Seahawks GM John Schneider dives into search for next head coach

RENTON, Wash. - John Schneider arrived in Seattle 14 years ago for his interview seeking to become the general manager of the Seahawks with a binder full of head coaching candidates ready to get to work.

Ten playoff appearances, two trips to the Super Bowl, and a Lombardi Trophy earned through a wildly successful partnership with Pete Carroll later, Schneider is finally going to be able to conduct that coaching search.

"I had 36 pages of coaching material in my big book for Tod Leiweke and Mr. (Paul) Allen, and I had to like rip the 36 pages out of there, because they'd hired Pete," Schneider said.

Now it is Schneider's task to replace the most successful coach in franchise history – a coach that was Schneider's partner for 14 years.

"To have worked with Pete and all the positive lessons and the leadership lessons and thoughts and philosophies, I can't even begin to explain to you... pretty emotional press conference the other day," Schneider said. "When I say your emotions are all over the place, you know, it's moving on from a very, very historic partnership and amazing, amazing level of success and achievement that Pete and myself are extremely proud of."

Carroll wanted to keep coaching the team and made that clear. The power structure within the Seahawks decided otherwise as Carroll was transitioned into an "advisory" role with Schneider tasked to find the team's next head coach. 

"We are all here today because we underachieved in 2023. We all did. And now we're in a situation where, you know, we all need to get better," Schneider said. "And we understand that the 12s, the fans, the community, Jody, everybody in this building deserves better. We had high expectations for 2023. You know, we overachieved in 2022 and, quite frankly, we underachieved in 2023, and I think everybody recognizes that. But again, it's a time for all of us to look in the mirror in this organization, myself included, obviously, and improve, learn and move forward."

Schneider said he's continually prepared each year for the possibility of needing to find the team's next head coach. Just in case Carroll had ever decided it was time for him to do something else, Schneider wanted to be ready to execute a coaching search immediately. Schneider also confirmed that he will have full authority over the coaching staff and personnel decisions now that Carroll is no longer running operations. He indicated that power was contractually bound to him should Carroll ever no longer be the team's head coach.

"The coaching staff did not fall under my umbrella. And now it will," Schneider said. "And it's not necessarily a Jody Allen decision or choosing this person or that person, that's just a contractual situation."

The trick now for Schneider and the Seahawks is finding a path forward that preserves the culture that Schneider and Carroll have created over their time together while finding a way to solve the team's numerous issues on the field.

"We have a clear directive from (Seahawks chairperson) Jody Allen moving forward as we embark on our new coaching search. It's clear, it's concise. You know, we want to keep our positive culture, everything that's been created here, everything in this building," Schneider said.

"It's amazing to be on the phone with all these agents and people that are interested in this position and to be able to explain to them, you know, hey, there's a foundation here that's incredible."

Schneider said that interviews are beginning for the team on Wednesday. Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn are among candidates reportedly set to interview with the team the next couple of days. 

Schneider believes in the talent on the roster and the culture around the Seahawks. He believes it's a highly attractive job for prospective coaches and is willing to cast a wide net for potential hires. 

"I think it's a young, talented team that feels like they're right on the cusp," Schneider said. "I think there's a lot of guys that have a ton of confidence in their abilities. They're all very highly disappointed in what just happened. … "I think it's a great core. I think we're a very attractive job because of that. there's young talent all over the place."

So far, eight different candidates have been connected to the Seahawks' job through publicly reported interview requests. 

"Too many is not too many," Schneider said of potential candidates. "We'll handle it just like our free agency process or draft process. We're readying everything. Anybody you could pretty much think of."

Per NFL rules, in-person interviews with candidates employed by other NFL playoff teams are not allowed until after the Divisional Playoffs this upcoming weekend. Virtual interviews can take place this week with in-person second interviews possible as the playoffs progress. Coaches whose seasons are over, or those that have been terminated by their previous teams aren't restricted from interviews.

In addition to the six reported interviews in the story above, the Seahawks have also lined up interviews with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (bios below).

So what exactly will Schneider be looking for in a new head coach? He said that he updated his old notebook to include an added focus on sports science and analytics that weren't as prominent when he came to Seattle. They've been a staple of the Seahawks' program for a long time now, but it's different from what he would have sought in 2010.

 "You have to look at the different experiences that those individuals have had," Schneider said. "You know, we've done a ton of study on that already. We've been looking at it for years. 

"Special teams coaches especially are, you know, when you look at Coach (John) Harbaugh -- I apologize for some of the other coaches that I'm missing there -- but obviously, he stands out with all the success they've had in Baltimore. And, you know, when you're the special teams coach, you have a really good feel for and you're in the midst of who's going to be inactive, active all throughout the week and the planning on both sides of the ball with the offensive staff and the defensive staff and what both groups are looking for. 

"And so there's a balance, too, of, OK, if you hire a defensive coach and he hires a really good offensive coordinator, and then that offensive coordinator is going to leave the next year, then what kind of consistency are you going to have with the quarterback? If you go back and look at, you know, the San Francisco 49ers when we hired Coach McCarthy in Green Bay, they just drafted Alex Smith. And so they had like three different offensive coordinators, so that got things, you know, a little bit wonky for his career early in the mix. So you have to look at those things. 

"And if you hire a great offensive coordinator, or a guy that's going to be a good play caller, you know, where's the strength as the defensive coordinator and what kind of consistency and philosophy, strategy is that guy going to have and how long is he going to be able to stick around, too. So staff development and procurement, I think that's extremely important, regardless of it's an offensive guy, defensive guy or special teams guy."

That answer seemed to make clear that it's not just about whom the head coach will be, but who that coach is also able to bring along to build out his coaching staff.

Given the success of the franchise through the coaching tenures of Carroll and Mike Holmgren, the Seahawks are a very attractive job and Schneider will have a wide-ranging set of candidates to sift through.

"It's just been amazing, like the the calls and the notes and everything you get," Schneider said. "It's really... I don't want to say a confidence booster, but I think it's a great reputation for this organization and like a really cool feeling throughout the National Football League of what people think of this organization on the outside. I think people recognize it's a very intriguing job and one that  you can come in have a great partnership with everybody here and get rolling. I think people recognize that."

Notes:

– Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson

Johnson, 37, has been the offensive coordinator with the Lions for the last two years with six total years in the Lions organization. Johnson was a holdover by new head coach Dan Campbell after he took over the job when Matt Patricia was fired during the 2020 season.

Johnson joined the team as an offensive quality control coach in 2019, spent the next two years as tight ends coach, moved to passing game coordinator, and then took the OC job in 2022. Before his time in Detroit, Johnson spent seven seasons in various roles with the Miami Dolphins. 

The Lions have finished fifth in yards gained (380.0, 394.8) and third in points scored (26.6, 27.1) in each of the last two seasons. 

– Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik

Slowik, 36, is in his first year as coordinator with the Texans. Slowik has spent 10 years as a coach in the NFL with a three-year stint working for Pro Football Focus sandwiched in between. He spent three years as a defensive assistant under head coach Mike Shanahan in Washington from 2011-13 before moving to PFF when that staff was let go.

A former Division II wide receiver at Michigan Tech, Slowik returned to coaching under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers as a defensive quality control coach in 2017. He moved into an offensive role in 2019 before progressing to offensive passing game coordinator for the 49ers last year. Slowik then followed then-49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans to Houston when Ryans got the head coaching job there.

Slowik helped rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud thrive in Houston and helped a bad Texans team go from the No. 2 overall pick to the Divisional Round of the playoffs in one year.

Houston was 13th in yards gained (342.4) and 12th in points scored (22.2) this season. Stroud threw for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns and five interceptions.