A pair of candidates have surfaced in the Seattle Seahawks’ search for a new offensive coordinator.

An NFL insider’s view on Seahawks OC change and what’s next

The Seahawks are scheduled to interview Detroit Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley and Chicago Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown, according to multiple reports. NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero first reported the news Thursday morning.

Seattle will interview Fraley on Friday and Brown on Saturday, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

The Seahawks moved on from offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb on Monday after an up-and-down season for Seattle’s offense that included one of the worst rushing attacks in the league.

Fraley, 47, has been on Detroit’s coaching staff for the past seven seasons, including the past five as the team’s offensive line coach. Fraley has coached an offensive line that’s paved the way for one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks. The Lions rank third in Pro Football Focus’ run block grading and finished the regular season sixth in both rushing yards per game (146.4) and yards per carry (4.7).

During his time in Detroit, Fraley has helped develop four-time Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow and three-time Pro Bowl right tackle Penei Sewell. As a player, Fraley started 123 games at center and guard over a 10-year NFL career with the Eagles (2001-05), Browns (2006-09) and Rams (2010). According to Breer, Fraley has done groundwork in searching for a pass game coordinator that he would pair with as an OC.

Brown, 38, began the season as Chicago’s passing game coordinator. He then was promoted to offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron, a former Seahawks assistant, was fired as OC on Nov. 12, and then to interim head coach when Matt Eberflus was fired on Nov. 29. Brown went 1-4 as the Bears’ interim head coach.

Brown was the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2023. Prior to that, he spent three seasons under head coach Sean McVay in various roles on the Los Angeles Rams’ coaching staff.

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RENTON, Wash. – Since taking over as coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike Macdonald hasn’t stood pat when he identified an area of improvement that needed to be addressed with urgency, continuing that trend on Monday by dismissing offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after just one season on staff.

According to Macdonald, Seattle made the decision to part ways with Grubb due to a difference in philosophy and vision for how they wanted the offense to operate, citing the need to play complementary football and do a better job of getting the ball to playmakers in space among the criteria for a potential replacement. Finishing 19th in scoring, 29th in rushing, and 28th in goal to go efficiency rate, he felt the underwhelming production didn’t match the talent level on that side of the ball, necessitating a change.

Speaking with reporters in his end of season press conference on Tuesday, when asked what makes the Seahawks’ coordinator vacancy stand out compared to other openings, Macdonald delivered his pitch to potential candidates with great confidence, calling it the “best job out there” with the expectation it will be as coveted of a position as any in this offseason’s coaching carousel.

“I think this is a heck of a job,” Macdonald responded. “I mean it starts with the organization. I mean all the reasons why I felt like this is such a great place to, has been backed up tenfold. So that starts there and then our players are really the next best. I mean, shoot, we got great players. We’ve got a great young core and shoot, I think it’s a heck of a job.”

With the offseason only being a few days old, no reports have surfaced yet regarding potential successors for Grubb. But without dropping any names, Macdonald did indicate the team had already submitted two requests for interviews, and that list will only grow in coming days.

Once the interviews begin later this month, Macdonald and general manager John Schneider will have plenty of star power to sell to a prospective play caller to spark interest, starting with the trio of DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and Ken Walker III.

Injuries dogged Walker in his third NFL season, as he missed a total of five games with oblique, calf, and ankle ailments, resulting in a career-low 573 rushing yards and 3.7 yards per carry. But he’s only two years removed from an 1,100 yard season and per Pro Football Focus, he ranked eighth among running backs with 61 missed tackles forced, demonstrating his ability to make defenders miss and compensate for poor blocking in front of him.

Primarily doing his damage from the slot, Smith-Njigba tied Tyler Lockett for Seattle’s single-season receiving record with 100 catches and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time at just 22 years of age, enjoying a breakout season while still scratching the surface of his immense potential. Metcalf came up eight yards short of a fourth 1,000-yard campaign while playing through a knee injury, but based on what Macdonald said on Tuesday, an argument can be made that those numbers played a part in Grubb being let go as well.

“I felt like we felt DK’s [Metcalf] presence consistently throughout the year and there were some explosives that he really tilted the game in our favor and that’s really the vision we have for him,” Macdonald said. “We just wish we could have done it more consistently. Early in the season, going into the Atlanta game before he got his knee banged up, he was tops in the league probably dang near every category and we wish we could have kept that going when he got back. So those are the things we’re looking to build off with DK, he’s such a force out there.

