Absolutely convinced there is NO WAY Mike Macdonald will retain Ryan Grubb.

— Chris Cluff (@CHawk_Talk) December 27, 2024

Mike Macdonald just showed he is serious about taking the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl.

For over a month, it had become far too clear that he had to fire offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, so doing so the day after the season ended verified what we had learned about Macdonald over the course of the season: He is a coach who will not tolerate underperformance and will always “chase edges.”

Macdonald clearly is disappointed the Hawks are not in the playoffs. They won 10 games even with a malfunctioning offense. He knows the offense was capable of doing more, if only it had been guided by a more experienced hand.

Now he is going to find it.

He wants a play caller who will use better balance (Grubb threw the ball more than any unit in franchise history), punish defenses with toughness and “have answers” for what opposing defenses want to do.

May be worth remembering what Mike Macdonald said on the day he was introduced to media as the new coach about his offensive philosophy: pic.twitter.com/8TpIT94rV1

— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) January 6, 2025

Lots of names are being floated, but you can bet Macdonald will quickly narrow it down to guys who fit his philosophy much better than Grubb did. And guys who have NFL experience.

Seven of the top nine rushing teams (by yards per game) are in the playoffs. The teams Macdonald probably would like to emulate are Green Bay and Detroit, which rank fifth and sixth in the NFL at around 146 rushing yards per game.

Unlike Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and Buffalo, those two NFC North teams do not rely on their quarterbacks for a big chunk of rushing yards. Neither does Seattle these days.

Macdonald considered Detroit passing coordinator Tanner Engstrand last year, but Engstrand also is in line to replace Ben Johnson, if the coordinator takes a top job this time. So the Packers’ Adam Stenavich might be Seattle’s best option, if Macdonald could pry him from Matt LaFleur, who calls Green Bay’s plays. Stenavich was offensive line coach from 2019 to 2021, promoted to OC in 2022 when Nathaniel Hackett became Denver’s coach.

If LaFleur were to block Stenavich, maybe Packers passing coordinator Jason Vrable would be an option. He has been working under LaFleur in Green Bay since 2019 as well, but he has never called plays in the NFL.

Another option who could fit Macdonald, if made available, is Minnesota OC Wes Phillips. The Vikings have a balanced attack, and Phillips has been OC for coach/play caller Kevin O’Connell since 2022. Would O’Connell let him go?

Plenty of other names are being bandied about as well: Eagles passing coordinator Kevin Patullo, fired Jaguars coach Doug Pederson, Giants OC Mike Kafka (a former Chiefs assistant), Miami’s Frank Smith and Seattle’s own passing coordinator, Jake Peetz (formerly of the Rams).

Macdonald hinted that the move will be made fairly quickly, saying, “We’re going to open it up and do our research and be thorough with it. We want to be efficient, we want to move quickly, but we want to be smart as well. Just looking for the right fit on the type of person that’s going to come in and lead our offense.”

It’s a necessary step to the Super Bowl.