Bruce Allen interviewed Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell on Wednesday for the Washington Redskins’ vacant coaching position, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
The Redskins’ general manager was among a select contingent of team representatives who flew to Seattle to speak to Bevell, who has been the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator for the last three seasons. It is unclear whether team owner Dan Snyder was in that group. Bevell, who turns 44 next week, is also expected to interview with the Minnesota Vikings, where he was the offensive coordinator for the previous four seasons.
Bevell was the first candidate to interview for the job, which opened up on Monday when the Redskins fired Mike Shanahan after four seasons. Any candidates currently working for teams who have a bye through the first round of the playoffs, as the Seahawks do, are permitted to interview for other positions through this weekend.
The Redskins are known to have two other candidates lined up to interview. Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera confirmed during a press conferenceon Wednesday that defensive coordinator Sean McDermott will meet with the Redskins, but did not know if he would interview in Charlotte on Saturday, as has been reported.
“He’s done a great job here as a coordinator,” Rivera said of McDermott, who is in his third season with the Panthers and has the team ranked No. 2 in total defense entering the playoffs. “Look at where we started and where we are right now. He’s done a great job. The body of work speaks for itself, more than anything else.”
Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Jim Caldwell is also expected to interview for the position at some point next week. Multiple reports quoted John Wooten, chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which promotes diversity within coaching and management positions in the NFL, as saying Caldwell would meet with the Redskins and the Detroit Lions about their openings next week.
Caldwell, 58, coached the Indianapolis Colts from 2009 through 2011 and had been the team’s quarterbacks coach for the previous seven seasons. After being named the Ravens’ quarterbacks coach prior to last season, he was handed the responsibility of being the team’s offensive coordinator when Cam Cameron was fired last December.
ESPN also reported late Wednesday that the Redskins had asked the New York Giants for permission to interview their defensive coordinator, Perry Fewell, who has been with the team since 2010 and was the Buffalo Bills’ interim head coach in 2009, when he went 3-4 over the final seven games.
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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