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This week the Seahawks face their own Super Bowl. They’re playing the Washington Commanders. The prize is the opportunity to hire Ben Johnson as Head Coach.
They have to win this competition. They have to get the job done.
Mike Macdonald may well be a nice consolation prize for the loser. Let the Commanders treat their wounds with Baltimore’s defensive coordinator. The Seahawks have to go and claim first place by hiring Johnson.
Yes, Macdonald showed savviness with his half-time adjustments against the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. He and the Baltimore defense limited and restricted Patrick Mahomes in the second half. Yet this was after conceding 221 yards in the first half, giving up 5/9 on third downs and losing the time of possession battle 20:39 to 09:21. Along with a poorly performing offense, they put themselves in a hole early and a team used to leading (a reminder they’d only trailed for 88 total snaps in the regular season) never looked comfortable.
Baltimore’s offense stuttered and stalled, without much creativity or inspiration. They seemed to just rely on Lamar Jackson to provide magic and it wasn’t there. It wasn’t an inspiring game-plan by offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
Now contrast that to Detroit and Johnson. They went into San Francisco — the team the Seahawks have to knock-off in the division — and absolutely took the game to them. 280 first half yards, 5-7 on third down, 148 incredible rushing yards and a 24-7 lead. They were innovative, creative, had answers throughout and bossed everything from tempo to physicality and had Kyle Shanahan looking befuddled on the sideline.
The Seahawks need this.
The Lions should be in the Super Bowl. They threw it away in unbelievable fashion — none of it Johnson’s fault. A dropped fourth-down conversion, a botched interception leading to a huge explosive catch, a fumble, another drop from Josh Reynolds, the blown opportunity to pin the 49ers on their goal-line from a punt, a missed sack opportunity — it all combined to create one of the worst quarters of football of the season and wreck Detroit’s night. Dan Campbell acted like a gambler chasing lost bets with his decision making. It’s his style to be aggressive, OK, but situational football is huge. When you’re leading by 17 points at half-time, I’d suggest you don’t need to be ultra-aggressive.
It doesn’t change anything, though, about the creativity and innovation of Detroit’s offense. Johnson put on a show when he was given the chance to. They should’ve won this game. 442 yards of offense, 6/12 on third downs, 182 rushing yards. That’s winning football.
John Schneider must put his best game-plan together, get on the plane to Detroit and deliver the sales pitch to end all sales pitches. He has to explain that Seattle’s skill players can create an easy transition, with a quarterback in Geno Smith who can mimic Jared Goff. He has to promise to do whatever it takes to improve the offensive line and plan ahead at quarterback. He has to say money is no object for a support-staff — landing whoever Johnson wants for his coordinators, or going out and landing Ejero Eviro or Patrick Graham from Carolina or Vegas — with the promise of hefty salaries and Assistant Head Coaching titles. He should extoll the benefits of working with an experienced GM and ownership group. He needs to sell the Pacific North West and the great facilities in Seattle.
This is what the Seahawks need. Rightly or wrongly, they have been built to play this style of football. Offensive-led, making the most of your weapons. They’ve invested major salaries in Smith, D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. Premium picks have been spent on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet. The Seahawks are far closer to emulating the Lions than they are the Ravens. How do you even begin to copy Baltimore? Spend the next couple of years rebuilding the defense? Find a quarterback like Jackson that means you rarely have to play from behind? Adopt ‘what is a Raven’ to your personnel decisions?
Not to mention, who’s Mike Macdonald’s offensive coordinator? Are you bringing in Mike Kafka from the Giants? Can he do what Johnson did tonight? Do you have confidence in Kafka to be the lead-man on offense and produce what is required? Co-operating with a Head Coach he has no prior relationship with, or any shared DNA? If it’s not Kafka, who is it?
The shortest path to glory for Seattle is to bring in the coach who turned the Lions offense from the 29th best to the 5th best with the same personnel. The man who can finally get so much more out of the Seahawks’ receivers, tight ends and running backs. The man who, until Detroit’s epic third-quarter collapse, was guiding his team to the Super Bowl.
Get some help up front — in the draft or free agency. Two of Detroit’s guards are free agents and you have the #16 pick and two third rounders in a really strong O-line class. Put a complementary defense on the field, as Detroit has done.
Why can’t that work? Isn’t that easier than trying to mimic the Ravens? How long will that take?
I suspect Macdonald will be Seattle’s guy. I think there’s plenty of smoke and a sizeable fire over the reports connecting Johnson to Washington GM Adam Peters and a plan to work together. I’m intrigued to see how it’ll play out if Macdonald is the man to replace Pete Carroll and it’ll be an interesting new chapter for the franchise. I also appreciate and respect fans who choose not to have a horse in the race and are kind of ready for either option and the process to end. I get that.
If there’s a hint of a chance though to get Johnson — I think that is better for the team and they should do whatever needs to be done. Go big-game hunting and land the top prize. It’s time to win your Super Bowl this week and make Ben Johnson Seattle’s next Head Coach. Super-charge this offense. In the last five Super Bowls, every coach has been offensive-minded. Go into Santa Clara and repeat what we saw tonight. Just without the third-quarter meltdown, next time.
With Detroit and Baltimore having their seasons ended on Sunday, the Seahawks and Commanders will likely appoint new coaches this week. Time for one last blast of ‘Always Compete’. Go and get Johnson.
If I am John Schneider, I’m going to ask Ben Johnson how he feels about some nice revenge games at least twice a year against those niners…
Didn’t everyone hear? Macdonald held the Chiefs to 17 points! Clearly a mastermind.
I mean, that’s pretty good, isn’t it? Especially considering the Baltimore offense’s catastrophic performance
No
Break it down/did you watch the game?
The #1 Defense by DVOA. At home. AFC Championship game.
Prepping to play Mahomes and Reid – so enormous amounts of tape on what works and what doesn’t.
Gets scorched in the first half.
Makes some adjustments and KC goes conservative, but can come up with stops late with the game on the line.
Never dominant. Never giving the offense a chance. Never in doubt.
But sure. I’m looking forward to the Ruskell/Mora era guys! It will be awesome
Loucity…
I got a post like this in my YouTube feed after that game.
#1 scoring defense vs. #14 scoring offense….cooks up a masterclass…okie dokie. Maybe we should be considering Steve Spagnuolo since he’s the DC who cooked up a winning recipe.
Hell, why are we not looking at Glenn, held SF to 10 points in the first half👍
I mean, it’s the 3rd lowest point total for Mahomes/Reid in a playoff game. I’d say that’s a pretty good performance. And how can you say, “never dominant,” when they shut them out in the second half?
And then comparing MacDonald to Jim Mora… that’s just lazy. Are there any non-superficial commonalities there?
Shut them out? Game was over. Reid and company shut it down to limit risk.
Macdonald is fine. Maybe he’s great. Hope so since he’s probably the coach next.
Not so fast. I’m not ready to write off the possibility of landing Johnson or Slowik. Just because Schneider hasn’t invited Bobby for another interview doesn’t mean it’s not happening. Particularly with a GM as stealthy as Schneider.
3rd lowest…in their house.
And did you not see my ‘made adjustments’ and ‘conservative Reid’ comments.
That isn’t dominant.
How lazy exactly? Maybe you can start by naming me all the brilliant Head coaches that shook loose from the Harbaugh tree? Then I’ll go through my Mora/Macdonald connections. Just realize I’m not emotional about this.
Just like there was never a great QB to come out of Texas Tech until there wasn’t, and all Ohio State QBs fail in the NFL until one doesn’t.
Each candidate needs to be judged on their own merits. Not to say Macdonald will be successful or not, much of it is unknown and their situation they are in, who they hire as coordinators, can they maintain the inevitable assistant churn if they are successful.
