AP

It’s widely believed that Bengals offensive coordinator (and former Raiders coach) Hue Jackson will be a hot candidate for an NFL head coaching job in 2016. He also could have been a hot candidate for a couple of college coaching jobs.

Per multiple sources, the Bengals declined permission to both USC and the University of Miami to interview Jackson for recently filled vacancies.

As one source explained it, Bengals owner Mike Brown simply didn’t want to create any distractions in what could be a special season for the franchise. As a result, Jackson has no issue with the team’s position.

It helps that Brown is a huge supporter of Jackson for NFL head-coaching jobs. The ability of another team to hire him could be delayed into late January — possibly February.

Ultimately, Jackson could become the next coach of the Bengals. Long-time head coach Marvin Lewis has said he’d like to win the Lombardi Trophy, hand it to Brown, and then “walk away.”