The Seahawks are in a great position to select a top-tier head coach in 2024

Replacing a long-term NFL head coach gets tricky. For one, the head coach was likely in his position for so long because he was mostly successful. If a team wishes to move on from the head coach, as the Seattle Seahawks have done with Pete Carroll, there is no guarantee that whoever the team replaces the coach with will lead to the organization being more successful.

There have been six NFL coaches so far the Seahawks have reportedly requested interviews with to replace Carroll (with likely more to be reported). This includes Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, Los Angeles Rams DC Raheem Morris, Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn, Carolina Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith, and New York Giants OC Mike Kafka. For the most part that seems like an underwhelming group.

But there is one main reason that some of the bigger names the Seahawks might be thinking of hiring as the next head coach aren't being reported as being on lists of interviewees. That reason is that Seattle doesn't have to request to interview many of the bigger names. Mike Vrabel could be an intriguing candidate for Seattle, but Vrabel was fired by the Tennessee Titans last week so Seattle does not need to request permission from the Titans, or anyone else, to interview Vrabel.

Seahawks don't need to ask permission for everyone they might want to interview

None of the college coaches that Seattle might be interested in would have to get permission to talk to Seattle either. This includes Michigan's Jim Harbaugh and USC's Lincoln Riley. Possibly, the Seahawks are not interested in either of those coaches, but we also wouldn't know Seattle isn't interested in interviewing them.

Very likely, we wouldn't know that Seattle was going to interview Harbaugh or Riley until after the interview was completed and someone like ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the fact.

We have not heard yet if Seattle wants to interview Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, but hopefully, they do. According to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, however, Macdonald could definitely be on the short-list of coaches to replace Pete Carroll. Of the younger defensive coaches, Macdonald might be a great fit for the Seahawks. And he would be a great choice, too.

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