The Seattle Seahawks have fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb a day after the 2024 season. The offense was an issue over the last half of the season. The defense got better. The offense got worse. Seattle did not make the playoffs. Things needed to change.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald clearly wanted to run the ball. He implied as much during his show on Seattle Sports 710 AM. He wants coaches around him that align with his vision of how the team should be run.
Now, Macdonald and general manager have options. The safe assumption should be that Seattle hires a coach with an understanding of pass-run balance. All of the following coaches should know that.
Four coaches who could potentially replace Ryan Grubb with the Seattle Seahawks
Jerrod Johnson - Quarterbacks coach for the Houston Texans
Johnson bounced around the NFL as a quarterback for a while, even spending some time with the Seahawks in 2013. Since 2020, he has been a full-time coach in the league. His last two stops are the most important.
He worked with the Minnesota Vikings in 2022 as the assistant quarterbacks coach and learned under current Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell. Since 2023, Johnson has been the quarterbacks coach for the Texans and helped quarterback C.J. Stroud get acclimated and become immediately successful in the NFL.
Johnson has not called plays but clearly knows how to prepare a quarterback to excel. This includes a rookie QB, and Seattle might have one of those sooner rather than later.
Marcus Brady - Passing game coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers
Brady has some experience as an OC in the league, though it's a bit odd. He worked in that role for the Indianapolis Colts in 2021 and 2022 and those years were completely different. In 2021, the Colts were ninth in scoring, and in 2022, they were 30. It is almost as if the Colts got rid of all their players instead of there being a coaching problem.
The key with Brady is that he worked this year with Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers, and Harbaugh was the head coach at Michigan when Mike Macdonald was the defensive coordinator there for a year. In other words, if Macdonald wants input on a certain coach, his tie to Harbaugh means the Chargers head coach is going to advise freely and fairly.
Jake Peetz - Passing game coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks
Mike Macdonald has spoken highly of Peetz, and while Ryan Grubb has now been fired, Peetz does not have a direct tie to Peetz other than working with him for a year. That is one difference between offensive coordinator Scott Huff and Peetz.
Peetz also has an extensive and successful history in coaching. He has worked with the Rams as well, so he likely learned a few things from Sean McVay. Is Peetz ready to make the jump from passing game coordinator to OC? It definitely is an option for Seattle.
Brian Fleury - Tight ends coach for the San Francisco 49ers
Should the Seahawks hire an offensive assistant from the 49ers who isn't a quarterbacks coach or passing game coordinator? Yes, in the case of Fleury, they should. While the 49ers had an extremely disappointing season for them, it was due to injuries instead of coaching. If the Seahawks want to run more (and clearly they do) then hiring someone from the Kyle Shanahan tree would be a smart move.
Plus, as Fleury has most recently coached tight ends, he would have an idea of how to work the running game. A tight ends coach has to know the entire scheme from run to pass, and knowing how the tight ends and offensive line work together is going to make the coach successful. Fleury is a young coach ready to make a jump and his experience likely matches well with Macdonald's philosophy.