That offense has also been pretty toothless all year. Their defense is the reason that they are in the Super Bowl. This is easily the worst team since Mahomes has started.
NFL wants to be an offensive league, let’s play the game and get an offensive coach who can go head to head with the rams and 9ers. Do whatever it takes!
What’s with Tony Pauline and others keep predicting Seattle will hire Quinn? Seattle can’t be serious about considering him.
It feels like that ship has sailed
Hopefully the keel was never laid.
I have never encountered this phrase before. Thanks!
Pleasure!
Maybe the national talking heads just fear Mount St. Helens?
Get on the plane now, John.
Also mention that you have the richest owner in the NFL behind you.
Richest? You sure? The Waltons may have something to say.
The Broncos are owned by one of the Waltons, and the Allen trust is richer than him.
Did Slowik not impress enough to get a 2nd interview or does Seattle just want to finish the Johnson saga before readdressing the potential plan B?
Who knows, but their interest went quiet very quickly after that initial chat. They haven’t been connected to him since
With Schneider, I’m not sure that means anything. The guy makes a point of being hard to read. Still hoping for the best. Would be thrilled with Johnson and pretty thrilled with Slowik too. MacDonald? Far better than Carroll, and I’d do my best to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, but I wouldn’t be dancing in the street.
I just typed #Seahawks into twitter
Seahawks Twitter has decided:
1.) Ben Johnson choked that game away
2.) Mike Macdonald put on a ‘masterclass’ today
I think I’m going to bed
Cosign.
What the fuck are people thinking.
They aren’t thinking, that’s the point. I seriously think we must have one of the lowest IQ fanbases in the NFL with these dumpster fire takes. Granted not everyone thinks like this but it’s mind numbing how many in this fanbase fall into this fallacious line of thinking.
👆🏻
Yup, our fans were pretty sure Carroll wouldn’t be fired, for which I can’t fault them, but also quite certain that he shouldn’t be. It’s hard to understand what they’re thinking (or smoking) sometimes.
— I seriously think we must have one of the lowest IQ fanbases in the NFL with these dumpster fire takes. —
I find this comment to be both amusing, and mildly ironic. Which is also amusing.
That’s a pretty ridiculous take. I rather doubt he told Lions WRs to drop passes, and I’m guessing that late suicidal running okay on the goal line and the two 4th down tries were from Campbell.
I know, right?
Crazy
I don’t believe that they are authentic fans. They sound like complete muppets
Muppets isn’t the term that comes to mind for me.
Seahawks and Mariners fans can be pretty dumb, especially the homers. I want Johnson, but it sounds like Macdonald is the consolation prize, which is not bad at all.
The last defensive HC that even got to the Super Bowl was 5 years ago and he had Tom Brady. The last defensive coach not named BB was Dan Quinn, who had some guy named Kyle running an historically good offense for him. There have been good defenses playing in the game in the last 8 years and defense has been the difference in some of those games, but teams rarely even make the conference championship game without an elite offense anymore. You can say KC is winning with defense this year, but they wouldn’t be there without Reid and Mahomes.
I would love for MM to come in and field a defense that isn’t embarrassing, but Johnson or Slowik can do that with a decent DC hire. Seattle can be a championship contender next year with the right guy leading the offense. If that guy is an OC not a HC, we’ll be in Detroit’s shoe’s next year. Without Johnson, Detroit is going to be an average team. Just like Shanahan in 2016, he is the reason Detroit will be looking back at this year saying, we should have won it all. Smart money says that in a couple of years, Detroit will be looking for a new HC, ruing the fact that they already had the right guy in house, but in the wrong job. You think Atlanta doesn’t wish they had the courage and foresight to look at what KS did in 2016 and say, you know what, that guy is the reason we should have won a SB, fired DQ, and promoted Shanahan?
Ben for sure!
Don’t the Commanders still need to interview two candidates to comply with the Rooney Rule despite their interview tomorrow with Mike Macdonald? We’ve already done this. So we do have a leg up. Let’s compete and get this done.
I’m not sure if Macdonald counts as one of them? But yes, they still need to do two interviews to fulfil the requirement I believe
Sorry didn’t explain that well. Adam Schefter said during the game the Commanders owner Josh Harris and Adam Peters are meeting with him tomorrow. This works to our advantage as they’ll interview Aaron Glenn on Tuesday when they’re scheduled to meet with Ben Johnson. They’ll need one more to comply when we have already met the requirement.
Josh Harris is a formidable opponent. He always gets what he wants and is a cold blooded killer. New owner willing to move all chips in with new GM and a top pick for QB.
JS and Jody need to also be able to navigate future of ownership discussion. I’m hopeful they can make a strong pitch, but not wagering anything on it. Hopefully Seattle is seen as less risk overall and a couple years ahead in roster construction.
At least we should know who it is within the next few days and crossing my fingers it is Johnson. He called a hell of a game today.
All John needs to do is pay the iron price. Do whatever it takes to bring Johnson to Seattle as the next HC
He needs to straight up ask Ben “what will it take to get you here?” And then make it happen.
I love the Group Captain Mandrake name!
I wish I had thought of it.
Oh well, there’s always General Buck Turgidson!
You know, you can buy a shirt that says that from his YouTube Channel.
https://seahawks-draft-blog.teemill.com/product/pay-the-iron-price/?cgi=3&srsltid=AfmBOorPg4uevDL3Tvt7MezSwm1CMqAgCtSQJ3CennIfDQsawEXbhX-k4lY&utm_term=UC6RMTVDgNACXqD0awbqPDhQ&utm_medium=product_shelf&utm_source=youtube&utm_content=YT-APM2gMBivPgNQm1lSwH7HKXkM9fJ8_sQjZnm-T75XiaSu9BvHTBkI16epg_XegTZJysMkEHaTkJ1C75yt0FxRE-5_1TropPMMfKwnHq2OYl-JMOGm0tZ_b377Nr2W-0GlOXa1gZ4etS9ivEMNm8mkb7u0R8t4xdChyWG1xPoxFmzoglj4qt_rer2
Mike Macdonald Is a minority candidate, so either it counts as an interview for the commanders or the commanders could just hire him…. Interesting stuff
Rob, this piece is an absolutely brilliant exclamation point on all of the hard work you have done these past two weeks and one of the best things I think you have written. It has a powerful message. It is even better than when I asked Microsoft Co-Pilot AI to “write a review of Top Gun: Maverick in the style of Rob Staton from Seahawks Draft Blog” which was absolutely spot-on. But it will never compare to the comic gold of when I asked it to do a review by you of the Barbie movie.
Fantastic job!
Rob: You have me so pump up about Ben Johnson. That it will seem like we just lost the Super Bowl if we don’t get him. We will see where Ben Johnson goes.
For the most part the Lions just picked apart the 49ers defense. Poor tackling and drop balls killed the lions. Brock Purdy the lion tamer.
Ben Johnson or Bust!!!
I agree. Let’s go get Ben!!
In my opinion the same people who want MacDonald are the same people who wanted Quinn/wanted to keep Carroll to remake the LOB. Even in reddit threads I still see “this ravens defense is like the Legion of Boom we need MacDonald”.
Just let it go. The LOB is gone, it was a great run with Carroll but the team has to move forward. They can’t try to remake the LOB with their embers forever
There’s still hawks fans that comment Seattle “got cute,” by drafting Witherspoon instead of Carter.
Maybe Carter one day is sapp + tez multiplied by suh. But this year….Witherspoon was objectively the better player.
