regular-season NFL prime-time game in the past 15 years, according to overnight ratings released by NBC.
The Redskins’ 28-18 victory drew an 18.3 overnight rating and 30 share, breaking NBC’s previous regular-season prime-time record set during Week 1 between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos.
The rating in Washington (44.6 rating, 68 share) is the highest ever in this market for a prime-time game. The Nielsen Company began tracking ratings in 1987.
The national rating also was the best for a Redskins-Cowboys game in 19 years.
Extra Points
• Third cornerback Cedric Griffin will return to practice this week. He completed his four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
• Mike Shanahan said he’ll gauge Griffin’s condition in practices before determining whether to move him from the reserve/suspended list to the active roster. Griffin, at 6-foot, is Washington’s second-tallest cornerback.
• The Redskins’ opponents for the 2013 season were set after Sunday night’s win.
Washington will host: Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco, Kansas City and San Diego.
Washington will visit: Dallas, New York Giants, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Minnesota, Atlanta, Denver and Oakland.
The Redskins play San Francisco and Atlanta because they finished in first place. Their other 14 opponents are the same as the rest of the NFC East’s.
Dates and times for the games won’t be determined until April.
• Rich Campbell can be reached at rcampbell@washingtontimes.com.
• Stephen Whyno can be reached at swhyno@washingtontimes.com.
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