Carroll: Waldron’s vision ‘made him a must-get for us’

January 29, 2021 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll called Shane Waldron “a must-get for us” who has a “vision for the future” and will “expand the explosive ability” of Russell Wilson and the offense.

Those comments were included in the team’s announcement that Waldron will become offensive coordinator and fellow Rams assistant Andy Dickerson will come with him to coordinate the running game.

This setup harks back to the Darrell Bevell/Tom Cable days, but with a more definite hierarchy: Waldron is in charge.

Carroll said Waldron’s “creative and competitive approach to the game will bring out the best in our players and coaches. Shane also brings great knowledge and insight about our division. His vision for the future, along with the caliber of players on our offense, made him a must-get for us.”

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Coaches, X's & O's

Waldron’s task: Help Wilson sustain great play into postseason

January 27, 2021 cc Leave a comment

If you can’t beat ’em, have ’em join you.

That’s apparently what the Seahawks were thinking when they reportedly decided to hire Shane Waldron to fix an offense that diminished by 11 points per game in the second half of the 2020 season (from 34 to 23) and flamed out against Waldron’s Rams in the playoffs.

Waldron’s task will be simple (OK, simply defined anyway): Get Russell Wilson to sustain his excellent play into December and January, get the offense to play well against good defenses in the postseason and get back over the hump and into the Super Bowl.

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Coaches, On the air, X's & O's

Holmgren explains how to fix the offense

January 26, 2021 cc 3 Comments

As Pete Carroll looks for Russell Wilson’s third offensive coordinator in 10 years, DK Metcalf has given his two cents about what happened to Seattle’s offense and Mike Holmgren has told us what the new coordinator needs to do to help Wilson.

Metcalf confirmed what we all saw: “Teams just started to figure us out. We’ve been running deep pass ever since Pete got there. Play-action. Run the ball, run the ball, run the ball, go deep. Teams just said, ‘We’re just not gonna let you all go deep.’”

Of course, a good OC would have worked around the Cover 2 schemes that oddly stymied Wilson and Brian Schottenheimer for the final two months of 2020. Holmgren, a first-generation West Coast offense disciple, said it is on the OC to adjust.

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Contracts

Adams’ extension should be easy, unless he Clowneys around

January 22, 2021 cc Leave a comment

Jamal Adams is a tough guy.

He reminded everyone of that Thursday with his Instagram post detailing all of the injuries he endured in 2020 – broken fingers, a torn labrum, a groin strain, a hyperextended elbow – and reminded people that he did not complain as he played at far less than 100% all season. He also said he is ready to bring the same type of all-out “energy” again in 2021.

In one missive, Adams managed to outline what a football warrior he is while pointing out the risk the Seahawks will be taking when they re-sign him and making everyone wonder what that will cost.

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Contracts, The roster

Reality check for fanciful fans

January 20, 2021 cc 2 Comments

We certainly understand (and share) the frustration of fans over the Seahawks’ latest premature playoff ouster, and we are as eager as anyone to see the franchise fix its flaws and finally get back to the NFC title game and Super Bowl. But fans need to stop overreacting and get a grip on reality.

Pete Carroll is not going to be fired, and the Hawks are not going to trade Russell Wilson or Jamal Adams or Bobby Wagner. None of those guys are going anywhere.

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Coaches, X's & O's

More thoughts on the offensive conundrum

January 15, 2021 cc Leave a comment

There’s still a lot of analysis going on about what went wrong with Seattle’s offense, which bottomed out against the Rams’ stellar defense in the playoffs.

The bottom line is Russell Wilson’s effectiveness faded in the second half of the season, and Brian Schottenheimer was not creative enough as they faced a number of good defenses. Some don’t think Schotty should have been fired, but he could not right the ship in the second half and his unit ended up costing Seattle a playoff win in the first round for the second time in three years.

One of the big keys to an OC is feeling his QB’s performance and adjusting to help him when things are off kilter. Schotty was not very good at making adjustments during games, had too many predictable play-calling patterns (e.g., running on every second-and-10) and simply did not use his personnel to best effect. So, yeah, Pete Carroll was justified in firing him.

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Coaches, State of the team

Wilson: ‘It’s a critical time’

January 14, 2021 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson did not agree with Pete Carroll’s decision to fire Brian Schottenheimer and he wants input into the hiring of the next offensive coordinator because “it’s imperative to my career.”

In his season wrap from Mexico, Wilson told reporters, “Going into the 10th year in my career, it’s a critical time. The next 10 years are super critical for everybody involved, the whole organization, including myself as a player and the legacy that I want to leave. It’s vital, it’s critical, it’s super significant that I’m a part of that process. Coach and I have definitely been talking about it.”

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Coaches

Just like 2017, Carroll needed to replace his offensive coordinator

January 13, 2021 cc Leave a comment

It was not a huge surprise that Pete Carroll fired Brian Schottenheimer on Tuesday. If you had parsed the coach’s words Monday, you heard him say he was going to meet with Schotty and evaluate what went wrong with Seattle’s dead-on-playoff-arrival offense. It sure sounded like there was a chance Carroll might decide to make a switch.

The Seahawks cited “philosophical differences,” which basically means Carroll didn’t think Schotty could fix an offense that melted down the stretch and hit its nadir with a pathetic effort in the 30-20 playoff loss to the beat-up Rams.

This was the best move for Carroll after Schotty helped cost the team two quick playoff outs in three years and the offense deteriorated in 2020 like it did in 2017, when Carroll fired Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable after missing the playoffs.

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Coaches, Contracts

The show goes on, but Schneider and Carroll must improve

January 12, 2021 cc Leave a comment

John Schneider apparently did not want to leave Seattle, as scuttlebutt had intimated, and it is no surprise that Jody Allen gave him a five-year extension (probably with a big pay hike).

So the Schneider-Pete Carroll show continues uninterrupted, 11 years and counting. But they both need to improve their job performance if the Seahawks are ever going to be true contenders again.

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Coaches, Contracts

Offseason prios: Changes at the top before new deals?

January 11, 2021 cc 1 Comment

It came earlier than expected, thanks to an inexcusably bad offense, but the Seahawks’ offseason is here. And it could – perhaps should – be a transformative one, with significant change at the top possibly trumping any personnel moves they make.

The frustration we’ve had with the Seahawks the past couple of years has been over John Schneider’s inability to solve defensive personnel issues (mainly pass rush, which he finally fixed with the trades for Jamal Adams and Carlos Dunlap). As they enter this offseason earlier than expected, the concern has switched to Pete Carroll’s side after coaching cost them yet another playoff game.

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