USC has balked at giving permission to the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals to interview Trojans offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, league sources told ESPN.
Sources said a perfect storm of the NFL's new enforcement of an old rule has led to the situation where the Jets and Cardinals can't talk to one of their head-coaching candidates.
At last month's NFL owners meetings in Dallas, league officials informed team executives that they now had to request permission from college athletic directors to interview college coaches. Not doing so would be considered "conduct detrimental," and the NFL could then dock draft picks from teams, sources said.