THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: The search continues for Seahawks' new coach

You want to know how puzzling the Seahawks’ coaching search has become?

Fair enough.

A Las Vegas podcaster named Hondo Carpenter brought up the subject of coaching vacancies a couple of weeks ago — in part because the hometown Raiders had their own search in midseason.

However, Hondo really wanted to focus on a Raiders assistant, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.

He was part of that in-house switch, as Antonio Pierce, the DC at the beginning of the season, had been promoted to head coach.

That left Graham in charge of the defense, and his group was terrific over eight games.

Graham thus has popped up on many of these endless lists of potential head coaches that teams with current openings — there were seven of ‘em, to start.

Anyway, back to Hondo Carpenter.

We shouldn’t be leery of Hondo’s tale just because he’s a Vegas lifer and, well, his name is Hondo.

But.

He said on his podcast that he’d heard from someone in the Seahawks organization, and that they wanted his information on Graham — as a potential head coach.

The thing is, though, Hondo claimed that the call came BEFORE Pete Carroll was relieved of his job.

It’s not impossible, since Hondo covers the Raiders and would have ties in the NFL.

Oh, and the Hawks subsequently HAVE interviewed Graham twice — including this past Tuesday.

It’s all such a Las Vegas story, but there are dots connecting, you know?

IF THE Seahawks’ list of candidates to replace Carroll is accurate (or close to it), there is a pretty obvious reason that they haven’t hired someone by now.

NFL rules stipulate that you can interview coaches electronically up to the weekend of the division wild-card games — but in the case of coaches still working, you have to wait until after the Super Bowl for an in-person meeting.

One of the hottest names on the league-wide rumor circuit is Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, a 43-year-old whiz who has produced terrific units in each of his two seasons with the Ravens.

Don’t jump too quickly, though.

Remember that Hawks GM John Schneider would kill you in a poker game.

John is famous for zigging when everyone assumes he’s zagging, which is one reason it’s been years since Mel Kiper guessed the Seahawks’ first choice correctly on draft day.

Journalists were stunned when Seattle took cornerback Devon Witherspoon with the fifth overall selection last spring — but coaches and scouts around the NFL just laughed and rolled their eyes.

Still.

Why would you wrap up your personal interviews this week without meeting face to face?

The clear answer SHOULD have something to do with a coach from one of the four teams who will play on Sunday.

We’re talking about John Schneider, though, and his reasoning might fit right alongside the wicked wits of Hondo Carpenter.

Hell, maybe John was the one who phoned Hondo for information on Patrick Graham.

Except.

The Seahawks could have hired Graham this week, since Tennessee is now the only other team left in search of a 

head coach.

Perhaps Schneider and his staff want to meet Macdonald (or someone else, like Detroit OC Ben Johnson) before making a final decision.

Plus.

Bill Belichick is still out there.

(Just kidding.)

HONESTLY, I don’t have the sort of information needed to advocate one way or another in this kind of hunt.

NFL teams keep quiet on what they’re thinking (unless they’re chatting with Hondo Carpenter).

It would be easier to get news of a job interview at the CIA.

There are a couple of clear items on the checklist, however.

Start with the Seahawks culture, which Carroll embodied and which owner Jody Allen insists should stay (generally) in place.

Allen used the word “progressive,” and given the history of both the Seahawks and Seattle itself, the team is not going to hire someone whose favorite pastime is screaming.

One other issue is a candidate’s background.

All of the coaches who have interviewed (that we know about) have been offensive or defensive coordinators, and most are young.

And yet, former Seattle assistant Dan Quinn (now the DC in Dallas) was a head coach in Atlanta, he’s 53, and a lot of people in the league considered him the frontrunner for the Seattle job.

I mentioned the coordinators because there are CEO types of coaches, bosses who hold it all together and set a general tone.

Of the four coaches left to play this Sunday, two fall into that CEO category – the Ravens’ John Harbaugh and Detroit’s Dan Campbell.

Just a crazy guess, but I could see picture Schneider liking that type of structure.

If so, representing the team (as Carroll did so well) would become more important, and candidates who project honesty and leadership might jump past the X and O guys.

Graham and Carolina defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero both fall into that “special” category.

I’m kind of rooting for Evero, who has managed to display dignity while working on bad teams with horrific offenses (Denver in 2022 and then Carolina).

Evero’s defenses held those ships together, allowing the seventh-fewest yards in the league at Denver – then fourth-fewest last year.

Anish Shroff, the Panthers’ radio broadcaster, described the 43-year-old Evero this way: “Just in person, he’s very impressive. 

“When you meet with him, when you speak with him, he has the aura and the presence of a head coach.

“He’s somebody who’s highly regarded in NFL circles.”

As for the other part of the job, Shroff said Evero’s defense was amazingly good.

“And believe me,” Shroff added, “he did it with scrap metal parts.”

The right kind of person.

Ejiro, I mean.

Not Hondo.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press four times each week, normally Tuesday through Friday unless, you know, stuff happens.

Steve suggests you take his opinions in the spirit of a Jimmy Buffett song: “Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On.”