SEATTLE – Three days after the Seahawks fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, three names have surfaced as coaches they want to interview as a potential replacement.
According to varying reports, the Seahawks have requested permission to interview Thomas Brown, the Chicago Bears’ interim coach, Detroit offensive line coach Hank Fraley and New Orleans offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
The interview with Fraley is scheduled for Friday, NFL.com reported. Brown will reportedly interview Saturday. It wasn’t immediately clear when Kubiak will interview.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Tuesday that the team had sent in “a couple” of request for interviews to replace the fired Ryan Grubb. Brown, Fraley and Kubiak are the first three known candidates.
The NFL Network also reported that Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka — considered a likely candidate because the Seahawks interviewed him for the head-coaching job last season and a wanted to interview him for the OC job before being blocked — would likely be blocked again by the Giants if the Seahawks request permission.
Teams can block coordinators from interviewing for jobs that are considered lateral moves.
Here is a quick look at each of the three coaches reported to be on Seattle’s interview list:
Thomas Brown
Brown, 38, began this season as the Bears’ passing-game coordinator and became the coordinator when former Seahawks coordinator Shane Waldron was fired early in the season.
He became interim coach after coach Matt Eberflus was fired. Brown went 1-4 as the Bears’ interim coach. Chicago is looking for a new head coach and among its candidates is former Seahawk coach Pete Carroll, who according to reports, is expected to interview Thursday.
Brown spent the 2023 season as Carolina’s offensive coordinator and from 2020-22 was an assistant with the Rams under Sean McVay. He spent his last two years with the Rams as assistant head coach while also coaching tight ends and running backs during those three seasons.
Brown played running back at Georgia from 2004-07, the same school Macdonald attended beginning in 2006 (though Macdonald did not play football) and spent parts of three seasons on NFL rosters without playing in a game.
Hank Fraley
Fraley is in his seventh season with the Lions and fifth as the offensive-line coach. Coach Dan Campbell has turned Detroit’s offense into one of the NFL’s best.
Fraley, 47, played center in the NFL from 2000-10 with 123 starts, including starting for the Eagles when they reached the Super Bowl after the 2004 season.
A report from SI.com stated Fraley “has done groundwork, too, in trying to find a pass-game coordinator he’d pair with.”
Fraley has gotten significant praise for helping groom a Detroit offensive line that ranks among the best in the NFL — Pro Football Focus rated it fourth in its season-ending rankings.
“He’s been very important,” Campbell said in 2022 of Fraley. “Hank’s got a good feel of it, having played the position, but also coached it. And he’s got a real good feel of those guys, what they do well, how to develop the talent, and he just — he’s got a real good feel of how to pull it out of them.”
Klint Kubiak
Kubiak, the son of former longtime NFL QB and head coach Gary Kubiak, spent this season as the OC for the Saints. His future there is uncertain with New Orleans firing head coach Dennis Allen and ending the season under interim coach Darren Rizzi, who remains a candidate to take over permanently.
Kubiak, 37, spent the 2023 season as the passing-game coordinator with the 49ers and was the passing-game coordinator for the Denver Broncos in 2022, Russell Wilson’s first year following his trade from the Seahawks. He was the offensive coordinator for the Vikings in 2021 after working there the previous two seasons as quarterbacks coach.
He played quarterback at Colorado State from 2005-09. His brother, Klay, was promoted to offensive coordinator with the 49ers earlier this week.
Grubb, the University of Washington’s offensive coordinator in 2022-23, was fired by Macdonald on Monday. Macdonald offered one reason for the move that it was “just an alignment thing and a vision thing.”
That speaks to it being about more than just X’s and O’s, with the thought that Macdonald lost faith in Grubb’s willingness to call games within his general philosophy.
Finding that fit could mean the Seahawks’ search will take a while. Grubb was hired roughly two weeks after Macdonald was brought on board last year on Jan. 31. The Seahawks faced a limited pool of candidates because most jobs had been filled.
NFL teams must also satisfy the Rooney Rule and interview two minority candidates for coordinator jobs.