What to know about Seahawks coach candidate Patrick Graham

The defensive-minded Patrick Graham, who recently concluded his second season as the Las Vegas Raiders’ defensive coordinator, has been linked to the Seattle Seahawks as a potential head coach.

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What information is required regarding the 45-year-old Graham, who supposedly met with the Seahawks this week for a second head coaching interview? Wyman and Bob from Seattle Sports were joined by Raiders radio voice Jason Horowitz to break it all down.

Horowitz stated, “His defenses are based on turnovers.” And while I think I’ve heard that a lot this year, it was really clear. This year’s defense differed from last year’s in that regard, as there weren’t quite as many. They were unable to get a turnover.

The Raiders had just 13 takeaways in 2022, which was last in the NFL. That improved to 23 and an 18th-place finish in 2023. Additionally, Vegas was 15th in yards allowed and ninth in points allowed.

“The defense was really good (in 2023). And particularly when it was put together with (interim turned permanent head coach) Antonio Pierce, they became the No. 1 defense in the NFL from the time that Pierce took over to the end of the season,” Horowitz said. ” … It all really started to come together.”

What made that more impressive is that outside of star defensive end Maxx Crosby, the Raiders don’t have many big-name players on defense.

“To be honest, yes, Maxx Crosby is as good as it gets, but he did the rest with a lot of guys that were pieced together, and they deserve a lot of credit for that,” Horowitz said.

Graham is a really smart coach, Horowitz said, pointing to him playing in college at Yale and coaching under Bill Belichick in New England (as well as in Miami and New York). He’s also someone who’s backed by his players.

“The players all like him,” Horowitz said. ” … And in working for the Raiders where you saw and everyone read the stories as the year went on about team meetings and how the players interacted with (former head coach) Josh McDaniels versus how they went to bat for Antonio Pierce down the stretch, it’s very important for players to like a coach … I think that part of it is there. The players like him.”

In terms of personality, According to Horowitz, Graham is a reserved person.

Horowitz remarked, “But more than anything, I don’t find him to be this massive ‘rah rah’ guy. Not because he’s not very good at communicating.” “But he is a good communicator, and the players do get what he’s trying to do and I do believe that is a really good thing, at least for the defensive aspect of things. However, he has never had the position of head coach, so I’m sure he’s considering how he would like to approach that as well.

Does Horowitz believe that the Seahawks or another team would benefit from having Graham as their head coach?

“I think he’d be a really good head coach because he has a really good defensive mind, but I also think he would be a good head coach because I think the players like him,” he stated.

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