Seahawks head coach candidates: Defense
Seahawks request interviews with 2 defensive coordinators, here's information on 10 candidates: Seaside Joe 1777
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Seattle Seahawks are expected to request interviews with Dan Quinn and Mike Macdonald, setting the tone that they’re starting their search with defense. I’ll continue previewing candidates today by looking at the defensive side of the ball—read about offensive candidates here—and you can expect head coaching news updated every single day here at Seaside Joe. Including a top-10 Seahawks head coach candidates list that I will post at the bottom of this email today and then update regularly as more information comes in, including YOUR thoughts on who I should move up, down, on, or off of the list.
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Dan Quinn, Cowboys
The ring can’t just be the shiniest or the most expensive. At its most simplistic measure of value, a ring has to fit. And then you can start panicking, “Hon, this is not in my budg-, uhh, if we, uhhh, I guess I can sell the TV, ermm…” If the Seahawks don’t want to veer off course with recent personnel decisions or the general tone of ‘what it means to be a Seahawk’ then Dan Quinn is probably within the budget, style, and size.
K.J. Wright made his plea for Quinn on his show, queued up here.
He called Quinn a leader, a culture builder, authentic, and a straight shooter. He cited Quinn’s success as Seattle’s defensive coordinator, orchestrating a defense that finished first in the NFL over his two seasons on the job. (K.J. incorrectly cites four years, but one of those seasons was under Gus Bradley and the last one was under Kris Richard; Quinn was at Florida in 2012 and coaching for the Falcons in 2015.)
Quinn was hired by the Falcons after going to back-to-back Super Bowls and was tasked with fixing the 32nd-ranked defense by total yards. That worked out initially, as Atlanta ranked 16th in his first season and top-10 in his third, but the Falcons turned out to be more of an offensive team. If you want to blame GM Thomas Dimitroff, fine, but it is a fact that a team with Dan Quinn as head coach CAN have a bad defense. As a defensive coordinator, his record is stellar.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy hired Quinn to replace Mike Nolan after Dallas ranked 28th in points and 23rd in yards allowed. In Quinn’s three seasons, the Cowboys have rankd 7th, 5th, 5th in points allowed, 19th, 12th, 5th in yards allowed. Dallas also ranked first in takeaways in 2021 and 2022; the Seahawks ranked first in takeaways in 2013.
When the Seahawks officially make a request, that means that at least five of seven teams with openings (Patriots didn’t interview anybody) will be interested in Quinn, which is a sign that whoever gets him is not bidding against themselves. He’s probably at least as popular as McCarthy, if not more so…there are always rumors that Quinn will be the next Cowboys head coach, and if Dallas loses their wild card game they might just promote Quinn.
I wanted to look back at other times Quinn interviewed and get insight on why he didn’t take/get a job in the last two cycles:
In 2022, Quinn had interviews with Bears, Broncos, Vikings, Dolphins and Giants (had requests for second interviews by at least Bears, Broncos) and he reportedly had requests/drew interest from the Jaguars
In 2023, Quinn had interviews with Broncos (again), Cardinals, Colts, but returned to the Cowboys again because he said he had “unfinished business”
First, the Cowboys are said to have a history of being good at retaining assistant coaches who they don’t want to lose, including once getting Sean Payton to turn down the Raiders so that he would stay on as the assistant head coach/QB/Passing game coordinator for Bill Parcells. So even though Quinn hasn’t accepted a job in the last two cycles, it doesn’t appear to be because the offers weren’t there or that he won’t leave for the right opportunity.
Second, turning down these franchises looks like mostly good moves: The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer and fired him; the Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett and fired him; the Bears have been a disaster; the Cardinals and Colts had a lot of work to do and a history of questionable ownership decisions; the Giants are going backwards again.
It’s funny to say that Quinn feels “underwhelming” because it’s as if he’s being dinged for not being a first-time head coach instead of being championed for the fact that he has experience and went to a Super Bowl. Bill Belichick wasn’t a first-time coach for the Patriots, Pete Carroll wasn’t first-time for the Seahawks, Andy Reid wasn’t first-time for the Chiefs, Dick Vermeil wasn’t first-time for the Rams, and Tony Dungy wasn’t first-time for the Colts.
Going back to 1997 with Mike Shanahan’s Broncos (previous stop: Raiders), 18 of the last 26 Super Bowls have been won by coaches who were FIRED at least once prior to joining their championship team.
I could also make a long list of coaches who were fired once, fired twice, maybe even fired three times and never won a Super Bowl. I’m just noting that Quinn shouldn’t be punished for not being a first-time coach, he may have learned more from his downfall in Atlanta than from almost winning a Super Bowl.
