As the Seahawks’ search for a new offensive coordinator to replace Ryan Grubb nears the end of its third week, a new name has entered the mix of candidates — Adam Stenavich, the current offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers.
CBSSports.com reported Saturday night that Stenavich “has interviewed’’ for the Seattle job.
That makes Stenavich the sixth candidate reported to have interviewed for the right to replace Grubb, who was fired on Jan. 6 after one season with the Seahawks.
Stenavich, 41, has been Green Bay’s OC the last three seasons and has been with the Packers for the last six, coming to Green Bay along with head coach Matt LaFleur in 2019, first as offensive line coach and then as run game coordinator in 2021 before taking over as OC in 2022 when Nathaniel Hackett left for Denver.
But while Stenavich holds the title of offensive coordinator with the Packers, LaFleur calls the plays, which is one reason Stenavich could be interested in making the move to Seattle. He has on a couple of occasions called plays in preseason games.
Stenavich also earlier had an interview with the Chicago Bears for their head coaching job before that position went to Ben Johnson.
Stenavich was also the assistant offensive line coach for the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan in 2017-18.
Stenavich played left tackle at Michigan from 2002-05, earning All-Big Ten honors his final two seasons while playing for head coach Lloyd Carr.
He went undrafted following his college career but spent four seasons on the offseason rosters or practice squads of the Carolina Panthers, Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans without playing in a game.
He entered coaching in 2011 at his alma mater, Michigan, first as a strength and conditioning coach and then as a graduate assistant before working in 2014 as the offensive line coach at Northern Arizona and then 2015-16 in the same role at San Jose State before going to San Francisco.
The same CBSSports.com story also noted that former Oregon, UCLA, Eagles and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is at “the top of the list’’ for a few teams who are also searching for OCs, but mentioned specifically only the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
Kelly coached current Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans in Philadelphia, which the story cited as one reason Kelly could be a candidate for the Texans.
However, Kelly was also reported to have interviewed for Seattle’s OC job last year after Mike Macdonald was hired as head coach and before Grubb was hired as OC, and he and general manager John Schneider are thought to have a good relationship.
Former Stanford head coach David Shaw also “is interviewing’’ for the Chicago Bears’ vacant OC job, CBSSports.com reported. But there has been no mention of Shaw with the Seahawks.
Seattle is one of 11 teams currently searching for OCs, with many teams interviewing many of the same candidates.
Saturday, it was revealed that Tampa Bay, which now as an OC opening after losing Liam Coen to Jacksonville as head coach earlier in the week, has interviewed Grant Udinski, who is on Seattle’s list of candidates.
The 28-year-old Udinski is currently the assistant offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Vikings.
And several reports Saturday stated that the Houston Texans may be interested in interviewing Klint Kubiak, currently the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints and also on Seattle’s list.
Both Udinski and Kubiak have been reported to have had two interviews with the Seahawks, including one in person.
Houston’s job opened Friday when the Texans fired Bobby Slowik.
The Seahawks are also reported to have interviewed Thomas Brown, who ended last season as the interim head coach of the Chicago Bears and who will not be retained; and Byron Leftwich, a former NFL QB and assistant who was most recently the OC for Tampa Bay from 2019-22 but has been out of coaching the past two years.
The Seahawks learned Friday that one candidate — Detroit Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley — is no longer available after he decided to stay after getting a promotion to add the title of run game coordinator.
There are indications Fraley was offered a job with the Seahawks. But it has also been rumored that the Seahawks had been considering Fraley as part of a package deal, also bringing in another coach to oversee the offensive passing game.
The Seahawks could still be considering such a format with a run-game oriented coach such as Stenavich and another more versed in the passing game.
The Seahawks have had similar structures in the past, notably for much of the Pete Carroll era when Darrell Bevell was the offensive coordinator and Tom Cable the offensive line coach and run game coordinator.
And Jake Peetz served as Seattle’s offensive pass game coordinator this season along with Grubb. However, Macdonald indicated that the Seahawks were not considering any internal candidates to replace Grubb.
CBSSports.com reported Saturday night that Peetz could also be a candidate to become the OC at Tampa Bay, noting that he interviewed for the job last year.
