Offensive coordinator is at the top of the Seattle Seahawks’ wish list this offseason.

The Seahawks replaced offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb as play caller on Monday after just one season.

Brock: Two reasons why Seattle Seahawks moved on from OC Ryan Grubb

With the offensive coordinator position now open, Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy examined four potential candidates the Seahawks could pursue to be the next leader of their offense.

Seattle Seahawks OC candidates

Jake Peetz

The conversation began with the Seahawks’ top internal candidate to fill the passing game coordinator position, Jake Peetz. Peetz joined the Seahawks staff in February after spending two seasons as an assistant under offensive guru Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams.

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald praised Peetz in a recent interview.

“He brings a lot of experience. I’ve known Jake for a long time and he’s known me for a long time. He’s seen a lot,” Macdonald said. “People giving their opinion and it’s well thought out and detailed and based on the principles of what we want to do, that’s a lot of what Jake does. I definitely respect his opinion both as a program and with our offense.”

Peetz, 39, began his NFL career as a scout before becoming an assistant quarterbacks coach for the Jaguars in 2012. He also spent time as an offensive assistant for the Washington Commanders, Las Vegas Raiders and Carolina Panthers and was LSU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2021. However, Peetz was never a play-caller in the NFL.

“Jake Peetz is a guy he obviously trusts if you hear the way he talked about him, right? It’s familiar. There’s respect there,” said Michael Bumpus, a Seahawks Radio Network analyst and former NFL wide receiver. “He’s spent some time in LA and I assume Mike Macdonald respects the challenges the Rams present to a defense because it’s difficult to slow down those guys. Even if you sometimes take things a little slower, their concepts are tough. They expand you, condense you. They still play football. They have one of the better running games in the NFL. Peetz was already there and he was there (Macdonald).

“I totally get it, and that’s what you do as a head coach, is build those relationships. You’re building relationships, gaining depth in that Rolodex, and rocking out with people who are like you, who work just as hard as you, who see the game the way you do. So if he were to hire internally, that would be totally fine with me, and Jake Peetz is a name we’ve heard.”

Wes Phillips

Wes Phillips is another candidate who has yet to play-caller in the NFL, but as a third-generation coach in the league, he brings as solid a pedigree as any candidate. Phillips is the grandson of former Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints head coach Bum Phillips and the son of longtime NFL defensive coordinator and head coach Wade Phillips. Wes Phillips is currently in his third season as the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive coordinator under head coach Kevin O’Connell, directing plays for the Vikings’ offense.

Phillips, who turns 46 next month, served as the Rams’ tight ends coach under McVay in Los Angeles from 2019 to 2021 and took on the role of passing game coordinator in his final season. He also had stints with the Commanders and the Dallas Cowboys.

“(He has) 18 years of experience. He was also a pass coordinator and tight ends coach. He understands the matter,” Bumpus said. “The reason I like that name is obviously what they do in Minnesota, but he was also a tight ends coach. When you’re a tight ends coach, you understand the box, you understand leverage, you understand how to make plays.”

Mark Brunell

A former UW Huskies quarterback and three-time Pro Bowler, Mark Brunell is in his fourth season as the Detroit Lions’ quarterbacks coach. Brunell, 54, has no NFL coaching experience beyond his four years in Detroit, but he spent the last three of those working under offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, one of the league’s hottest head coaching candidates. Brunell also spent 19 seasons in the NFL and led the league in passing yards in 1996.

“You have to look for people to take a step up,” Bumpus said. “Mark Brunell has been there for three years. He was part of developing that culture there with (Lions head coach) Dan Campbell. He understands what it’s like for a team to have a bunch of young guys that no one is counting on, develops them and lets them go. And quarterbacks understood the box.”

Kevin Patullo

Kevin Patullo is in his fourth season as the Philadelphia Eagles’ passing game coordinator and his second season as the team’s associate head coach. Patullo works under former Prosser (Wash.) High School standout Kellen Moore, who serves as the Eagles’ offensive play-caller. Patullo, 43, began his NFL coaching career at just 26 years old and served in a variety of offensive roles during stints with the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, New York Jets and Indianapolis Colts. He was also Geno Smith’s quarterbacks coach with the Jets during the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

“That would be another move for him. “Again, he comes from a team that knows how to run the football – obviously Saquan Barkley, who will help you – but also understands how to get the ball to the receivers from the outside,” Bumpus said. “And then you have a quarterback in Jalen Hurts that he helped develop.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player at the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy live weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Seattle Sports. Click here for podcasts of all shows.

More about the Seattle Seahawks

• Seahawks coach Macdonald explains why OC Ryan Grubb was fired
• Ernest Jones IV makes a strong statement about the Seahawks’ future
• Why the 2024 Seahawks are an outlier in the history books
• Rust: Explains the Seahawks’ history of ten wins and no playoff appearance
• Big Ray: Why 2024 was a “discovery mode” season for the Seattle Seahawks

Follow @ZacHereth