The hidden advantage bye week gives Seattle Seahawks over 49ers

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald loves to talk about "chasing edges." That's his way of describing the coaching staff's intention of seeking out every single detail that could in some small way help achieve the ultimate goal - winning.

Now, Macdonald believes he's identified another "edge" working in the Seahawks favor.

The list of advantages earned by securing the NFL's top playoff seed in each conference is long, something the 14-3 Seahawks are experiencing for the first time in over a decade.

Teams get a chance to self-scout their own tendencies, clean up any festering negative details, and above all rest and recover from a long, violent regular season.

But there's another big plus to having that first week off, one that's more subtle but not any less compelling; being able to move past the potential distraction of having your assistant coaches taking interviews with other teams for open positions.

Winning garners attention, and in a copycat league all the bad teams want to learn, borrow and even steal from the good ones. The Seahawks are experiencing that right now, with both their coordinators earning consideration from the nine teams currently without a head coach.

Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak is the most popular, with six interviews in the bag already, while defensive coordinator Aden Durde has interviewed for two of the openings. And this is where we get to that hidden advantage of having a bye week to start the postseason.

The way the interview rules work in the NFL, the top-seeded teams can have their coaches conduct interviews during the bye week, but then the window closes. Kubiak, or Durde, won't be able to do any additional interviews until the Seahawks lose, or January 26th (the bye week prior to the Super Bowl) whichever comes first.

This works to Seattle's favor because Kubiak and Durde don't have to try and wedge those interviews in an around crucial game-planning and on-field coaching duties as they prepare to face the 49ers for the third time this season.

“It’s not a work-intensive week coaching-wise because you’re really trying to get ahead on all these things. We ended up doing a lot of work on the Packers, and that didn’t get us anywhere. So that’s really what we were working at the beginning of last week, some self-scout stuff. I think it worked out well that (we) had the two days off and they could kind of shift their focus, and then once it’s over, then that’s over and we’re able to move forward. So really fortunate that we had the bye."
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks head coach

Meanwhile, someone like 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh (also in high demand in this hiring cycle) has to juggle these Zoom interviews around game-planning and prep for the showdown in Seattle.

“The teams that are going into it this week with interviews, I think that’s significantly tougher that you have to kind of shift your brain in the latter part of the week and then still be in tune with what you’re doing game-plan wise.”
Mike Macdonald, Seahawks head coach

Adding to the advantage is that most teams are unwilling to delay their hiring process. They want to identify and secure their guy, introduce him to the fanbase, and get moving on the business of the offseason. With that in mind, the Seahawks best way to keep Kubiak (and/or Durde) around for another season is to just keep winning.

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