Report: Seahawks ‘eye’ Ravens DC Macdonald, Lions OC Johnson

Jan 28, 2024, 11:39 AM | Updated: 6:59 pm

Seattle Seahawks coach search Mike Macdonald...

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during his time as Ravens DC in 2023. (Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

(Scott Taetsch/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

The NFL playoffs reached the conference championship round on Sunday, and no one was watching more closely than the two teams left looking for a head coach – the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders.

Nothing is stopping the Seahawks from naming new coach now

ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that both Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald are in play for the Seahawks and Commanders.

The Seahawks are in a bit of a tough spot when it comes to Macdonald. Schefter said Sunday that Seattle wants to interview Macdonald when the Ravens’ season ends, but the Seahawks have yet to conduct a first interview with the highly-regarded DC, and due to NFL rules are not allowed to speak with him until his team was either eliminated or gets through the Super Bowl. The good news for Seattle is the Ravens lost 17-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, which means the Hawks can now talk to Macdonald (and his defense still played pretty well despite the loss).

The timing of when the Hawks removed previous head coach Pete Carroll from the role on Jan. 10 likely played a role in Seattle not being able to talk to Macdonald before the deadline for first interviews with assistant coaches of teams in the playoffs.

Among current NFL assistant coaches, Macdonald is the only reported candidate for the Seahawks coach vacancy that they were not been able to interview before this weekend.

According to Schefter, the question with Macdonald was if “Seattle would be willing to wait to interview him for a first time if Baltimore advances to the Super Bowl.” Now the Hawks don’t have to worry about that.

Why is Seattle Seahawks’ head coach job so appealing?

As for Johnson, the Seahawks reportedly were able to have a first interview with him before the deadline and could conduct a second interview with him this week regardless of if the Lions won or lost Sunday’s NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers.

Schefter wrote that league sources told ESPN that the Commanders are looking to hold second interviews with four coaches involved in Sunday’s games: Macdonald, Johnson, Ravens assistant head coach/defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.

The NFL assistant coaches that the Seahawks have reportedly talked to are Johnson, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, and Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith.

It is possible the Seahawks have talked to other candidates that aren’t currently employed by other NFL teams, but those interviews do not have to be arranged through the league and thus are not as easy to be reported on.

Six NFL teams have already named new coaches this month, but only one of the hires was reported to be a candidate for the Seahawks: Raheem Morris, who was Rams defensive coordinator and is the new Atlanta Falcons head coach.