What "2nd round of interviews" tells us about Seahawks search

Seahawks setup 5 second interviews with head coach candidates: Seaside Joe 1786

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero set off a storm of speculation by tweeting out a non-comprehensive list of second interviews expected by the Seahawks in their head coaching search: Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, Raiders DC Patrick Graham, Rams DC Raheem Morris, Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, and Giants OC Mike Kafka. Pelissero added that “there likely will be others”, which would make sense because these five names are hardly the most popular among the coaches who they’ve already spoken to and those that they still could.

Among interviews that the Seahawks have had or have scheduled who are not on this list include Lions OC Ben Johnson, Texans OC Bobby Slowik, and Dolphins OC Frank Smith.

Now that Houston and Miami have been eliminated from the playoffs, Slowik and Smith have availability this week; although Slowik’s last game, a 34-10 loss to the Ravens in which C.J. Stroud was human, wasn’t the final impression he wanted to give like the Texans wild card win over the Browns.

Of the five known second interviews, Seattle isn’t the only team interested in Evero: The Carolina Panthers, the team Evero was defensive coordinator of last season, have also arranged for a second interview.

What the 5 names tell us

The Seahawks haven’t shown any favoritism for offensive coordinators. Kafka is the only offensive coordinator on the list and the Giants were even terrible on offense last season. It is possible that Seattle would be able to hire Kafka as an offensive coordinator because it’s not exactly set in stone that New York would protect him in that role after finishing 30th in points scored. What if head coach Brian Daboll wants play calling duties?

Morris did work on offense for many years under Dan Quinn on the Falcons, so he does have some experience on both sides of the ball. Morris has completed interviews with the Seahawks, Falcons, Chargers, and Panthers.

Because Morris, Evero, and Graham are minority head coaching candidates, the Rams or Panthers or Giants would get two third round compensatory picks if they are hired as a head coach this cycle. That’s one in 2024 and one in 2025.

What the 5 names don’t tell us

The five names don’t tell us which names are soon to be added.

Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald has completed interviews with the Falcons, Panthers, Chargers, and Titans. He won’t be able to officially complete anything until at least after the AFC Championship and maybe not until after the Super Bowl, but I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t get job offers when Baltimore’s season is over or almost over. Why aren’t the Seahawks involved if they’re talking to every other defensive coordinator?

His counterpart, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, is also building up his resume with a strong season and playoff performance in the divisional round.

But then there are coaches who the Seahawks have already been connected to, like Ben Johnson, Smith, and Slowik. We should also expect Seattle to officially be connected to Mike Vrabel, as so far it’s only been rumors.

If we could know for sure that these were the final five, that would tell us that the Seahawks are not interested in making a splash and that they’re leaning towards someone who can focus his attention on the defense. Since this is probably not the final five, we can’t say enough about Seattle’s coaching search or their intentions just yet.