NEW ORLEANS — Welcome to the NFL head coaching fraternity, gentlemen. By the way, you can’t talk to your players, install new schemes or go after free agents right now.

That’s not exactly what the rookie coaches bargained for. With the lockout, it’s what they’ve got.

It’s a most damaging dynamic to teams starting anew such as the 49ers, Browns, Panthers and Broncos who went completely outside their organization to hire a new head man. At least Denver grabbed a grizzled veteran in John Fox, who won a conference title during his nine seasons in charge in Carolina. Jim Harbaugh in San Francisco, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland and Ron Rivera in Carolina are newbies.

The new coaches in Tennessee (Mike Munchak), Oakland (Hue Jackson), Minnesota (Leslie Frazier) and Dallas (Jason Garrett) either were with those organizations last year or, in Frazier’s and Garrett’s cases, actually took over as interim coaches in 2010. So their handicap isn’t quite as severe.

Still, the lockout is a hindrance as all eight of them try to rebuild struggling teams.

“It’s given us a little disadvantage,” Rivera said. “You want to have the team around and your veteran guys so you get a sense or a feel for what they do. There will always be a learning curve and now it’s steeper.”

More like a slippery slope. Rivera couldn’t put in place his offensive and defensive systems. He can’t identify who the key players will be on his roster because of all the turnover required in Carolina. He can’t chase free agents to fill some of the massive holes on both lines.

Teams aren’t exactly dead in the water because all 32 of them are preparing for the draft, which was protected under the collective bargaining agreement that expired on March 11. But it’s hardly business as usual.

“We have to be fluid, be ready as time goes on,” Rivera said. “The bottom line that we talk about is we have to be ready to play and adjust to whatever the situation winds up being.”

The longer the work stoppage, though, the more difficult it will be for the new guys. Except in Dallas and Cleveland, the quarterback scenario is in flux. It’s possible the starter whenever the season begins — if there is a 2011 season — isn’t even on the roster in San Francisco, Minnesota, Tennessee or Carolina.

New coordinators in most of those cities have little familiarity with their players. No matter how quick a study they might be, an assistant coach’s film work doesn’t replace hands-on teaching.

“The coaches are getting plenty of time to get ready for that,” Munchak said with a chuckle. “You have to be smart about it. Let your staff do what it does best, let your coordinators do what they are comfortable with, nothing drastic. You don’t want to be switching from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4.”