Mike Macdonald
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CBS Sports' Matt Zenitz reported the Arizona Cardinals interviewed Seattle Seahawks defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott.
One of the hardest challenges for any Super Bowl winning team is trying to keep the coaching staff intact. Head coach Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks have already lost offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
The Seahawks may also lose a key assistant to an NFC West division rival.
CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reported the Arizona Cardinals interviewed Seahawks defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott.
“Scott, who has been of interest for a few DC jobs the last two years, helped Seattle rank No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense,” wrote Zenitz.
Matt Zenitz
The #Cardinals interviewed #Seahawks defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott for their defensive coordinator job, sources tell @CBSSports.
Scott, who has been of interest for a few DC jobs the last two years, helped Seattle rank No. 1 in the NFL in scoring defense.
With Scott as defensive pass game coordinator, the Seahawks also finished sixth in yards allowed during 2025. Furthermore, Seattle was 10th in passing yards yielded, seventh in passing touchdowns allowed and fifth in interceptions.
Scott has served as the Seahawks defensive backs coach, as well as the team’s defensive passing game coordinator, the past four seasons.
Cardinals Interview Seahawks Assistant Karl Scott: Report
Scott began his Seattle tenure under previous head coach Pete Carroll. He remained with the team on Macdonald’s first coaching staff during 2024.
The Seahawks pass game coordinator’s first NFL position was with the Minnesota Vikings in 2021. He served as Vikings defensive backs coach for a season after more than a decade at the college level.
With the success of Seattle’s defense the past couple years, Scott has emerged as a defensive coordinator contender around the league.
The Cardinals poaching an assistant from a division rival’s coaching staff would be nothing new. Arizona hired Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur as their new head coach on February 1.
If Arizona added Scott, they would have two new coaches from two of the most popular coaching trees in the league — one on offense and another on defense.
In addition to coaching under Macdonald, Scott served as defensive backs coach under Nick Saban at Alabama from 2018-20. During that stretch, Alabama went 38-3 and won the 2020 National Championship.
Changes Coming to Mike Macdonald’s Coaching Staff
Whether or not the Seahawks lose Scott, the team will have to replace one key coach from its staff.
The Las Vegas Raiders hired Kubiak as their next head coach. The Raiders introduced Kubiak on Tuesday.
Defensive coordinator Aden Durde didn’t land a head coaching job, so he will return to Seattle next season. But if Scott leaves, the Seahawks will have another key opening.
Should the Seahawks have to find a new defensive passing game coordinator, it’s a safe bet Macdonald will replace Scott with an internal candidate. Macdonald said during a radio appearance Tuesday that an in-house coach will very likely be the team’s next offensive coordinator.
“A really important part of what we’re doing here is continuity,” Macdonald said, via The New Tribune’s Gregg Bell. “Right there, that’s where my mind is.”
The Seahawks have posted a 24-10 record over the past two seasons. They missed the playoffs in Macdonald’s first season as head coach in 2024. But the team went 3-0 in this year’s postseason to win the franchise’s second Super Bowl.
The Seahawks haven’t lost to the Cardinals since Scott was still coaching in Minnesota during the 2021 campaign.