Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley has second interview with the Seahawks

Another Lions' assistant coach may be moving toward leaving.

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Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is gone to be the head coach of the Chicago Bears. Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn may be the New York Jets head coach before the day ends on Tuesday. Offensive line coach Hank Fraley may be not far behind them.

Fraley interviewed with the Seattle Seahawks for their offensive coordinator opening earlier this month. According to ESPN's Dan Graziano, he has an in-person interview scheduled for Tuesday.

The Seahawks have also interviewed Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown, Vikings assistant quarterbacks coach Grand Udinski, and former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich for their offensive coordinator job. Kubiak and Udinski have completed two interviews.

Fraley has been the Lions' offensive line coach for the last five seasons, with two years as the assistant offensive line coach before that. When Dan Campbell became Lions' head coach in 2021, left tackle Taylor Decker openly vouched for Fraley to be retained.

Hank Fraley would also be a big loss to the Lions' coaching staff

Along the same lines as Decker four years ago, center Frank Ragnow and right tackle Penei Sewell spoke about Fraley after the Lions' season-ending loss to the Commanders. They both joked about doing whatever it took to keep him around.

Ragnow spoke more poignantly about Fraley's impact on him.

"I don’t think I could play in this league without the guy. He’s everything to me. He’s been there since Day 1,” Ragnow said. “In this league, there are a lot of coaches, but there’s not many coaches like him that empower his players and really it is an open dialogue. He really does everything he can to put us in the best positions to be confident and go out there and play well."

"Again, I’ve said it before, but him being a former center in this league has been invaluable to me", Ragnow continued. "Talking about how we see things, and not only him giving me advice, but me telling him how I see it and him being willing to listen. I think that’s so rare, and I'm just so grateful for him.”

Fraley helping develop the Lions' offensive line into one of the best in the NFL is one thing. But it's pretty clear he has had some influence on the success of the offense as a whole too. He's an easy candidate to replace Johnson as the offensive coordinator in Detroit, but there is at least one other opportunity out there for him to explore.

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