The Seahawks' search for a successor to offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb reached its second week Tuesday, and a new candidate emerged -- Grant Udinski, who is the assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach with the Minnesota Vikings.
A report from NFL Media on Tuesday stated the Seahawks plan to interview Udinski, who becomes the fourth known candidate. Udinski is available to be interviewed as the Vikings' season came to a close Monday night with a 27-9 loss to the Rams in the wild-card playoff round.
Klint Kubiak was reported to have interviewed Tuesday. Kubiak, who spent last season as the offensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints, interviewed with the Cleveland Browns on Monday.
But it was reported Tuesday that the Browns are promoting Tommy Rees to offensive coordinator, filling that opening.
The other known candidates for the Seahawks are Thomas Brown, who ended the 2024 season as the interim head coach of the Chicago Bears, and Hank Fraley, the offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions. They reportedly interviewed last week. Brown interviewed with the Bears on Monday in their search for a permanent coach.
Udinski's name had not been on many -- if any -- lists of prospective candidates to replace Grubb, in part because he is just 28 years old and has been coaching since just 2019.
Udinski played defensive end at Towson from 2016-18 before entering coaching as a graduate assistant at Baylor in 2019.
He spent the 2020-21 seasons with Carolina as a coaching assistant before moving to Minnesota under Kevin O'Connell.
He has served in three different offensive roles there, promoted each season and earning recognition for his role in the development of quarterbacks in recent seasons, including Sam Darnold in 2024.
A November story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune might also shed light on why Macdonald -- who became the youngest coach in the NFL a year ago when the Seahawks hired him at age 36 -- could be intrigued by Udinski.
The story, which included a headline calling Udinski "the most interesting man'' on the Vikings' coaching staff, detailed his photographic memory among other details.
The story quoted former NFL quarterback and Vikings assistant Josh McCown as comparing Udinski to O'Connell, who was hired as Minnesota's head coach at age 36.
"It reminds me a ton of Kevin, when I had him as a quarterbacks coach [in 2015 with the Browns]," McCown said in the story. "You could tell immediately, with his presence and intellect, he was going to be a really good coach. That's definitely what I can feel from Grant."
The story also stated that: "O'Connell came up with a cadre of fast-tracked coaches under Sean McVay in Los Angeles. He thinks within a few years, Udinski could be an offensive coordinator or even a head coach. "It would not surprise me if he's on a pretty skyrocketed timeline," O'Connell said. He jokes with Udinski, "When I'm working for you years from now, please go easy on me, no matter how I treat you right now."
Macdonald said last week the Seahawks have no set timeline for making a hire.
"Well, it's a balance,'' Macdonald said. "You want to be efficient and be fast so you can get ahead, but you want to make sure you're making the right decision, too. So, there's a balance there of being quick, but you want to be thorough as well."
The Seahawks have the time to be patient in their search as they fired Grubb the day after the season ended and have a chance to survey all available candidates.
The Seahawks had a limited pool last year when Macdonald was not hired until Jan. 31. Some of the OCs known to have been on the team's wish list were already committed to other jobs.