I love Spoon but wonder how long his body will hold up. Toward the end of the season, he wasn’t hitting as hard. That was smart but it will limit his impact (so to speak). Look at how Chancellor was forced to retire early. What was he? Twenty eight? He was a lot bigger than Witherspoon. I loved the pick but did not and do not consider it risk free. Just as Carter was not and is not risk free.
I hear you. Made similar comments around draft time of those very concerns. He’s awesome to watch but legit undersized for his style.
Hopefully it’s not a problem.
Bingo
Incorrect. There probably is overlap, but I don’t want DQ and was happy to see PC go, and MM is my first choice. Macdonald is also, for whatever it’s worth, Mina Kime’s first choice.
I’m not sure Mina Kimes having a preference should hold any special significance 😂
I like the idea that this is our Superbowl since we haven’t won a Superbowl since week 1 of 2022.
I hope John gets his guy, whoever it is.
This is such a good comment. Excellent work.
Watching the game, it was obvious Johnson would be a great coach for the Seahawks if he can carve up the 49’ers like that.
Definitely hope your scenarios play out.
Johnson & (Evero or Graham)
McDonald & (bieniemy or … ?)
I’d be happy with either.
Really thought Schneider would pull out a Bruce Irving like choice.
Odd that out of all the 7 openings, they all interviewed different combinations of the same 10 -12 individuals. No college coaches expect David Shaw. Just highlights the fraternity that is the NFL.
I think MacDonald will be a nice consolation prize. I’m cool with that if we don’t get Ben. It’s not the end of the world. Both would be great young coaches. Now go get Ben, John!!
Macdonald will be great. I think. I just haven’t had many/any fans square that every defensive coach sputters and a lot fall off when they lose their OC.
Tomlin-arians…don’t rate Arians much but he was there last when they won the superbowl.
Bill-mcdaniels
Vrabel-smith
Quinn-shannahan
But shannahan and mcvay can keep being competitive or in the niners case apparently it doesn’t matter if they lose their DC. Or reid since Spagnuolo is great and is apparently never going to an HC again.
Oddly Pete was the only one top of mind that stayed more or less the same and was more effected by his defensive personnel losses.
I don’t think MacDonald would be great. I envision a major rebuild. I also envision continued problems getting the offense on track. I’d definitely maintain an open mind but it’s not what I’d want.
It’s my open mind approach.
I sat up with graph paper pouring through the Ravens defensive ranks before Rob’s great piece and came away a little worried that it’s the Ravens making the system and and if macdonald leaves today Weaver ( associate coach/dline) will have them top 5 yet again next year. Just like what happened in Michigan.
Just trying to hopeful/grateful for change.
What exactly are you basing that on? Just because MacDonald is a defensive coordinator doesn’t mean that he can’t also understand how the offense works or that the hawks couldn’t pair him with an offensive coordinator that is effective.
Defense wins championships….
Okay.
Why then is it that when the confetti falls in Vegas that will be five straight superbowls won by offensive coaches.
Since we won its been Bill and the GOAT at qb or offensive coaches.
Maybe Madonald bucks that trend.
Apologies if that was a little cherry picking.
Addendum: in two weeks time the last five superbowls all 10 participants have offensive head coaches.
It was once true. A long time ago. Perhaps it will be true again someday. Hard to envision it, as much as the NFL seems to love tilting rules in favor of more offense, but one never knows.
I’d actually love to see it. Just for variety. The NFL I still enjoy has made its product a bit boring.
In a decade there’s been more blowouts + shootouts than defensive struggles. Games getting point spreads in the fifties and recently in the 60’s and a big defensive stop or turnover and the defense wins crowd starts piping up.
Maybe it’s how I view it vs. Others but if the superbowl has a point spread in the mid fifties one defensive stop late isn’t “defense wins,” its one play was amazing while the offenses were carrying the water.
I’m not even sure it was true once upon a time, the first 15 Super Bowl winning QB’s were Hall of Famers. Even most of the losing teams had Hall of Fame QBs. Many of the non-hall of fame QBs were also franchise quarterbacks, Plunkett, Theismann…
Link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Bowl_starting_quarterbacks
Cool link. Thanks!
Franchise quarterbacks win championships…
Macdonald plus geno sounds awful.
Coach Mike with a real qb….okay now you’re cooking.
It’s crazy how a lot of fans are fine with being okay. “You can win a superbowl with geno…..” sure, if you say so. It’s like folks don’t even watch or follow football.
Offensive coaches. Hof qbs. It’s a hard recipe to execute but an easy recipe at its core.
That’s my take too. I mean, sure, I guess if Nick Foles can get hot and beat Tom Brady (on a pretty good Brady night), anything can happen. But the Eagles that year were carried through most of the season by Wentz when he looked like the next young phenom.
Obviously there are exceptions along the way. Even Seattle at one time was a juggernaut with good complimentary dline play and amazing players towards the middle/ back.
What we are doing in Seattle hasn’t worked in a good old time. One playoff win in seven years. It’s freaking time to build an oline, skip the gadget recievers, find out why you can not scout dlinemen to save your life.
You can’t square everything at one shot. I like a few players in our team quite a bit. But there’s been a very, very bad process for far too long. And the template for sustained success exists.
What exactly are you basing that on? Just because MacDonald is a defensive coordinator doesn’t mean that he can’t also understand how the offense works or that the hawks couldn’t pair him with an offensive coordinator that is effective.
Clearly, the Chiefs defense won them that game. And Niners D made stops where Lions couldn’t.
So, yes defense wins games. And offensive HCs delegate this unit to creative minded DCs, handing them the keys. It’s a working concept.
That said, all four conference championship teams had elite TEs tied to their QB. The run game is an essential part in any of those organizations. They are all tough in the trenches, and run D is a must to win.
Can a defensive minded HC do this? All evidence suggests, they can’t because they fail to value TEs. Check Carroll, check Staley.
If you give up 31 points I don’t rate your defense as “making stops.”
Sure there’s ton of examples of defenses stepping up. But it’s all offensive head coaches as of two weeks from now for the last five years. KC’s defense is carrying the this year. But on the niners side they just lost Ryan’s last off-season and their defense just keeps on rolling w/o him.
It’s just something I get tired of seeing like it’s a rule or law. KC also won a superbowl recently with the number one scoring offense for the season and the 18th ranked scoring defense. People point to a Chris Jones stop to win the game…..sure….the offense putting up 27 points had nothing to do with it.
Heck….when we were great with our #1 offense I think a lot folks don’t know that poor old no good Wilson and all action Lynch led the #8 scoring offense that year.
I think, you have missed the point.
“Defense wins games” is not a dogma. It’s an option. The better your opponent is, the better it is to have options, aka different roads to victory. Pick your poison. The 2013 Seahawks were great in this respect.
Options are giving you championships. And both SB contenders are perfect examples of such constructs. The task at hand is to give your offense means to succeed, which they can only do while being on the field. Keeping them on the field and getting the defense off the field.
It’s a valid, a crucial lesson, a reason for our recent failures to play four, save two quarters of complementary football and as such a reason why we’ll get a new HC.
And this HC can and should be an offensive HC, because it doesn’t exempt you from having a great D.
Not true. Denver won after us with Defense and a washed up Manning. But I get your point.
Kubiak….offensive head coach
John,
Hire both Johnson and Macdonald. Kill the ego and dominate the league for life: the Seahawks way
I think we posted at the same time…I like your thinking.
I wish.
Chiefs are the closest to this model and turns out it’s working amazingly.
Andy “the koolaid man” Reid nods to his team photo of 96 Packers. *i can only assume that a younger JS is lurking somewhere haha*
Note to JS: use the Vulcan printing press to hire Ben Johnson as HC and pry McDonald from the Ravens to be DC by doubling his salary.
I’m about done with this whole process. I’m team offense. I’m just glad that it seems like the Dan Quinn ship seems to be losing steam.
