New Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is currently working on putting together his first staff in Seattle. So far we have received word of the team hiring Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach, Jay Harbaugh as special teams coordinator and Kirk Olivadotti as linebackers coach.
The most-important hire that Macdonald will be making in the coming days though is his offensive coordinator. So far we have only received reports of a couple of potential candidates, but last night a new contender stepped into the ring. According to Ben Solak, the team interviewed UCLA head coach Chip Kelly for the open offensive coordinator job.
Sources: Oregon HC Chip Kelly is interviewing with the Seattle Seahawks for their offensive coordinator job tonight.
Chip has garnered a ton of NFL interest, and the Seahawks have had rumored interest in his offense for much of this cycle.
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) February 7, 2024
Finding someone who has experience calling plays at this level is probably the right way to go for Macdonald, who intends to call defensive plays for now.
Kelly fits that bill just right. In addition to building up programs at Oregon and UCLA, he’s also been the head coach of the Eagles and the 49ers. His fast-paced offenses in Philadelphia had the league flummoxed for at least one season – when he and a loaded skill group made a star out of Nick Foles back in 2013. The competition eventually caught up though and Kelly didn’t stick around much longer. Still, Kelly is renowned for being one of the top offensive minds in the business.
Other candidates who the Seahawks are reported to be interested in include Alabama OC Ryan Grubb, Lions assistant Tanner Engstrand and Giants OC Mike Kafka, but he was blocked from interviewing with Seattle.
With the Saints reportedly hiring Klint Kubiak, the Seahawks are now the only team left without an OC.
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