The Buffalo Bills are no longer the lone NFL franchise searching for its next head coach. FOXSports.com reports that the Seattle Seahawks have fired head coach Jim Mora Jr. after one season at the helm. Seattle finished 5-11 in 2009.
ESPN.com reports that upon firing Mora, the team placed a call to the Minnesota Vikings seeking permission to interview assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Even more interestingly, Frazier declined to interview with Seattle, who is said to be in pursuit of USC head coach Pete Carroll (ESPN). Bills GM Buddy Nix and CEO Russ Brandon were in Minneapolis on Thursday interviewing Frazier, who is one of just two candidates that the team has formally interviewed to this point. Feel free to speculate what you think it all means; the most likely option is that Frazier did not want to be perceived as interviewing solely to satisfy the league's Rooney Rule.
Frazier's name is one of the hottest on the circuit right now. NFL.com's Vic Carucci has called Frazier "eminently qualified" for a head coaching position, while men such as Jay Glazer have sung Frazier's praises. In terms of current coordinator candidates, Frazier's the cream of the crop.
Buffalo has also interviewed former interim head coach Perry Fewell, and it's widely believed that the team is in active pursuit of former Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher. That possibility remains unlikely, despite the fact that the rumors won't die. Aside from those three leads, the Bills have kept the lid closed tightly over any other candidates they may be contemplating.