The offensive approach can be envisioned much more clearly. You already have most of the horses. You just need the right mind to lead it. Ideally — this is my approach as well.
The defense is a big woof burger. The ‘Raven Way’ won’t be replicated but I’m just glad it won’t be the same boring and bland defense Carroll/Hurts rolled out.
At the end of the day — I was really hoping for innovation. I think with Johnson or MacDonald we will see innovation. I’m at ease because I don’t think John Schneider has his eyes on Quinn.
Macdonald is innovative. Hopefully he sees the whole field and doesn’t do what all defensive head coaches dream of.
That is the biggest mystery to all of this. What’s MacDonald’s vision for a team? Are they a smash mouth team? Does he want another mobile QB? Does he want a wide zone offense or a combination?
But whoever the Hawks hire — I think JS’s hand prints will be all over the roster and coaching staff moving forward.
Hopefully we can get the new coaching staff in the next few days. I do understand how important the HC, DC and OC hires are. However, I much prefer the discussions about roster cuts, free agency and scouting.
I can’t wait to post a celebration on this board when J. Adams and D. Eskridge are inevitably cut because PC isn’t around to protect them.
Dissly, Mone, Bellore, Diggs. These are easy cuts to me.
Agreed, and hopefully the new staff values production over the names on the back of the jersey.
Not Geno? If it were me, I’d cut him too.
and Diggs too
It’s too bad. Pre-injury I’d be curious to see what Macdonald, or any new defensive staff, would envision for Jamal. But a torn quad is such a devastating injury for an athlete to try to get all the way back too normal from.
Eskridge is definitely on the bubble. Still inexpensive, but in an uphill battle for WR5. Perhaps Ben Johnson would envision some similar touches to what he has for Jameson Williams.
A new staff hopefully means a blank slate; similar to what the Carroll regime did for the previously disappointing Red Bryant and Max Unger .
All players fall into two buckets. “Essential to the future” and “Meh”.
To me, all players short of Charles Cross (an above-average LT who is still young), Boye Mafe (who showed some juice) and Devon Witherspoon (the only guy really living up to competitive standards on D), all are plausible additions to the Meh-bucket.
But no fears, if Quinn comes in, most players will cherish the world renowned job security Seattle offers.
No, there is a third bucket – the Honeybucket. You know, those Port-a-Potties. The Porta-Loo.
I think you know who’s in that one.
And Lockett. Dude’s production just doesn’t justify spending 27 million on him. If JSN performs as well next year as he did the second half of this one, Lockett will probably be wr 3. Not worth it.
The lions shot themselves in the foot. They were leading 24-7 at halftime. 442 yards offense against the vaunted 48ers defense.
Ben Johnson or bust.
Washington has new and presumably stable ownership — the Hawks will have new ownership soon/in a few years/who knows? Washington has the #2 pick to grab a renowned college QB, the Hawks have aging, middling, and not inexpensive Geno Smith. I fear Seattle has little chance of securing Johnson, who also might prefer to follow a series of failed coaches, rather than a beloved icon. It’s going to be a tough sell for JS .
Good points. Agreed
If not Johnson, Slowik. All is not lost. Rob doesn’t hold out much hope but I do.
Also, the commies have tons (the most?) cap $.
I’ll be glad that by next weekend, the search will be completed, and the Seahawks will have a HC. Once we have that clarity, the pre-draft analysis can begin!
Someone tell me why MacDonald is a Rooney candidate….? Too few Scotsmen in the League?
He’s not.
Maybe MacDonald is a clown?
I suspect that if we land Johnson, the Hawks will win 9 or more games next year and improve quickly. We’ll need to beef up the O line. Geno is Geno, though maybe Johnson would be the guy to guide Lock. The defense needs a major overhaul. We have Witherspoon and maybe a few other serviceable pieces but perhaps a guy like Evero could make it significantly better with pretty much the pieces already in place. I see the defense continuing to limit our upside in the short term. But with Johnson, I don’t envision a major collapse.
With MacDonald, I see a much more thorough rebuild, which would be a shame, as it would waste the rookie contracts of the guys drafted with the proceeds of the Wilson trade. If we had some really poor seasons, I guess we’d have the opportunity to rebuild through the draft going forward. Perhaps more top ten or even top five picks. Not the end of the world and definitely my preference over languishing in Carroll purgatory. I’m alright getting bad for a while if there’s a plausible chance we’ll be able to build toward something better. I suspect, though, that MacDonald wouldn’t last long and we’d wind up going with an offensive-minded head coach within the next two to five years.
So if we can’t get Johnson, I think we should take a chance on Slowik. Get the pieces around him to support his success. The Rams took a chance on McVey. High risk opens the possibility of high reward. I hope Schneider sees the need and is open to chucking a moon ball of his own.
If we do end up with McD then I honestly feel sorry for him when he gets into hawks HQ and starts watching in depth tape of our d-line(even more so if Williams walks), our lb’s and what should be an almost empty safety room after Adams and Diggs are sent off.
We’ll find out super quick if he really is some defensive genius or not cause he’s gonna have to do something special to make the upcoming year’s defense shine. I just hope John does’nt reach for a DT early to try to appease his new defensive coach.
That’s the big question
Aside from what staff Macdonald would actually bring — how long is it going to take to rebuild the defense!?!
*cough* while rebuilding an oline we’ve been clamoring for around 12 years, fix the horrible redzone offense, figure out how not to be trending downwards in total points scored.
after yesterdays games the two biggest highlights was the Ravens defence and the Lions offence – its a toss of a coin between the two coaches, they are both clearly very good OC & DC and lets hope either can translate to HC.
I prefer defence style coaches, love big hits, shut downs etc but would be happy with either of these two guys as both are excelling in their current roles and I’m excited about going with a rookie HC. I feel either way it going to be exciting next year much better than DQ (yawn)
I see a lot of people commenting – Get Johnson, pay the iron price, do anything to get him.
What if he just doesn’t want to be here vs WAS?
He’ll be a rich guy either way. If he wants to move to DC, then he won’t be coming here it doesn’t matter what JS sells.
So while let’s hope it’s Johnson, let’s also wait and see in case of MacDonald or someone else. And not crucify JS right away. He may have done everything it’s just that Johnson didn’t want to be here vs Washington
Someone mentioned the appeal of ‘revenge games’ for Johnson at the top of the thread.
Not so much ‘revenge’ but I do think that can be a part of the Seahawks pitch.
If BJ is interested at a shot at greatness, then testing yourself against Shananan and McVey x4 games a year gives you an immediate chance to start doing that. I think that will appeal to the type of personality you need to be to be going for these jobs.
https://www.hawkblogger.com/2024/01/dan-quinn-is-better-than-you-think.html
Lol looks like he should get a room with KJ. I never take 2013 homers like him seriously.
ABQ
Strongly disagree.. Brian Nemhauser is a true Hawks fan and a non-homer with well respected opinions. All the points he made are valid unlike KJ Wrong*..cough Wright..who is basically trying make a living off of his LOB pedigree but with so many lazy analysis..I stopped watching his channel with Gee Scott who also is unwatchable..
Eh he’s a homer. He’s sworn each year about how good the team will be, how good Geno will be, rinse, repeat. Gotten mad at takes that were hot takes.
He called Rob a cherry picker for an article the other day, but this article he wrote was cherry picking:
Quinn can get good coordinators (but doesn’t mention that he couldn’t REPLACE them).
Mentions some older coaches that were able to win Super Bowls, on their second jobs (other than Andy Reid, no one lately and no one that is even getting interviews).
Talks about how “he does just fine against Shanahan’s offenses (which is just flat out wrong, the guy takes oddly weird enjoyment out of destroying Quinn’s defenses).
