Seahawks Putting on a ‘Full-Court Press’ to Keep Coordinator, Per Reports

July 8th, 2015. Not a day most people will remember strongly off the top of their heads. The New York Stock Exchange experienced a technical glitch that caused it to be shut down for nearly four hours, staff workers for the London Underground began a strike that lasted 27 hours, and mass evacuations were carried out in Western Canada amid wildfires. Just another day.

But for me, I’ll remember it as the day the most bizarre free agency saga in NBA history concluded. Even now, over ten years later, it feels like we don’t know all the details. To make a long story short, Los Angeles Clippers starting center DeAndre Jordan returned to the team he had played his whole career on, signing a four-year, $88 million deal.

That description cuts out pretty much all the interesting stuff. Five days prior, Jordan had agreed to a four-year, $80 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks, during the window where NBA free agents could agree to, but not officially sign, deals with new teams. At that point, it should have been game over, but no one told the Clippers.

Several of Jordan’s Clipper teammates, such as Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, went to his house to attempt to persuade him to return. Social media erupted with speculation and rumor, Griffin feeding the fire by tweeting a (sarcastic, we hope) picture implying they had taken Jordan hostage in his own home. The Mavericks were desperately trying to get through to him.

The saga lasted days, with some details leaking out and others being known only by the people in DeAndre’s house. Mark Cuban (then-owner of the Mavericks) and Chandler Parsons (a player) tried and failed to reach the man they thought they had secured the services of, with the implication being that the Clippers had his ear and weren’t letting go.

I bring this all up because, when I think of a team going into a full-court press to retain the services of someone, this is what I think of first. The Los Angeles Clippers convinced their center to break decades of precedent and a meaningful agreement with another team to stick around. Are the Seattle Seahawks currently going to this extent? Probably not.

But, per Tony Pauline, analyst at Essentially Sports, the Seahawks are in a ‘full-court press’ to keep Klint Kubiak, their star offensive coordinator who guided the Seahawks to a franchise record in points scored in the 2025 season. Kubiak was interviewed by half-a-dozen different teams two weeks ago for a head coaching position, and was clearly coveted by the league.

Does Kubiak want another season to work with Sam Darnold? — Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) under center against the San Francisco 49ers. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

“Multiple sources tell me that the Seahawks are putting on a full-court press to keep Kubiak on staff. It’s an interesting dynamic that could take a while to play out, depending on whether or not the Seahawks’ season continues past today,” reports Pauline. It certainly makes sense that the Seahawks would want to do anything they can to maintain continuity on their offense.

This has been an especially active coaching cycle, with ten different teams swapping out head coaches during this offseason so far. As of today, six of those slots have been filled, including four of the slots that Kubiak interviewed for.

As of right now, the only remaining openings are the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, and Arizona Cardinals. Only the Raiders and Cardinals have conducted an interview with Kubiak to this point, although the Bills have yet to have the opportunity since they didn’t fire Sean McDermott until after the divisional round of the postseason.

It is believed by many that the Raiders are very interested in Kubiak, and if you had to pick one team that is most likely to land him it’d probably be them. Of course, taking on that particular job is daunting, as you’re trying to right the ship on a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game in nearly 25 years. You have a franchise running back, tight end, and cap space. Not much else.

The Cardinals are probably even worse off, as they find themselves with no quarterback and not much ability to get a new one this offseason. You have an elite tight end, (possibly?) an elite wide receiver, and a couple of intriguing pieces on defense that could go one way or the other. Oh, and you’re in the toughest division in football. It’s not great.

The problem for Kubiak is that, with ten new coaches this cycle and eight last cycle, there’s got to be some concern that next year won’t feature the abundance of openings, and the landscape might not be much better for him. Sometimes, you have to take the opportunity that’s there and prove yourself capable of excelling even under suboptimal circumstances.

If you’re a successful coordinator or assistant, it’s hard to resist the temptation to take the head coaching opportunity in front of you, even if you know the odds of success are longer than they should be due to things out of your control. But Kubiak has found something very good in Seattle, and might be best served to return to it in 2026 to see if he can advance it further.

The 2025 Seahawks had the cheapest offense in football in terms of salary spent, and should be able to invest even more resources into it next year. Combine that with a second year in the system, and there’s every reason to believe the offense will be even better in 2026. He could be the far-and-away top candidate next offseason, even if there are fewer openings.

I don’t know what a full-court press looks like in this context. A significant raise? Additional say over personnel on the offense in the upcoming offseason? But I fully support the attempt to keep him around. So long as it doesn’t involve locking him in his house.

Kubiak helped turn JSN into a top NFL receiver and possible offensive player of the year. — Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11) reacts after a catch against the San Francisco 49ers. | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

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