Making the cut: Finalists for Cards’ coach down to 6

The Cardinals were expecting to trim their list of coaching candidates this week, not have it done for them.

But that’s been the case as two coaches reportedly have agreed to take jobs elsewhere, and a third declined the Cardinals' request for a second interview.

The original pool of nine candidates is down to six, and the team still expects to conduct second interviews with candidates this week. Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong will fly to Arizona to interview again on Friday, an NFL source confirmed.

It's likely that Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks also will interview this week.

Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak declined a request to

interview with the Cardinals a second time. Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia reportedly will be the next Lions coach, and Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur has reportedly agreed to become the Giants coach.

Those three were among the nine NFL assistants the Cardinals interviewed in the week or so after Bruce Arians announced his retirement.

In a statement released by the Steelers, Munchak said, "the timing for my family was not appropriate for me to pursue this potential opportunity.”

The remaining six are Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher, Armstrong and Wilks.

The Patriots and Eagles are still in the playoffs, so DeFilippo, Schwartz and Flores couldn’t interview again until next week, per NFL rules. Coaches can’t officially accept jobs until the season ends, but wink-wink deals are commonplace, and the league doesn’t enforce the rule against such agreements.

Wilks, Armstrong and Bettcher are available immediately for second interviews and to be hired.

Cardinals President Michael Bidwill and General Manager Steve Keim haven’t provided many details about the search, which has contributed to considerable speculation about the direction the team is headed.

DeFilippo, 39, is a “strong” candidate, according to some reports, but would come with some risk. He’s been a coordinator in the NFL only one year, 2015 with the Browns, so he doesn’t have a track record of calling plays or managing players in the NFL.

But he has coached several young quarterbacks in his career and has received considerable credit for helping to develop Eagles starter Carson Wentz.

If DeFilippo is hired, he could be amenable to keeping Bettcher as defensive coordinator, provided that is something Bettcher would want to do.

Flores, 36, is regarded as one of the bright, young assistants in the NFL, and the Cardinals should have a detailed scouting report on him.

Former safety Adrian Wilson, an assistant to Keim, was with the Patriots in 2013 when Flores was the safeties coach. Mike Disner, the Cardinals' director of football administration, and Matt Caracciolo, director of football operations, also spent time with the Patriots while Flores was there.

Flores appears to still be in the mix for the Cardinals job, but questions come along with his candidacy. Is he ready at age 36? Who would be his offensive coordinator? Hiring Flores also could lead to Bettcher’s departure because Bettcher would be in the position of working for someone younger who has not been a coordinator.

Flores also is reportedly in line to replace Patricia as defensive coordinator under Belichick. Would Flores take the job with the Cardinals, who don’t have a quarterback and face a rebuilding job on offense? Or gamble that a better opportunity will be available in a year or two?

Bettcher, who turns 40 in May, is also a viable candidate, especially if rumors are true that he would hire former Chargers coach Mike McCoy as offensive coordinator and former Colts coach Chuck Pagano as defensive coordinator.

Bettcher and Wilks are the only two candidates to have interviewed with the Cardinals in Arizona. That’s an important part of the process to Bidwill, who is eager to show potential coaches the team’s facility and to have others in the organization meet them.