The Cowboys have requested an interview with Seahawks assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, Todd Archer of ESPN reports.
They have an interview scheduled with former Jets head coach Robert Saleh for later this week, per Archer.
If both interviews are in person, that would satisfy the Rooney Rule and allow the Cowboys to make a hire at any point thereafter.
Frazier was the head coach of the Vikings from 2011-13 after taking over as interim coach for the final six games of 2010. He went 21-32-1. This is his first interview request in this hiring cycle.
Frazier, who began his NFL coaching career in 1999, was the Bucs’ defensive coordinator (2014-15), the Ravens’ secondary coach (2016) and the Bills’ defensive coordinator (2017-22) after his stint with the Vikings. He was out of the league in 2023 before Mike Macdonald hired him in Seattle before this season.
Jerry Jones’ eight previous hires for the Cowboys have been either former head coaches and/or have a tie with Jones. Frazier and Saleh both have previous head coaching experience.
Last year’s Wild Card game between the Dolphins and Chiefs featured temperatures that were both bone-chilling and, for some, flesh-killing.
Some fans who attended the game developed frostbite. There were reports of amputations, although the specifics remain unclear.
A new article from ESPN.com looks back at the deep-freeze playoff game, and it adds something new. After the January 2016 open-air playoff game in Minnesota, the last played outdoors before the opening of the dome that replaced the Metrodome, Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor’s case of fingertip frostbite had amputation on the table.
“I had never had frostbite,” Chancellor recently told ESPN.com. “I was like, ‘Wait, are y’all going to cut my fingers off?’”
At the time, he posted photos of his fingers, with the skin peeling beneath the nail.
Although he wore gloves during the game, the damage occurred due to sweat that froze inside the gloves.
“You’re out there playing in that cold weather and you’re out there sweating,” Chancellor said. “And then once you take a timeout, you’re standing or sitting down, now all that sweat is on you and it’s cold as hell. So, sweat makes it worse.”
The potential for games played in ultra-cold conditions has increased, now that the season has expanded to 17 games. It will get worse if/when (when) another game is added to the regular season.
As noted by ESPN.com, the league monitors weather patterns, with two or three alternate stadiums reserved in the event a game must be moved. Given last year’s weather issues at Wild Card games involving the Dolphins and Chiefs (which was not moved or delayed) and the Steelers and Bills (which was delayed by a day), the league started planning for playoff weather contingencies earlier than usual.
When it comes to cold, the NFL has never had a temperature or wind-chill minimum. After what happened to Chancellor, it should have established one. After last year’s Dolphins-Chiefs game, it absolutely should.
While fans attend open-air games with full knowledge of the conditions, and assuming full risk of the potential consequences, a decision to play the game at the scheduled time and in the scheduled venue carries with it an implication that it’s safe for human beings to attend. Even if no one could ever credibly claim that the league has a legal obligation to reschedule or relocate a game, there’s a moral obligation.
If, after all, football is family, football should never put its family members in harm’s way.
A member of Kevin O’Connell’s staff in Minnesota could be in the mix to become the next Seahawks offensive coordinator.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Seahawks have requested an interview with Vikings assistant offensive coordinator/assistant quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski. The Seahawks dismissed Ryan Grubb after the end of the regular season.
Udinski has been on O’Connell’s staff for the last three seasons and has worked with the team’s quarterbacks for the last two seasons. He was a coaching assistant for the Panthers for two seasons before making the move to Minnesota.
Klint Kubiak, Hank Fraley, and Thomas Brown have also been mentioned as coaches of interest to the Seahawks as they make their second offensive coordinator change in as many years.
Klint Kubiak will kick off the week with a pair of interviews for offensive coordinator vacancies.
Kubiak is interviewing with the Browns on Monday and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that he will move on to a meeting with the Seahawks on Tuesday. The Seahawks fired Ryan Grubb after one season in Seattle.
Kubiak spent the 2024 season running the Saints’ offense and also had a one-year stint as a coordinator with the Vikings in 2021. He worked for the Broncos and 49ers between those jobs and had a previous stint with the Broncos when his father Gary was the head coach in Denver.
Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley and Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown have also been linked with the opening on Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks staff.
Bill Belichick may not be heading to Las Vegas, but another Super Bowl-winning coach is going to interview with the Raiders.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll will interview with the team on Tuesday. Carroll met with the Bears this week about their vacant head coaching position.
Carroll was out of coaching in 2024 after leaving the Seahawks at the end of the 2023 season. He spent 14 years in Seattle and took the Seahawks to back-to-back Super Bowls. They blew out the Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII and lost Super Bowl XLIX to Belichick and the Patriots when Russell Wilson threw an interception in the final seconds.
Carroll also coached USC to a national title and had earlier NFL stints with the Patriots and Jets. His career record in the NFL is 170-120-1.
