Redskins rumors: Jay Gruden, Art Briles among coaching candidates

The Washington Redskins have a list of 10-12 coaches they plan to interview for their open head coaching position, and among them are Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden and Baylor head coach Art Briles, according to Jason LaCanfora of CBS Sports. Despite Briles saying earlier this week that he is staying at Baylor, LaCanfora tweeted that they are still interested anyway.

The Redskins will not be able to interview Gruden until the Bengals are eliminated from the playoffs; Cincinnati hosts the San Diego Chargers on Sunday in the wild card round.

Washington general manager Bruce Allen was the general manager for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2004 to 2008, when Jay's brother Jon was the head coach, and Jay was also on that staff as an offensive assistant. Raheem Morris, the coach who succeeded Jon Gruden in Tampa after serving as the defensive backs coach, is now the secondary coach for the Redskins.

The connection to Briles makes sense from the standpoint that he coached quarterback Robert Griffin III while he was at Baylor. It would appear that Briles made his intentions clear in midst of other rumors that he could be headed to Texas, but is appears that Washington still wants to explore it anyway.