Cherry picking. From a homer.
On a long enough timline i could write a Staton level piece describing how we should in fact be seeking any former Head Coach.
Tldr…Pete, Bill, Kubiak, Coughlin, Reid, Dungy, all won at their second stops. Only Reid, Coughlin, Bill have two or more rings….ipso facto….hire an old dog.
Or….I could go back to the beginning of superbowl history and say defenses win the majority of all superbowls.
I often enjoy Nemhauser’s stuff. But give me a break. Quinn’s EPA rate…?…folks if you build a statistical model called “expected,” and it is by your own writing an estimate ( per pff) and when you look at the actual SCOREBOARD and those things don’t match, ie, your EPA is great but you lose I don’t know who needs to hear this that is not a functioning tool.
Football is not what is expected to happen. It is what has actually happened.
See, I just don’t see any former head coaches that I can look at and think “hmm, that guy can come in and win a Super Bowl.” Most of them are/were older school and the sport was starting to pass them by.
It’s a weird coaching revolution right now. Very weird. One article that I read after Pete got fired pointed out that it used to take years, maybe even decades for someone to earn their shot as a head coach. They put in the work. Now you have guys like Slowik that was only a coordinator for 1 year. Really really weird.
I’m not saying I would. I’m just stating that as this drags you can create any angle you want.
If I back the concept of former HC’s then I’d have to ignore the fact that those two left, quinn and Vrabel, are defensive guys which goes against current outcomes.
Brian posits that DC’s get jobs too. Great. Yet it ignores that those DC to HC hires have had a very rough time being competitive once the OC leaves. Whereas mcshannahan are able to maintain a great defense or find/develop players in the draft ( like the rams just did) to build an ascending defense.
you sound old
Solid response. Very edifying.
I’m not denying he’s a true hawks fan. I felt like he came off a bit as a homer for wanting to keep Pete and now wanting Quinn. It’s basically the same as what KJ is pleading. But I really can’t listen to KJ or Sherm lol. I’ll always love KJ as a player but as like an analyst, he just needs to be quiet.
Bingo on them both.
With KJ, I enjoyed it when they had ex-players on. But with analysis…no. And the headache will be if the new coach doesn’t just take off and the team kills it immediately: “this is what you asked for, grass isn’t always greener.”
It’s been a long offseason already….
Brian is a class act, just like Rob. We all can agree to disagree at times, but what a vibrant community Seahawks fans have. Grateful. Even Seahawks Twitter if you ignore the “noise” that any public space is bound to have no matter the subject.
This is such an exciting time in franchise history, after a truly dynamic Carroll era. The last few years lacked structure and cohesiveness, but truly a special era.
I like Brian. I didn’t appreciate him saying I was cherry-picking in that Macdonald piece though. I don’t think that was fair.
It seems strange – if the consensus is true – that JS’s decision will come down to OC vs. DC. Seems strange the choice is purely the two hottest co-ordinator names, the guys who went deepest in the playoffs.
None of that suggests much of a grand strategy, or even much agency on John’s part. It’s the straight-up choice any punter off the street would be looking at… not a super connected league insider who has been plotting for this moment for multiple years…
Idk, maybe it is that simple, you pick between the two hottest names…
Personally I wouldn’t be so quick to rule out JS circling back on one of these others.. Slowik or Kafka if the strategy was always offense, Vrabel or Quinn if he sees more value in the culture/figurehead type.
It would be surprising to me if MacDonald is the hire considering his lack of experience.
He’ll have to have really blown JS away in the interview I think to win it — and if he does that, well then fair play and he’s likely a good bet if he’s won JS over.
London…..
This is a very great take. While I’m very into the idea of Johnson and okay with Macdonald it is very strange plan to essentially just take the last two coordinators that are young that are standing.
Hopefully we get a new Johnson.
Seahawks meeting Ben Johnson today per Pelissero, Macdonald tomorrow
🙏 He gets it done.
Fantastic. Here’s your chance. Moneywhip him until he concedes.
John Schneider Take My Energy! つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Great news! Blank check time Jody
Commanders are interviewing MacDonald today. Just lock up Johnson today, get it done.
He said the Commanders aren’t interviewing Johnson again until Tuesday afternoon, so it sounds like Seahawks are up first. Perfect opportunity to wrap this up.
Fingers crossed
Get it done John
JS first pitch at Johnson should be ” I will get you the next Josh Allen or Mahomes and all you gotta do is outdo everything Reid has done for the next 15 years”
It should be: do you want to destroy that team? Embarrass them, twice a year? Have the offense to make the NFL forget about Keith Shanahan (yes the wrong name for effect)?
We are going to do it. Here is your blank check for the team.
I was sold in the first half when the Lions converted a 3rd-and-12 and a 3rd-and-18 on the same drive. We need that magic.
If Johnson comes, can we make sure he doesn’t bring WR Reynolds with him?
Like someone said earlier, that’s Eskridge’s job.
Getting spicy out there this morning
Here is a fun activity:
Ask the question how is (candidate X) and improvement or different than Carroll?
With Johnson or other OC’s you obviously start off saying “he is an offensive minded head coach, which is more in line with today’s NFL…”
With Quinn or Macdonald (having fun with his ardent fans misspelling his name today) “they are younger and have had recent success as defensive play callers….”.
I hear other people talking themselves into Macdonald. I’ll be as disappointed with Mac as I would be with Quinn. I’ll get behind him when the season starts, but unless there is some real magic, I’ll likely be calling for a new GM and Coach in 2025.
There are a lot more questions with a Macdonald appointment — but we’ve got into this strange place again as a fan base where raising fair questions gets peoples heckles up. I’ve had more abusive comments recently, on here and YouTube, since doing that Macdonald article
what I find fascinating about that, Is that your relatively positive positive about the prospect of hiring Macdonald.
All you did was splash a little cold water on the idea that he’s the next Belichick in waiting.
The more I looked into Johnson the less interested I became. If the goal is to make the Ravens West, then get Weaver. I’m being pretty vocal today with my concerns – it definitely is getting emotional in the responses,
Is Johnson guaranteed? Nope. People keep reading for weird names to confirm this, when all they have to do is point to Brian Daboll
We go to a pace with Carroll where so much of his motivation appeared to be ego preservation and held on to players WAY to long, dumped resources into non premium positions, hired like minded yea mend for coordinators.
I think we’ll be surprised how much better the team looks when we aren’t drafting a RB in the second round each year and paying our safety room 50mill a year.
I want Ben Johnson too but if we ended up with Mac or another defensive coach, I still believe this change is worthwhile and we should feel some hope that it can get better.
So many people are saying Johnson to Washington is a “done deal.” If that’s the case, why would he accept a second interview with the Seahawks? People may say that it’s because his agent wants to create competition, but he could do that by simply saying he’ll be staying as OC for the Lions.
Also, if I was the Seahawks, I would have established that we are a serious candidate for his services in the first interview (something I’m sure JS would do), or not bother with the second one.
Finally, Washington continues to interview other coaches as well.
Because of these, I’ve got to think the Seahawks still have a legitimate shot at landing Ben Johnson as HC.
Im not sure why a 37 year old, would be 1st time head coach, desires that mess. Its a historic franchise no doubt. Amazing potential. Yet its building from the ground up and the monumental task that needs to be done. Im not sure any 1st time head coach should take that on.
I just think the risk v reward for your resume is way too much. When compared to a jobb like Seattle who has shown some level of comptence. A well respected GM and some pieces. Its a different kind of pressure but you dont have to overhaul an entire franchise.
Honestly someone like Quinn or Vrabel makes way more sense for Washington
There are people who prefer the total tear down and rebuild project. A coach that inherits a semi-functional situation may be accused of being the benefactor of a good situation.
