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NFL Coaching Rumors: Redskins to Interview Eagles Assistants Pat Shurmur and/or Bill Lazor

Could Washington's next head coach currently be on the Eagles coaching staff? Possible, but not likely.

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

According to a report from every Eagles fan's favorite NFL reporter, Jason LaCanfora, the Washington Redskins are expected to interview some members of the Eagles' coaching staff for the open job in DC. The Redskins are still looking for a replacement after firing head coach Mike Shanahan after the 2013 season ended. From LaCanfora's latest column:

[...] league sources said they expect [Redskins GM Bruce Allen] to interview at least one member of Chip Kelly's staff in Philadelphia. It will be likely either offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur or quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor, or perhaps even both.

The column mentions that Washington's top choice is Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. Pat Shurmur and Bill Lazor don't appear to serious contenders for the job, but who knows. After all, they are the LolSkins.

Shurmur, the Eagles' offensive coordinator, has experience as a head coach in Cleveland. Chip Kelly calls the plays in Philadelphia, but Shurmur assists in putting together game plans. Shumur is also responsible for assisting Kelly during in-game challenge decisions. The Eagles were 3 for 7 (42.86%) for challenges in 2013.

Bill Lazor is the Eagles quarterback coach. NFL insider Adam Caplan has brought Lazor's name up often recently as a coach who will likely be in demand, but it would be surprising to see him get serious head coaching consideration at this point. Tommy Lawlor wrote about the possibility of Lazor moving on to a new job last week.

Lazor has coached in the NFL and in college. He has been a coordinator and positional assistant. He's only 41 years old, but already has 20 seasons of experience as an assistant coach. That means he knows what he's doing, but is still young enough to have an open mind and be considered a coach on the rise. The older a coach gets, the more he is considered set in his ways, which isn't always an attractive thing. Lazor could be an offensive coordinator candidate at the NFL level. I'm sure some colleges would love to hire him for that role, but I doubt he'd have interest. The only way he's going back to college is to be a head coach. I don't think it is likely another NFL team comes after him to be the offensive coordinator this year, but that could happen in the future.

It doesn't seem like either candidate will likely end up in Washington. The Redskins are being thorough in their search and potentially gaining valuable insider information (gasp!) on the Eagles. Philadelphia can't deny permission for Lazor/Shurmur to interview with Washington if the Redskins are interviewing them for the head coaching job.

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