Now could I make a list of reasons for why I might prefer a different candidate—even a different defensive coordinator candidate—over Quinn? Sure. Since this a primer that has already gone too long and because we’ll have more time to discuss pros and cons of hiring Quinn, I’ll save that for the future.
Mike Macdonald, Ravens (Macdonald Press)
The Patriots hired Jerod Mayo and made him the youngest active coach in the NFL, breaking Sean McVay’s streak dating back to 2017 of being the youngest head coach, as both are 37 but Mayo was born a month after McVay. Mike Macdonald is 36 and unless he pulls a Dan Quinn/Ben Johnson and returns to the Ravens, he will be the youngest head coach in the NFL by February.
If rumors of Seattle’s interest are true, then every team except the Raiders (who haven’t had any interviews/requests yet) will have put in requests to interview Macdonald and he’s only a couple years older than Nick Bellore.
Macdonald started his coaching career when he was only 21, then became a grad assistant at his alma mater Georgia when he was 23. His work ethic got him on the radar of the Ravens, and John Harbaugh hired him as an intern in 2014. Macdonald worked his way up the staff and by 2018 was coaching linebackers like C.J. Mostley, Matt Judon, and Za’Darius Smith, three of the best in the league. John’s brother Jim made Macdonald Michigan’s defensive coordinator in 2021 and he helped defensive end Aidan Hutchinson finish second in Heisman voting.
Several others, including Seahawks rookie Mike Morris, have since advanced to the NFL.
Baltimore will always have a defensive identity, but Macdonald was hired to fix a defense that ranked 19th in points and 25th in yards; the Ravens ranked third in points and ninth in yards in 2022, then first and sixth in 2023. Baltimore finished first in takeaways, second in red zone defense, seventh against third downs, and second against fourth down: Teams went 13-of-32 on fourth down against the Ravens. That’s an important stat in today’s NFL.
It’s hard to see how any team could be faulted for hiring Macdonald. If he’s fired in three years like Brandon Staley, no rational person is going to question the process behind the hiring decision; if this many teams want a coach, then someone’s going to find out if he’s a home run or strikeout. I can’t imagine any Seahawks fan being upset if the team swings at Macdonald instead of Quinn.
Mike Vrabel
Four winning seasons in his first four years, then the Titans started 7-3 in 2022. Since then: 6-18. That’s got to be partially related to the downfall of Ryan Tannehill, then the Titans making a change at general manager in the middle of all that, both of whom have drafted a quarterback who has done nothing to help Tennessee rank above the very bottom of those position rankings.
Despite QB shortcomings, 5 of Tennessee’s 11 losses were by four points or less. Whereas Seattle gave up a touchdown on 60% of red zone trips, the Titans defense gave up a touchdown on 38% of red zone trips, first in the NFL.
I guess my question would be “Does Vrabel hire good coaches?”, but maybe he’ll try to team up with Arthur Smith again and make him the OC wherever he ends up next. The Titans ranked fourth in scoring, second in points per drive, when Smith was Tennessee’s OC in 2020.
Sidenote: I didn’t even acknowledge that yesterday was “Independence Day Seaside Joe” as I hit 1776 days in a row of sending the newsletter. Today is 1777, tomorrow is 1778, and soon enough is 2024….Don’t miss one:
Raheem Morris, Rams
It would be interesting if a team like the Seahawks had the opportunity to hire Dan Quinn but hired Quinn’s former “protege” instead. It’s weird to call Morris a protege because he had been a head coach before he was hired as Quinn’s right-hand man in Atlanta, but maybe 12 seasons of additional seasoning have helped him be better prepared for a head coaching role than when Tampa Bay promoted him at age 33.
Since being fired by the Bucs in 2011, Morris has worked for Mike Shanahan in Washington, then coached both offense and defense for the Falcons between 2015-2020. Quinn made Morris the defensive coordinator in 2020, then Morris served as interim head coach when Quinn was fired after an 0-5 start. He’s spent the last three seasons as Sean McVay’s DC on the Rams (they worked together in both Tampa and Washington), winning a Super Bowl and then elevating a defense that was devoid of talent, resources going into 2023.
The Morris defensive coordinator resume is not as stellar as Quinn or Macdonald, but could he be a better leader? Could his connections to McVay and Shanahan, knowing them as well as any candidate on the market, help the Seahawks climb out of this NFC West funk they’re in? If nothing else, not interviewing Raheem Morris seems like a wasted opportunity to scout the competition.