A head coaching position with another franchise is much greater leverage for Johnson’s agent than an existing OC job. Still, I think Ben Johnson will want to take a hard look at the two options and it’s not necessarily a preordained decision that he’s going to Washington.
Cmon John, put that sales hat on and close this deal!
That’s not going to create competition though. ‘I am happy to stay in my far lesser paid, weaker job’. You create competition by creating an equal rival for an equal position.
If there’s any good news in how the games played out this week, it is that they set the Hawks up with the best possible chance to land Johnson. Not sure how much truth to the report there was that they would wait until after the SB if the Ravens won and could interview McDonald again, but now they don’t have to worry about that. They can throw the house keys at Johnson right now today and give it everything. If he leaves Seattle without a contract….well it was probably never going to happen anyway, if those reports are to be believed.
Having arguably the top two choices left after the Conference Championship games is pretty dang fortunate. Heck, you could argue that all of the top 5 choices are still available at this point.
I think I read this morning that Schneider is meeting with Johnson in Detroit this morning.
To Ben Johnson,
Is Washington D.C. a place you want to be living 12 months from now?
There’s a fair chance that it’ll be razed to the ground.
That’s a bit much
I mean..he lived in Detroit the last few years.
Even standing, it’s unappealing. Keep in mind, he could live in the suburbs.
Peter King on the Seahawks’ coaching search:
I get what he’s saying — but to me it’s also important to have direction and focus on what you want. And if you don’t have that and just go with whoever manages an interview process best, that isn’t a great plan either.
I struggle with that idea as well.
If you’ve interviewed a handful of candidates more than once and you still need time to ‘ruminate’ then you’re not a very good interviewer. The whole process is designed to reveal the best candidate, not give you 4-5 options you need to think about.
It sounds like the trade-down method. Have a few options, so trade down, and take who survives the intervening picks (i.e let somebody else decide).
This feels like the opposite of the Pete Carroll hire. In that instance they identified their top candidate and aggressively made it happen.
Indeed
One week it took Paul Allen from last loss to hiring Pete.
Depending on one’s mood this trends from: excellent due diligence or “intelligently deliberate,” -to- does my GM have a plan at all because 30 years of experience in the job and these vast deep connections, saying the right things at the podium, choosing last feels like a thin line between winning with patience to just getting whomever would take the job that was left standing.
In fairness, Ben and Mike were in the playoffs and couldn’t have been hired until today, whereas Carroll could be hired immediately.
Counter point:
All this knowledge built over years is down to an OC and a DC who you don’t know if either would want the job? Because they simply may not want to live in Seattle.
I get they were contending. Maybe they are the plan all along. I hope so. I’m gonna be stoked for either. More so for one of them.
I’ve got a dread that we’ll be taking just anyone that’ll have us for prom.
But we haven’t missed out on any good coaching candidates, have we? Morris, Canales, Pierce, Harbaugh, Mayo, Callahan. Did we want any of these people? If we held out for Johnson, knowing he had a 99% chance of choosing the Commanders, then yes it’s a mistake. But if Johnson is 60/40 they have today to make the big push. Why not try?
Like I said I’m hopeful very much so.
The pivot to the two is pretty odd. Totally different coaches.
On the others I don’t know. I’ve been pretty high on Johnson. But I’ve liked Slowik, callahan, Smith as well.
I’m pretty meh on a defensive HC. We are closer to being a high flying point scoring, scoreboard pressuring team than we are to a lock it down defense even with major investment ( yet again)
Macdonald did even get an interview in the first round, so I question whether they’re actually targeting him. Feels like they’re going all in on Johnson, then barring that they have a very difficult decision to make. Macdonald is on the list, but so are all the other interviewees. I imagine they’d have to see his vision for the offense as well, and how to build a complete team, just how Johnson would have to have a vision for the defense. Both candidates have to have a vision for a complete team, IMO
*didn’t
We also don’t know how long it took for him to regret the Mora hiring. He may have been looking into a new coach by October. Paul didn’t ever seem like the rash decision type.
He’s implying Andy Reid would not retire, but leave the Chiefs and Mahomes to start anew elswhere? That’s a bit weird.
Also, this is the solid plan we should be running with:
“Josh Harris seems likely to bury the Dan Snyder Era once and for all with a new franchise quarterback, a QB-whisperer of a coach, and a progressive GM trained in the 49er way.”
I think the thought is Reid will retire
As I understand it, he is saying that (if Reid retires) Kansas City would have an opening at HC and would compete with Seattle for the remaining candidates.
I would love to see news later today that Washington has hired Macdonald after meeting with him. I’m honestly not sure if they even could or if they still have Rooney Rule considerations, but a guy can dream.
Now that they wouldn’t have to wait two weeks to announce Johnson as their hire and start their offseason, I have to imagine they’ll be going after him hard, if they weren’t going to already.
As Adam said in yesterday’s stream, as long as John puts his absolute best effort forth in getting Johnson, that’s about all we can hope for. I suppose we might not ever really know how hard he pushed, unless they intentionally leak something to tell the fans, “See! We tried!” Then again, that could undermine whomever they do hire. If Johnson is just determined to go to the crappy Washington, so be it.
I’m basically just crossing my fingers at this point.
Yeah, whoever it is, it will probably be said he was “the guy we hoped for all along”…
I wonder if the Seahawks do hire MacDonald, they hire a OC that was a HC failure to prevent him from leaving too soon. Looking at the Chiefs, no one is breaking down the door for Steve Spagnuolo, even though that Chiefs defense is really good. Or a lesser case, Steven Wilks for the 49’ers or Matt Nagy.
Any ideas on who that could be?
This is the issue with Macdonald for me. It’s so hard to work out short of Kafka who it could be. And Kafka isn’t exactly an exciting thought
Arthur Smith?
I know you can only go off who they have interviewed but there are some names out there that are interesting on offense. Arthur Smith (who may be helpful to a young coach), Alex Van Pelt (worked under Stefanski), Kafka, maybe Mike Lafluer, maybe circle back to Frank Smith?
I know that’s not great answers but I think there is more than one option
If Johnson goes to DC, where does Bienemy go? Could that be a pairing option w/Macdonald in SEA? He seems destined to be an OC only in the NFL at this point.
There’s no buzz around him. I don’t know what his next move is. Seems like persona non grata
Bienemy is gaining a reputation as a personality problem. I don’t know if it’s fair or not, but he’s got a lot of stink on him these days, which is why I don’t think he was in serious consideration for any of the open HC jobs this year..
One of the hot young ones for OC is Jerrod Johnson. He’s the QB coach for Houston. He comes from the McVay/Shanahan tree.
He has worked with Stroud and Cousins. He’s green but because he’s green — he has to build a name for himself. Might take 2-3 seasons. I can see the rationale behind a hire like this.
Well, he’s not from the Shanahan / McVay tree really
He’s had a year with Slowik and a year with O’Connell
Big unknown about his playcalling qualities
Yup.
Just being outside the box. A bunch of teams have been connected with him.
What about Greg Roman at OC? JS can go get a dual threat QB (preferably all in for Daniels at #3 overall). A dominating rushing attack sure looked like the best formula against the 49ers D.
😬
Klint Kubiak, 49ers passing game coordinator? Has been an OC before and comes from the same tree as Waldron for continuity with Geno.
Uggh. Gonna be an exhausting week. I would like Johnson but I’m not going to be mad about MacDonald.
On the coach chemistry issue is it any different if it’s Johnson and Evero compared to MacDonald and Kafka? Both duos have no prior connections and would have to learn to work together.