“It’s not just good enough to get the coverage tilted for him. We got to figure out more ways to give him the ball consistently and let it impact the game with the ball on his hands rather than just moving coverage that way.”

As for who will be throwing the ball to Smith-Njigba and Metcalf, Geno Smith will most likely be back for a fourth season as the Seahawks starting quarterback. While he struggled with turnovers this past season by throwing 15 interceptions, he also finished in the top five in the NFL in passing yards, completion percentage, and game-winning drives, and coordinator candidates may not have a better option to be paired with in this coaching cycle for immediate success than the accurate vet.

Of course, while Macdonald made it clear he wants the veteran signal caller back in 2025, some candidates may have a different plan in mind at quarterback than the 34-year old Smith, and for as much skill player talent as Seattle has, there’s a bigger catch. For whoever accepts the coordinator vacancy, i revolves around the major question marks along the offensive line.

On the plus side, the Seahawks do have a pair of quality young tackles in Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas, who remain the foundation for a young unit and could both be part of the franchise’s long-term blueprint up front. Cross took a positive step forward starting all 17 games in his third season, while Lucas finally appears to be past the injury issues that dogged him over the past two seasons and will get to enjoy a normal offseason for the first time since his rookie year.

But a new offensive coordinator will inherit an interior offensive line that struggled mightily in 2024 with multiple starters at center and right guard and a looming change at left guard with starter Laken Tomlinson heading to free agency.

With Smith being pressured on 38.5 percent of his drop backs in 2024, right guard was the biggest problem for Seattle, as the quarterback took 24.5 percent of his pressures from that position, the second-highest rate behind Buffalo’s Josh Allen. Anthony Bradford allowed seven sacks – tied for the second-most among guards in the NFL this season – before an ankle injury ended his season and rookie Sataoa Laumea replaced him for the last six games, giving up 23 pressures and two sacks.

While the 33-year old Tomlinson might not be back on the left side, Bradford and Laumea will return next season along with returning second-year guard Christian Haynes, who failed to capitalize on multiple opportunities to carve out a starting role during a disappointing rookie season but remains part of the Seahawks future plans. Those three players could vie for two starting jobs next summer with the strong likelihood of adding to the group in free agency and/or the draft this spring.

At center, Seattle lost starter Connor Williams in Week 10 to an abrupt retirement, forcing Olu Oluwatimi into the starting lineup for the final eight games. The second-year pivot man allowed eight pressures and no sacks, and as Macdonald noted, if there’s a silver lining, his progress coupled with Lucas returning healthy and Laumea steadily improving in a second half audition provides at least a sliver of optimism for the future in the trenches.

“You look at the guys who were playing towards the end of the season, Abe coming off the injury, Olu really taking the center spot. Jalen Sundell had some good reps. Sataoa, I thought he played some really good football for us, so he’s got a great future,” Macdonald said. “I think there’s a lot of bright spots moving forward up front.”

Even with the chronic offensive line questions, assuming Smith and Metcalf both return to go with Smith-Njigba and Walker, the Seahawks have an exciting nucleus that should offer as much intrigue as any offensive coordinator opening in this cycle. Other teams such as the Browns, Jaguars, Patriots, and Raiders won’t have near as many weapons to sell a candidate and unlike those four teams, the organization offers far better stability right now as well.

From that standpoint, Macdonald’s proclamation that Seattle has the “best job out there” carries some weight, and as evidenced changing linebackers in the middle of the season, he’s already proven he can make swift, effective changes to personnel and the coaching staff when things don’t pan out as expected. In terms of upside, it’s tough to argue that any other current offensive coordinator openings have the pieces in place to match.

With that said, the position comes with an important caveat that could be seen as an asterisk to some candidates, as the new hire will need some support from Schneider to continue retooling the trenches to create an optimum opportunity to maximize on the Seahawks immense skill talent. If that doesn’t happen, however, the new coordinator may have a difficult time doing much better than Grubb did with clear personnel limitations.

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Host Dave Wyman and Bob Stelton discuss the Seahawks running back group this season and if Zach Charbonnet or Kenneth Walker should be the lead back going into next season.
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