Leslie Frazier
For what it’s worth, the Seahawks were heavily criticized in 2010 based on speculation that they only interviewed Frazier to comply with the Rooney Rule, as they always intended to replace Jim Mora with Pete Carroll. Frazier didn’t name the team specifically, but said he was suspicious about the intentions of one team and contemplated even turning down the interview, which many connected to Seattle because of the quick turnaround for Carroll.
Then, teams had to interview one minority candidate for open head coach or general manager positions. Today, that rule has increased to interviewing two minority candidates, but there still only three black head coaches in the NFL: Todd Bowles (who is on the hot seat), Mike Tomlin (who might be), and DeMeco Ryans.
As it so happens, Frazier has an interview with the Chargers for their head coaching position this year. I do not expect him to be meeting with the Seahawks.
Aaron Glenn, Lions (Aaron Glenn press)
Guess who was the first draft pick in Pete Carroll’s head coach history: Aaron Glenn. The 12th overall pick by the Jets in 1994, Glenn played one season for Carroll and then had a career with three Pro Bowls. He started his NFL coaching career with the Browns in 2014 (same staff as Anthony Weaver, who we will get to), then coached DBs for five years under Sean Payton on the Saints.
Glenn had a rough start as Dan Campbell’s defensive coordinator hire in 2021, finishing 31st in points allowed, but Detroit has gotten better—even if it’s only inch-by-inch. The Lions did have something Seattle didn’t: A dominant run defense.
Glenn’s been requested by the Moons, Falcons, and Chargers, at least.
Anthony Weaver, Ravens (Anthony Weaver press)
We focus on coordinators, but I’ll remind you that Zac Taylor (took Bengals to the Super Bowl) was only Sean McVay’s QBs coach prior to being hired by Cincinnati. He’s done better than Staley, who was McVay’s DC with a number one ranked defense. The Seahawks have to hire the best coach, not necessarily the best coordinator, so could Weaver be a better hire than Macdonald? Maybe.
Weaver started his NFL coaching career with Rex Ryan’s Jets in 2012, but did most of his development with Bill O’Brien’s Texans, where he worked alongside Vrabel for a couple of years. Weaver was promoted to DC in 2020, which was also the year that O’Brien was fired so he became a free agent coach.
John Harbaugh made Weaver the team’s defensive run game coordinator in 2021 and the team finished first against the run. While Harbaugh wanted Macdonald as DC, he still promoted Weaver to associate head coach and he looks fast-tracked to get a head coach or DC job soon. Weaver has been requested by the Falcons and Moons, at least.
Patrick Graham, Raiders (Pat Graham press)
A lot of these names, I think we just wait to take the next step for diving into their history IF the Seahawks interview that person. There’s just not as much to go off with some, and others maybe they are only on the radar for one team, such as Graham. If Patrick Graham isn’t hired as a HC, he could make a great DC candidate for Seattle’s next head coach. (LV has so far blocked requests by teams to interview him as a DC, so they want to keep him—they can’t block requests to interview Graham as a HC though.)
Graham’s been a defensive coordinator for the last five seasons: One with the Dolphins, two with the Giants, two with the Raiders. Unfortunately, he’s experienced a head coach firing in three of those five years. Graham got his start in the NFL with Bill Belichick in 2009, so he had seven years to learn from one of the best to ever do it. (I won’t list Belichick here, that would be TOO shocking!!!)
Steve Wilks, 49ers (Steve Wilks press)
The Cardinals “surprise hire” in 2018, Wilks was basically screwed over the least-surprising organization to screw someone over. As a defensive backs coach (same as Pete), Wilks worked with some of the best to ever do it, including Sean Taylor, Peanut Tillman, Eric Weddle, and an elite season by Josh Norman in Carolina. He went to the Super Bowl with the Bears in 2005 and the Panthers in 2015. As interim head coach for the Panthers in 2022, Wilks was 6-6 after Matt Rhule’s 1-4 start.
With the 49ers this season, Wilks maintained a level of quality set by Robert Saleh and DeMeco Ryans. San Francisco is a top-5 defense by many measures. Wilks has had at least two interview requests, it would seem prudent for the Seahawks to take the opportunity to talk to him too.
Are there more names to talk about? Yes. And more time to do it. Now that I’ve gone over eight names on offense and 10 names on defense, let’s review an initial top-10 list and you tell me where I’m overrating some and underrating others. Become a Regular Joes subscriber for only $5 per month or $55 per year to not miss any of this—we haven’t had a head coach search in 14 years! What better time to join?