Every defensive head coach my first response is ‘can he bring ((his superstar defenders)) with him?’ and the answer is maybe but probably not.
With Johnson all it is, is ‘can we build up the OL?’ and the answer is emphatically yes.
Pauline with an interesting nugget on the PC saga
https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/news-insider-notes-pete-carroll-s-seahawks-exit-what-iconic-hc-wanted-2024-dan-quinn-might-replace-just-yet
I have a hard time believing this. Sounds like Pete Carroll spin. He doesn’t want to face the fact that he had lost his effectiveness. That’s my take.
This does jive with what JS said in his press conf. Pete is flighty and changes his mind, and they’ve had some thoughts about replacing him before.
I read this as Pete saying he’s going to retire, the team breathing a sigh of relief that they don’t have to have The Conversation, starting the process, Pete changing his mind and the team saying “no takebacks” and Pete getting upset that he couldn’t write his own ticket anymore.
Spot on imo
Yup
“The team then put plans in motion to look for a new coach”
And yet we still have no idea who, unless it’s someone in the playoffs, who just lost in the playoffs.
“I’ve been told”…by whom? Anonymous sources? If you can’t back up the statement with a living source just keep the spin to yourself. These spin doctors and message handlers are becoming quite tedious.
Tony Pauline isn’t one of those.
Absolute power………….
I think Schneider flying to Detroit this morning to meet with Johnson says a lot. He’s putting the chips on the table and showing Johnson he’s important to him. Will be interesting to see how the next couple days play out between the Commanders and Seahawks interviewing the same candidates.
I hope you’re right
I hope it’s him going there to try and seal the deal, getting in before the Commanders can
Even if he can’t seal the deal I like that he’s going out swinging
Agree. Not wasting time either.
JS needs to hire Johnson today then they both head to Mobile to get started on the 2024 draft class.
Do not let BJ leave the building today.
Another great content laden article. Hard to get my head around McDonald. The next 48 hours will be huge for the Hawks future. Big time stakes at play with these 2nd interviews. I think it is an advantage that JS get to interview Johnson first. Don’t leave without a deal!
Thanks HH
Basically:
Hold on to your butts for then next 48 hours.
Just heard Schefter speak on the Commanders and Seahawks coaching search. He said everyone believes Johnson is going to the Commanders and Quinn will go to the Seahawks, but he is fairly certain that one of those won’t happen and believes there’s a chance neither does. Let’s hope it’s neither and Schneider can reel Johnson into Seattle.
That’s hilarious. Schefter’s got all the bases covered LOL.
😅
Yeah he’s way out on a 10 inch thick bottom limb there isn’t he? Weak sauce.
The stock market could go up, it could go down, or it could stay the same. back to you Jimbo
Let’s hope neither one turns out to be true lol
Quinn to the Seahawks is such a lazy tiresome take. That would be such a fail by JS
ABQ
ABQ indeed
Here’s the clip:
https://x.com/awfulannouncing/status/1752038063050830283?s=46&t=uv5_Cfk4hepYHPYUO6WNbQ
Stop getting my hopes up Schefty…
(Actually carry on Schefty)
Nah, he actually went out of his way to name-drop Aaron Glenn and Anthony Weaver (along with MacDonald) saying they have a “I think those guys are going to have a legitimate chance to get that job”.
Unfortunately, I fear this should be read in exactly the same way you read Schefter’s tweet the other day: a huge solid to the Commanders so that, even though they have pretty much offered the job to Johnson, the Rooney Rule interviews afterwards won’t look like insulting formalities.
But hey, we can always cling on to any shred of hope, I guess…
His comment about betting on what happens at the end makes it different for me. That was VERY interesting
“Just heard Schefter speak on the Commanders and Seahawks coaching search. He said everyone believes Johnson is going to the Commanders and Quinn will go to the Seahawks, but he is fairly certain that one of those won’t happen and believes there’s a chance neither does. Let’s hope it’s neither and Schneider can reel Johnson into Seattle.”
That’s a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Schefter is just covering all his bases.
Sounds to me like Schefter doesn’t have a clue what is going to happen. John Schneider is keeping his card close to his vest. Remember the draft. EVERYONE was quoted as saying that the Seahawks were going to take Jalen Carter. Today on Brock/Sauk. Brady Henderson said you can’t get any information at Seahawk headquarters. Do you really think John Schneider is leaking information to Adam Schefter or anyone else?
The very first name to be associated with the next Seahawk head coach was Dan Quinn. So it’s monkey see monkey do. One guy reports that Dan Quinn is the favorite and everyone jumps on board. I said once before and I will say it again. You don’t want to sit with John Schneider at poker table. ESPECIALLY now that Pete Carroll is no longer their to messing up John Schneider’s hand. Pete Carroll is no longer calling the shots.
After the 2021 season Schneider and Pete Carroll met with Jody Allen. From what I understood from that meeting ( and I could be wrong) was that Pete Carroll would do the coaching and John Schneider would be in charge of selecting the players in the draft. And what happened. The Seahawks had two fantastic drafts.
Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo both are reporting that the Commanders are going to interview Dan Quinn. So it is not a done deal that Johnson is going to go to the Commanders. If Johnson were to sign with the Seahawks he would have more weapons than he would know what to do with them. There is 99.9% chance that Johnson will go to Washington. But will it be Washington D.C. or Seattle Washington.
Just think. If the Commanders sign MacDonald they could save on moving expenses. It’s only 37 miles from 1101 Russell St, Baltimore, MD to 1600 FedEx Way, Landover, MD
Realistically I say it is about a 40% chance that Johnson goes with the Seahawks. But between the Seahawk organization and the Commanders organization it is a no brainer that the Seahawks are the better organization. The Seahawks have EVERYTING a player/coach would want. The only drawback is the location. Some people on the East Coast take the view that Seattle might as well Russia. That is how far some Easterners view Seattle.
We should know by Thursday (the latest) probably even before that. Who is going to be the New Seahawks head coach. Like I said. Seattle is a much better organization then the Washington Generals. I mean Washington Commanders.
I keep seeing people saying that Seattle > Washington is a ‘no-brainer’. That we’ve got so much more on offer than WAS… I’m not sure that’s true.
Take away the intangible aspects location/taxes/weather/ facilities/etc. and look at the state of the teams.
Draft capital, cap space, OL all favor WAS. WR’s probably us but not by the landslide I’m hearing. Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel are solid.
Logan Thomas is better than Dissly (our only TE under contract).
KW, Charbs vs Brian Robinson & Chris Rodriguez is a win for the good guys.
The divisions are similar in that there are currently two top end teams to deal with each year.
Still, WAS can have Jayden Daniels along with picks: 36, 40, 67… in a deep OL/WR class, along with more cap space than any other team.
You can certainly make a case for us, but saying we’re a no-brainer is a reach IMO.
Why doesn’t John just state the obvious to Ben Johnson: if you go to Washington, your assistant coaches will end up being better than you.
2013: Jay Gruden had Raheem Morris, McVay, Shanahan, Matt Lafleur, McDaniels, and Shanahan.
The best coaching staff ever assembled on a 3-13 team.
“Why doesn’t John just state the obvious to Ben Johnson: if you go to Washington, your assistant coaches will end up being better than you.”
Really. Do you really think that John Schneider would make those comments to Ben Johnson? Boy that will really convince Johnson to sign with the Seahawks.
Sorry, I thought it was fairly obvious that my comment wasn’t supposed to be taken seriously.
What he SHOULD say is if he takes the Washington job, he’s a big dum dum head.
A little more definition on the timing.
https://twitter.com/dpbrugler/status/1751982171881922566?s=19
Typical draft Twitter, hyping up Bo Nix as a top 10 pick before taking a snap. What do people see in him again?
