Seattle Seahawks win by Panthers hiring Dave Canales as head coach

The Seattle Seahawks may not have made the playoffs this season, but they could be winning the head coaching search among teams that had vacancies this offseason. After the Carolina Panthers decided to hire Dave Canales as their new head coach, only three teams remain that need an HC. The Seahawks appear set to hire whomever they want.

Canales was not even on the Seahawks' head coaching radar even though he spent more than a decade with the team and only left before last season to become the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Canales was reportedly hired by the Carolina Panthers on Thursday to be their new head coach. In other words, the Panthers chose someone the Seahawks were not even interested in.

The Los Angeles Chargers are hiring Jim Harbaugh as their new HC. Harbaugh was unlikely to be a good fit with the Seahawks as Harbaugh likely wants a bunch of input on roster decisions. That wasn't going to happen in Seattle as general manager John Schneider just gained full control over the roster after Seattle moved on from former head coach Pete Carroll this offseason. Schneider wasn't going to suddenly cede any control to Harbaugh simply to hire the former Michigan head coach.

Seattle Seahawks are in great shape in head coaching search

The teams that remain that are looking for a head coach are the Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons, and Washington Commanders. The Falcons seem likely to hire former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. The Seahawks seem like a more desirable destination for a presumptive head coach than Washington as the Commanders are much more of a rebuild and with worse ownership.

The Seahawks certainly have not rushed their head coach search and that appears to be paying off. By the time the seasons are done for the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens, only the Seahawks and Commanders might remain to need head coaches. That means Seattle could have their pick between Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. Neither can be interviewed at this point until their seasons are over. That could be as soon as this weekend.

Seattle has already interviewed Johnson once and might like to talk to Macdonald. But if the Lions lose this week, Johnson could be named the Seahawks head coach next week. Unless Seattle wants to go with Mike Vrabel or Dan Quinn, of course.

Read more from 12th Man Rising