There wasn’t a home-run candidate. There wasn’t a hire that would’ve had people punching the air in delight. This was about the Seahawks playing the hand they were dealt — and I think they played it well.
It certainly seems like Hank Fraley was the #1 candidate. That’s not a surprise. He’s done a tremendous job in Detroit coaching their offensive line. You only had to watch his interviews to see he was a very effective communicator and someone capable of leading an entire offense.
Having waited for him, then seemingly spent a few days trying to work things out to appoint him, there was a danger they’d be stuck in a battle for the other candidates. The attractiveness of the Houston and Tampa Bay jobs was obvious.
To pivot to Kubiak, seal the deal, and get things sorted before the Senior Bowl is a relief and a good decision. Now things won’t drag on. They can decide on an offensive staff and start planning for a vital off-season.
Kubiak has called plays before and he’s been the ‘Head Coach for the offense’ in New Orleans, working for a defensive-minded boss. He’s been around successful coaches — including his dad Gary, Norv Turner, Kyle Shanahan and Kevin Stefanski.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the idea to pair Fraley with a passing game coordinator, essentially setting up Bevell/Cable 2.0. Now they’ve got one man calling the shots. He can also potentially call on the experience of Rick Dennison and John Brenton — two respected offensive line and running game coaches. They followed him to New Orleans last season and could come to Seattle too.
I don’t know about you but I thought Derek Carr was cooked. Yet he had a decent season in 2024, at least when he was healthy. Kubiak has also worked with younger quarterbacks in Brock Purdy and Spencer Rattler. He coaxed some good play out of Kirk Cousins and if the Seahawks are inclined to pursue Sam Darnold, he worked with him in San Francisco.
This is a hire that makes sense. The Seahawks can avoid some of the inexperience question marks that came with Ryan Grubb. Although Kubiak’s success will almost certainly be determined by John Schneider’s ability to upgrade important parts of the offensive roster.
I do have a slight reservation if he’s a bit more committed to ‘zone’ rather than ‘gap’ blocking. It’s hard to say given Sean McVay has gone all-in on size, power and more gap concepts. Is Kubiak minded to do the same? The Saints did draft Taliese Fuaga in round one last year and he’s hardly a finesse blocker.
Earlier on Sunday I voiced a concern that maybe the Seahawks were over-correcting their 2024 problems by focusing too much on offensive line coaches and running game coordinators. I do think they’re better off bringing someone in who can design plays, execute a vision and ‘complete the circle’ as Pete Carroll would say. The key to improving the O-line and running game is good decision making in free agency and the upcoming draft.
Now we as fans can focus on the absorbing trench battles at the Senior Bowl with loaded classes of linemen on both sides of the ball participating in Mobile. It’s a relief they got this sorted. They had to move on quickly after Fraley’s decision to stay in Detroit — and they have done.
If you missed the roundtable I was part of on Hawk Blogger’s channel earlier, check it out below. I’m planning to join Jeff Simmons on a stream on Monday at 2pm PT to further dive into the Kubiak hire.
