Eight years ago next month, Phil Emery flew to Atlanta to interview offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell before the Seahawks’ playoff game against the Falcons.
Looking for Lovie Smith’s replacement, the former Bears general manager then whittled his list of head coaching candidates from 13 to three: Marc Trestman, who got the job; Bruce Arians, the reigning coach of the year after filling in during Chuck Pagano’s cancer treatments; and Bevell.
Bevell then flew to Chicago for his finalist interview with chairman George McCaskey, president Ted Phillips and Emery.
“Of all the interviews I did, it was the most thorough, it was the most intense,” Bevell said this week.