Macdonald: Seahawks asked to let OC Klint Kubiak interview for head-coach job

4 days ago 2

Mike Macdonald is entering another new frontier in his first time as a head coach.

It’s not just that his Seahawks are the NFC West champions and top seed in the conference playoffs. It’s not just that they have no game to play as the postseason gets started this weekend.

It’s Macdonald now dealing with the league-wide interest and attention, in his assistant coaches, that come with being a Super Bowl favorite.

Macdonald confirmed Monday the Seahawks have been asked by at least one other NFL team to interview Seattle offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for a head-coaching job.

The league-owned television network reported earlier Monday that team is the Atlanta Falcons. They fired Raheem Morris as their head coach at the conclusion of their 8-9 season this past weekend.

Macdonald said he supports Kubiak seeking a top job. But he called the interest in Kubiak “bittersweet,” because Macdonald values and enjoys the fellow 38-year-old calling plays for Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold and Seattle’s offense.

But Macdonald said he also wants his assistant coaches to grow — as he did under head man John Harbaugh for a decade with the Baltimore Ravens including as their defensive coordinator.

The Seahawks hired Macdonald from that Baltimore job into his first head-coaching job at any level, in Febuary 2024. Kubiak, likewise, has never been a head coach.

“I think part of our vision of what we want to create here is a team where coaches want to work, and they can feel like they are getting developed, too, and they are getting opportunities,” Macdonald said. “And so, if we are doing what we are supposed to on the field, those opportunities are going to come.

“It’s great that some of those are happening. We are cheering those guys on.”

For Kubiak, they’ve arrived.

NFL rules allow teams to interview coaches from the top conference seeds during this bye week Seattle is on. The Seahawks’ win at San Francisco last weekend meant Seattle gets a pass through the wild-card round of playoff games this week.

The Seahawks’ first playoff game at home in the divisional round the weekend of Jan. 17-18.

Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak calls plays during the first quarter of the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Lumen Field, on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Seattle, Wash.

Kubiak is in his first season as the Seahawks play caller. His offense finished the regular season third in the NFL in points (28.4 per game), eighth in passing offense (228.1 yards per game) and tied for seventh in total offense (351.4 yards per game). With Kubiak calling his plays Darnold earned a second consecutive Pro Bowl selection. Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,793. Seattle went 14-3, the most wins in any of the 50 regular seasons of Seahawks football.

“It’s a little bittersweet, to a certain degree, that you might lose a great coach and a great person from your team,” Macdonald said.

“But not enough to stymie their process.

“We definitely encourage...if it’s a great opportunity for (him).”

Macdonald said as of Monday afternoon Kubiak was the only coach whom the Seahawks have gotten calls seeking permission to interview for other jobs elsewhere. So far.

Macdonald hired Kubiak last offseason from his one year as New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator. He gave Kubiak the mandate to run the ball more than Seattle had in years.

Done. Only two other teams rushed at a higher rate this season than Seattle’s 50%, Buffalo (50.6%) and Baltimore (52.1%). Even when the yards didn’t come earlier this season, Kubiak kept calling runs. He complimented those with deep-strike passes to Smith-Njigba.

The Seahawks’ running game is peaking heading into the playoffs. They’ve run for 173, 161 and a season-high 180 yards the last three games. The latest was against the 49ers last Saturday night. Seattle’s 115 yards rushing in the first half was their most in an opening half of a game since December 2024.

Kubiak has introduced back to the Seahawks a fullback. Rookie Robbie Ouzts has played 25% of the offense’s snaps — which is 25% higher than Kubiak’s predecessor Ryan Grubb used a fullback in his pass-heavy offense with Geno Smith as Seattle’s quarterback in the 2024 season.

The Falcons have star running back Bijan Robinson, who finished fourth in the NFL with 1,478 yards rushing this season. Kubiak was the quarterbacks coach then offensive coordinator in Minnesota for now-Atlanta veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, in 2019-21. Cousins, 37, started the final seven games of this season for injured Falcons starter Michael Penix Jr. Cousins’ future in Atlanta for 2026 is in some doubt. Kubiak is the son of former Denver Broncos quarterback then Houston Texans and Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak.

Klint Kubiak was asked in late November following a Seahawks practice about his aspirations on becoming a head coach.

“I want to win with the Seahawks. I want to win a lot of games here,” Kubiak said. “And all that stuff takes care of itself when you win.

“So that’s the best way to say that.”

There are six head-coaching vacancies in the NFL, as of Monday evening. The Las Vegas Raiders fired former Seahawks Super Bowl-winning coach Pete Carroll Monday after his one, 3-14 season leading them. Also Monday: Cleveland fired Kevin Stefanski and Arizona, Seattle’s NFC West-rival, fired Jonathan Gannon.

The New York Giants and Tennessee Titans join Atlanta as the remaining head-coaching jobs now open.