While Eric is away on vacation, I'm going to use his blog for some shameless self-promotion. Over on our military blog, I wrote about the Special Olympics returning to McChord Air Force Base and Fort Lewis.

The grand marshal of the opening ceremonies should be a familiar name to Hawks fans.

Seattle Seahawks new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp spoke to Seattle-area beat reporters this afternoon and covered a lot of ground in a 40-minute conversation.

Knapp provided an idea on what to expect offensively from the Hawks this season, talked about his coaching philosophy and his coaching background.

Here’s some of the highlights.

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The Seattle Seahawks hired Casey Bradley as the team's new defensive coordinator and Dan Quinn as the defensive line/assistant head coach, according to team sources.

The deals for the two coaches will not be final until Monday.

The Tampa Tribune also is reporting the Bradley is off to Seattle.

"They offered me the job and I accepted," Bradley told The Tribune. "I signed the contract a little while ago."

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Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that the Seattle Seahawks are no longer interested in Rod Marinelli's services, and that the ex-Detroit Lions coach will choose between defensive line coaching positions in Chicago and Houston.

Marinelli had interviewed with Seattle this week and was being considered for the defensive coordinator position. That choice appears to have been narrowed down to two people, Casey "Gus" Bradley, the linebackers coach for Tampa Bay, and Cleveland defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. The Seahawks interviewed Tucker today. An earlier report had Seattle hiring Bradley, but team sources said the report was premature.

For a coach recently fired after leading his team to a 0-16 record, ex-Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli sure is getting a lot of attention in the offseason.

Marinelli will interview with a third team today, this time for a spot as the defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans, the Houston Chronicle is reporting.

Marinelli already interviewed for a defensive line coaching gig in Chicago last week, and was in Seattle on Monday to talk about the Seahawks defensive coordinator position.

In his first major hire as head coach, Jim Mora tabs Greg Knapp as Seattle's new offensive coordinator. The move was first reported by the NFL Network, and later confirmed by team sources. Knapp worked as Mora's offensive coordinator in Atlanta, and it's been speculated he would be Mora's offensive guy for awhile now.

Matt Hasselbeck and the rest of Seattle's offense will have a new system to learn during the offseason, and it will be interesting to see how the players pick up the new scheme. It's been speculated that Seattle will run the ball more in 2009, and that seems to be Knapp's style from his time in Atlanta and Oakland.

The Falcons led the NFL in rushing in 2005, averaging 159.1 yards a contest with a 1,000-yard rusher and three Pro Bowlers on offense.

However, Oakland head coach Tom Cable did take away the play-calling duties from Knapp during the season while Knapp was with the Raiders, so it will be interesting to see how that shakes out in Seattle, although I would expect Knapp to be the guy calling the plays.

There still has been no word as to the status of former offensive coordinator Gil Haskell, along with defensive coordinator John Marshall or the rest of the coaching staff left over from last season. Haskell has been rumored to be retiring. However, that has not been confirmed, and we should know more about the future of the rest of the staff by late this week early next week.

Also, Mora will address the media on Tuesday

Pro Football Talk is reporting the Cleveland defensive coordinator Mel Tucker has received permission to talk to the Seattle Seahawks about the possibility of becoming Seattle's defensive coordinator.

Tucker was considered for the vacant Browns head coaching job, but it appears the recently fired New York Jets head coach Eric Mangini.

Another sleeper could enter the Seattle Seahawks coaching search for an offensive coordinator by the end of this week – Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski.

The Boston Herald is reporting Jagodinski interviewed for the New York Jets head coaching positions today, against the wishes of B.C. athletic director Gene DeFilippo, and will likely be fired from his head coaching gig with the Eagles.

How does this relate to the Seahawks? Jagodinski is a long shot to win the job with the Jets, but reportedly wants back in the NFL and has ties to both Matt Hasselbeck and Jim Mora. Jagodinski coached Hasselbeck during his first stint at Boston College, serving as the offensive coordinator. And he also worked as a tight ends coach and offensive line coach for Mora when he coached at Atlanta.

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The NFL network is reporting that the Seahawks have asked for permission to talk to New England special teams coach Brad Seely.

Seely joined the Patriots as special teams coach in 1999 and has won three Super Bowls with the team.

Seattle's interest in Seely perhaps signals the end of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven's tenure with the Seahawks. After a shaky start against Buffalo, Seattle's special teams actually performed well during the later stages of the season, with Josh Wilson doing a solid job in returns and Olindo Mare having a solid year in both kickoffs and field goal percentage. I'm not sure if Jim Mora is dissatisfied with DeHaven's performance or just looking for a better personality fit.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the Chicago Bears have made Rod Marinelli an offer to coach the defensive line. Marinelli interviewed with head coach Lovie Smith on Friday, and was in Seattle to discuss the defensive coordinator position on Monday.

Recently fired Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli reportedly is in town to interview for the defensive coordinator position for the Seattle Seahawks, according to a report by KCPQ 13.

Another story from the NFL Network reports that Marinelli had been in contact with Seattle's brass about coaching for the Seahawks.

Team sources would not confirmed Marinelli is in the Seattle area, but it is believed the Seahawks are interested in adding Marinelli to the team's coaching staff.

Marinelli has connections with Seahawks team president Tim Ruskell and the team's vice president of player personnel Ruston Webster from his days of coaching defensive line at Tampa Bay. He coached Tampa Bay's defensive line for 10 seasons, the last four as the team's assistant head coach.

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Whether the Seahawks back-channeled this through Hugh Millen or Hugh took it upon himself to quell the rampant Jim Mora-to-Washington rumors is not clear. But Hugh has basically said that there is 0 (ZERO) percent chance that his former roommate becomes the next Huskies coach -- and Hugh would know better than anyone whose last name is not Mora.

And really, if you are Mora, why would it even be a consideration? Think about it: Now that Seattle has gone 2-10 and could be on the way to 3-13, the only place for Mora to go is up. The same could be said for Washington, but at least there is something left in the cupboard with the Seahawks. The cupboards are bare at UW. In fact, there may not be any cupboards. They have to be put up with the remodel.

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