Per Adam Schefter, the Seahawks are set to hire Brian Fleury as their next offensive coordinator, replacing Klint Kubiak.
There had been some expectation that Mike Macdonald would hire internally. He hinted at that when he spoke to Brock & Salk after the Super Bowl and respected reporters like Brady Henderson also suggested this would be likely.
So what changed?
Firstly, let’s consider the possibility that Fleury just blew them away during interviews. I didn’t really understand the many suggestions online that their meeting was a fact-finding mission. It’s hardly like Fleury was going to rock up, spill all the secrets from Santa Clara, then get the plane back to his old job.
Teams don’t operate this way. Besides, the Seahawks had ample intel on Kyle Shanahan’s way of doing things from Kubiak. There’s no real secrets in the NFL anyway.
The Fleury interview was always going to be a serious opportunity for him to impress. It appears that’s what he has done.
It could also be that the internal candidates didn’t stand out during interviews as much as perhaps the Seahawks expected. I’m less inclined to feel that way though. Macdonald doesn’t need to interview these guys. He’s worked with them for at least a calendar year (two years in the case of Jake Peetz and Mack Brown). The fact he spoke so confidently about their internal options to me suggests Fleury nailed his opportunity and won the job.
That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Fleury is highly respected by the 49ers and has long been touted for an offensive coordinator role.
Two years ago, Peter King listed him among a collection of ‘next-gen’ candidates — which funnily enough also included Kubiak, Peetz and Justin Outten:
Brian Fleury, 43, tight ends coach, San Francisco. Unknown outside the Niners, valued highly inside the building as the run-game authority trusted by Kyle Shanahan. You get points with Shanahan for knowing the complete game, and Fleury has been a linebackers coach, director of football research, quality control coach and assistant position coach in his NFL years. Shanahan will not want to lose him.
It perhaps speaks to the Seahawks having their finger on the pulse of upcoming coaching talent that within King’s 2024 list they now employ three people, having just won a Super Bowl with another as their offensive leader.
Fleury’s reputation with the 49ers should be noted. Shanahan might’ve had a dry spell in 2024 when he tried to replace his defensive staff but he’s otherwise done a good job identifying coaching talent. Robert Saleh, Mike McDaniel and DeMeco Ryans are good examples, not to mention Kubiak.
San Fran’s tight ends and running game have prospered with Fleury’s guidance. I’ve listened to interviews he’s done and he seems well tuned to the importance of good communication, clarity and being on the same page.
Fleury will also have an existing relationship with quarterback Sam Darnold after their time together in Santa Clara. He’s been with the 49ers since 2019 which means he also spent two years on the same staff as John Benton, which could be helpful.
The big question is whether he’ll be able to call plays and essentially be the Head Coach of Seattle’s offense. That’s a huge unknown and will make or break whether this is a success. The Seahawks might lean heavily on their running game moving forward, given that’s Fleury’s level of expertise.
He was made run-game co-ordinator last season. Despite a cluster of injuries, San Francisco finished 8th in EPA per run.
That was going to be the big question with Peetz, Outten, Janocko or Brown too. There was no obvious, experienced, home-run to be hit here. The Seahawks were going to have to take a chance.
The Eagles hired internally for their offensive coordinator a year ago and it didn’t work out. They made the same error with their defensive coordinator after losing the Super Bowl after the 2022 season. I don’t blame the Seahawks at all for looking externally.
Fleury will know the Shanahan system very well. He can continue the work previously undertaken by Kubiak. If it doesn’t work out, so be it. They’ll just have to go back to the drawing board.
Macdonald has earned a trust factor here and his three coaching appointments in the last few days — Fleury as OC, Zach Orr to coach linebackers and Daniel Stern to help the passing game and analytics — all look impressive on paper.
This is a very intriguing hire. That’ll be even more true if they can keep together most of the existing staff, minus Janocko who is set to re-join Kubiak with the Raiders.
