The Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks are set to officially lose offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak to the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching job in the next few days. It's obviously a late point in time to have to replace such a key coach, and head coach Mike McDonald may favor internal continuity over anything else.
ESPN's Jeremy Fowler dug into that situation from on the ground at Super Bowl LX, citing passing game coordinator Jake Peetz and running backs coach Justin Outten as two internal candidates for Seattle to replace Kubiak.
Among possible external candidates for the Seahawks to replace Kubiak, as limited as that list is at this point, Fowler noted one.
"One back-pocket item to store away: Seattle was very impressed with Mike Kafka during head coach interviews two years ago. He's now a senior assistant in Detroit and could be a name to watch."
Lions may lose Mike Kafka before they even really have him
Reports have said Kafka, who finished this season as the New York Giants' interim head coach after being the offensive coordinator there for a few years under Brian Daboll, is coming to Detroit in a to-be-determined high-ranking role on the offensive staff. As of the morning after the Super Bowl, Kafka's hiring has not yet been announced by the team.
The role that is absolutely not available on Detroit's offensive staff is offensive coordinator and play caller, with Drew Petzing of course being hired for that. In Seattle Kafka would presumably call the plays and be given full autonomy over the offense by McDonald, whose expertise is on the defensive side of the ball.
Kafka interviewed for multiple offensive coordinator posts as his departure from the Giants moved to being inevitable, including with the Lions during the process that yielded hiring Petzing.
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Kafka leaving the Lions before officially being hired would be unique. But being Seattle's offensive coordinator would be a promotion for him, and he shouldn't turn down the opportunity to interview if it comes.
Lions fans may remember Scottie Montgomery interviewing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offensive coordinator job days after he was officially hired as running backs coach. Montgomery of course did not leave before ever working under Campbell, but it was a possibility.
Promoting an internal candidate is the most likely scenario for the Seahawks to replace Kubiak. But Kafka being the outside candidate who was specifically mentioned feels like more than idle speculation, and no one would blame him if he took an immediate promotion before (metaphorically or otherwise) ever setting foot in Allen Park.