NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Sometimes winning doesn't always help a team in the long run, and in the Tennessee Titans' case it may have limited them in their coaching search.

As the Titans look for the 19th head coach in franchise history, there have been assistant coaches from just 27 other teams available for interviewing.

An NFL rule makes it clear the Titans can not interview any coach on a team currently in the playoffs until their season ends. That includes candidates they likely would have been interested in on the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles coaching staffs.

January 7 was the deadline for assistant coaches under contract on playoff teams that had first-round byes to complete first interviews with interested teams (this date includes Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and the Eagles' assistants). January 14 was the deadline for assistant coaches on wild-card winning playoff teams to complete first interviews with interested teams.

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The Titans fired Mike Mularkey on Jan. 15. Their available pool of candidates is limited to coaches on teams not currently in the playoffs.

There is one final interview date -- Jan. 28 -- for assistant coaches on Super Bowl teams. In that case, an assistant coach "who has previously interviewed for another club's head coach job, may have a second interview with such club no later than the Sunday preceding the Super Bowl." It relates to second interviews with the same club. So the Colts could interview McDaniels again if New England made the Super Bowl, but the Titans could not.

Tennessee is believed to have interest in McDaniels, if for some reason he didn't go Indianapolis, and one or more of Philadelphia's impressive trio of assistants (offensive coordinator Frank Reich, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz).

A playoff win for the first time since the 2003 season was an important and invaluable step for a franchise aiming toward championship contention, but it did come with an unintended consequence.

A candidate currently in the playoffs can't officially accept a job until after his team is eliminated, but teams who complete interviews before the deadlines often secure handshake agreements with the coach they plan to offer the job. That could present a scenario where someone like McDaniels may officially accept a job immediately after the Patriots season is over, before getting a chance to interview with the Titans.

The Titans were the final, and only playoff team, of seven teams to have a head coach opening. Indianapolis, Arizona, New York Giants and Detroit are the four teams with jobs still open and each have had access to interviewing all available candidates. It's been reported that the Colts have circled McDaniels, the Lions have circled Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and the Giants have circled Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur as their next head coaches.

This may not matter in the end if the Titans decide to hire a candidate like Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel, whose team did not make the playoffs. Tennessee interviewed Vrabel on Thursday. But it may make the Titans choose between waiting for other candidates or deciding between the ones they have readily available to them.