Seahawks expand list of coaching candidates with conclusion of conference title games

The Seahawks’ coaching search no longer needs to wait.

But the events of Sunday indicate that their search for a successor to Pete Carroll that has been characterized by its patience may need to pick up speed.

Baltimore’s 17-10 loss to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game means the Seahawks can interview Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald immediately.

NFL rules required the Seahawks would have had to wait until after the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 if the Ravens had won.

Detroit’s loss means the Seahawks or Washington — the two teams still with head-coach openings — can hire either Macdonald or Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson immediately. 

NFL rules require that coaches cannot be officially hired while their seasons are still ongoing.

It appears the Seahawks will have to get in line to talk to Macdonald as shortly after Kansas City’s win over Baltimore ended, ESPN reported that Washington had already scheduled an interview with Macdonald for Monday.

Washington has already talked with Macdonald once, doing so the week after the regular season. The Seahawks have not talked to Macdonald.

Confirming long-held speculation that he was on the Seahawks’ list, ESPN and the NFL Network reported Sunday that they want to interview Macdonald.

Those reports, which arrived Sunday morning, stated the Seahawks were willing to wait until after the Super Bowl to interview Macdonald, putting the hiring process on hold for two more weeks.

They don’t have to worry about that now.

The Seahawks had plans to talk this week to Johnson regardless of Detroit’s status. Since the Seahawks had already interviewed Johnson once they could have held a second interview with him this week.

That is moot with Detroit’s magical season ending a game shy of the Super Bowl with San Francisco’s 34-31 win in the NFC Championship Game.

Is the Seahawks’ search now simply choosing between the two hot, young coordinators — Johnson is 37 and Macdonald 36?

That figures to become clearer over the next few days.

Also still in the mix are four coaches they held second interviews with last week — Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

Of those four, only Quinn appears a potentially serious consideration for the Commanders as it was reported Sunday he will fly to Washington on Monday for an interview Tuesday.

Washington’s interview with Quinn seems to indicate the Commanders are not yet close to making a decision. 

ESPN reported Washington has interviews set up this week with not only Macdonald and Quinn but also with Johnson, Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Ravens assistant head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver.

While they plan to talk to Macdonald and Quinn the next two days, it has long been portrayed as if Johnson is the favorite for that job. 

The Seahawks found out last week how quickly plans can change when Atlanta made a move to hire Raheem Morris a day before he was set to travel to Seattle for an interview.

While Johnson and Macdonald saw their teams lose Sunday, both likely only helped their candidacies.

Johnson’s play calls helped lead Detroit to a 24-7 halftime lead that came undone in part due to some uncharacteristic errors by the Lions offense, including a lost fumble and several dropped passes.

Detroit gained 442 yards against a 49ers defense that ranked eighth in the NFL during the regular season in allowing just 304 per game. Detroit also gained 6.1 yards per play compared to the 5.0 the 49ers allowed during the regular season.

Macdonald oversaw a Ravens defense that gave up 17 points in the first half but pitched a shutout in the second half, giving up just 98 yards on 30 plays.

For now, those six candidates — the four interviewed last week plus Johnson and Macdonald — appear to make up all of the Seahawks’ list.

There were reports early in the process that the Seahawks had plans to talk with former Tennessee coach Mike Vrabel. Since Vrabel is unemployed, they could have talked to him at any time. They have yet to do so and there have been no additional reports of any contact between Vrabel and the Seahawks.