After Detroit Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley opted to stay put, the Seattle Seahawks have shifted their sights on another standout coach from the NFC North division as they pursue a new offensive coordinator.
Per Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Seahawks recently interviewed Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, giving them six known candidates that have spoken with coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider about the position.
Previously starring at Michigan and spending a brief time in the NFL as a player, Stenavich began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, which no doubt would be intriguing to Macdonald, who previously coached one season as a defensive coordinator in Ann Arbor. He served as an offensive line coach at San Jose State for two years before jumping back to the NFL with the 49ers as an assistant offensive line coach.
Since joining the Packers in 2019, Stenavich has ascended up the ranks on coach Matt LaFleur's staff. He began his tenure in Green Bay as the offensive line coach, eventually earning the run game coordinator tag two seasons later. In 2022, following Nathaniel Hackett's departure to become the Broncos head coach, he received another promotion and took over as the new offensive coordinator three seasons ago.
Though Stenavich has never been a play caller at any level, as already evidenced by their previous interest in Fraley, his expertise as an offensive line coach and run game guru could be quite appealing to the Seahawks, who struggled to protect quarterback Geno Smith and finished 28th in rushing yards last season.
Under Stenavich's watch, the Packers built one of the NFL's best offensive lines, including finishing fifth in sack percentage (3.8 percent) and eighth in rushing yards in 2020. Upon his transition to run game coordinator in 2021, Green Bay finished in the middle of the pack in rushing over the next three years before ranking fifth in that category last season thanks to the addition of star running back Josh Jacobs and a young front line featuring ascending tackles Zach Tom and Rasheed Walker.
In addition, with Stenavich continuing to coach the offensive line as a coordinator, the Packers finished second in average True Pass Set win rate according to Pro Football Focus (69 percent) as well as ranking seventh in ESPN's Pass Block Win Rate (67 percent).
To this point, Stenavich has interviewed with Chicago and Seattle for vacant offensive coordinator roles and he would have to be offered play calling duties for either team to hire him since he already has the offensive coordinator title in Green Bay. As rumored with Fraley, the Seahawks likely would be focused on courting an experienced pass game coordinator to pair with him if he emerges as a viable candidate to succeed Grubb.