70% completion mainly. If you don’t watch tape and simply look at the stats, he looked like the best in the country. That ignores the fact Nix was check down king last year though
Experience – more snaps than anyone in college history
Leadership – UO team and staff all rave about him having this in spades
Adversity – flamed out as a top-rated legacy recruit at Auburn and became the 3rd leading passer in UO history despite only playing 2 years
Athleticism – Much better athlete than many realize. He had 20 rushing TD in 2 years
Smarts – 1st academic All-American, and does a great job with audibles and line shifts at the LOS
Passion – All about football. Played in the Bowl game despite have nothing to gain. You don’t get any Kayvon Thibedeaux vibes from Bo.
I say all of this knowing full-well his limitations and how much both systems at UO (two different OC’s) led to much of his success. Personally, I don’t know if he deserves to go first round, but he does have more going for him than some are giving him credit for.
Scouts knocked Drew Brees for not having accuracy/touch on his long ball and was one of the most accurate passers in NFL history. Largely because of the system he ended up in.
I think, much like most QB’s drafted, WHERE he ends up is more important than WHEN he goes. I don’t see him elevating a terrible team, but I can see him having success in a well-designed offense. I think Rob’s words in the Mock Draft are on-point: he feels like he could go either way.
However all this shakes out, it’s nice to know we sat at the head table. Grateful that the Hawk’s are a relevant destination, and we can, in many respects, thank Pete and Paul Allen’s legacy for this.
We’re actually UNDERRATING how bad Dan C was last night. He had three fourth downs and he kicked on the one he should have gone for and went for it the two he should have kicked.
Up 21-7 right before halftime no reason to not go for 7 there. If they miss the half is over. The two missed in the second half gave SF good field position. Lions fans should feel screwed by bad coaching. Johnson was great.
A call on 4th and 2 when the receiver drops it is still a good call.
And the fumble and the face doink were far more impactful than the 4th down go for its.
But for what it’s worth, I didn’t like the play calls, which is on BJ. Jared Goof should not have multiple high-leverage plays in his hands when you are running the ball that well.
More flea flickers would’ve done the trick I think.
The other one that was just an awful call – and likely BJ’s was the 3rd down run at the very end. They got stuffed and had to use their first timeout. That effectively meant they HAD to get the onside kick. They absolutely needed to keep all 3 TO’s there to have anything more than the 4% chance that an onside kick offers.
An incomplete and a FG would have at least made SF get a 1st down or punt. They would have had about 30 seconds to go the length of the field, but it’s a shot. Maybe someone punches the ball out from SF, maybe you block the punt or get a big return. Maybe Shanny gets cute and tries a pass on 3rd down and saves you a timeout. All of the things that could have happened went out the window when they used that timeout though.
Yes. I think Dan C should have intervened and said “no we are passing.”
What about my actual point? How dumb was it to kick the FG at the end of the half? The NYT bot said it was dumb by 4.4% but real time it was awful.
It’s being glossed over because it was in the first half.
I totally knew that Bobby Slowik has a brother who is a defensive coach.
This is not a surprise at all to me.
Again, just to reiterate this may be new information to you, but not to me.
I knew this ages ago.
Maybe that’s why Bobby feels like he’s been effectively eliminated. JS asked him who he would want for his DC and he named his brother.
Past images of Nate Carroll and a future stream of “Bobby’s Guys” gave John PTSD.
Whether it’s Macdonald or Johnson, I think we’ll have our answer in roughly 24 hours.
Pancakes or waffles?
Bacon or sausage?
Eggs benedict-ed or scrambled?
Coffee or tea?
Orange juice or grapefruit?
JS needs answers.
I’m on the fence on some of those but there are 2 where there is only one correct answer and those are coffee and bacon
I feel like those two were trick questions to weed out those of lesser mind and character.
Pancakes
Bacon
Scramble
Coffee
OJ
LETS GOOOO!!!
All correct except Benedict.
You can coach the Seahawks but we’re no longer friends.
It’s interesting that Eggs Benedict should come up here in this discussion of Ben Johnson. Do you know how Eggs Benedict and BJ are alike?
The answer is:
You can’t get good ones at home,
Apparently, Ben Johnson feels otherwise.
Why do we assume it’s the last person interviewed who gets the job? We had to wait to interview Macdonald. They could just as easily like one of the earlier candidates more.
I’m happy with either. The question should be: can this guy beat Rams and 49ers? And both get a resounding yes. Interestingly, both had better games against the Niners than against the Rams.
But I agree that the Seahawks offense, personnel wise, is very similar to Detroit. Geno is even better than Goff when under pressure. If Lucas puts his knee issues behind, he has the talent to operate the same way as Sewell. I’d say that the receiver trio is also better. JSN has more potential than Amon-Ra (and that’s high praise since St. Brown is one of my favorite receivers in the league). The other 2 receivers are straight upgrades (except once you consider Lockett’s age).
Now this has nothing to do with who is going to be the new Seahawk head coach.
But one thing I cannot understand is how the run defense got worse after Leonard Williams came over from the N.Y. football Giants. You had Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and Bobby Wagner up the middle. someone please explain to me how the Seahawk run defense got worse. At the beginning of the season Seahawks run defense was at the top of the NFL in stopping to run.
Sample size got larger. Schemes saw massive flaws on tape and exploited. Older players tired after over usage?
Unfortunately some if those early games were a mirage. Carolina with around 15 run attempts. Giants doing nothing. Detroit was doing okay until their main back got hurt.
If we had played say steelers and maybe AZ with Connor earlier we would have see the warning lights flashing.
And we played much, much better teams.
A lot of explosives too. 7 yard runs early in the year turned into 45 yard runs later.
Seahawks had about the same amount of 0, 1, 2 yard runs all year. The long gainers killed them.
LB and DB pursuit and tackling were horrendous.
So Penix measured in at 10 3/8″ hands at the senior bowl. Considerably larger than the average for height. Just an interesting tidbit I saw from Nagy for the Senior Bowl. Also saw 5 Tech Myles Cole from Texas Tech is 6’5″ with 36 3/8″ arms and a 86″ wingspan. Holy moly measurement. No idea about his prospectus on the field.
Heck yeah Senior Bowl
Turned on the radio and Michael McDonald was singing ain’t no mountain high enough. I’ll take that as a sign.
What a fool believes. Lol
Schefter just reported on ESPN that “Ben Johnson to Washington is not a lock.” Take that however you will.
Don’t let the door… I mean, thanks and good luck!
I think Karl Scott has a future, now that he’s free of Carrol. Desai did a fine job in 22 with our secondary, and without him they regressed, so I hope he finds work too. Hurtt is lucky to be employed…
Im one of the few who want Desai as DC for the Huskies. I know its a long shot but hoping the Carroll connections make sense. Most Husky fans say no cause of his failures in Philly. Its a far leap from Husky football to NFL football as a DC. We could do a lot worse and he is a younger guy who might do well in recruiting.
So Clint Hurtt gets Jalen Carter.
I just got one simple thing I hate the san Francisco 49ers go chiefs
MacDonald the Clown and JS the Leprechaun could be a legacy of terror in the making.
On a similar note, I am unveiling a new persona at the Senior Bowl this year.
is anyone critical of Ben Johnson running the ball in a terrible call to waste a key timeout with a minute left yesterday? Was his only flaw in an otherwise great night for him.
If I were Detroit Id go outside the box and fire Campbell and make DJ the head coach!
It was a crap decision. I suppose we don’t technically know who made that decision and whether the HC asked for it — but if it was Johnson, it was a major cock-up. One of those situations were the benefit of being right on the gamble doesn’t matchup to the risk of getting it wrong
But apart from that, it felt like a pretty flawless night calling plays