Tag Archives: Tom Cable

The roster, X's & O's

Hawks failed Glowinski & still need guards

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Cable and CarrollPete Carroll and John Schneider have to be kicking themselves over how badly they screwed up with Mark Glowinski, who has to be just as happy that they released him from Tom Cable’s broken system in 2017 so he could get his career going in the right direction.

The guard was a good pick by Seattle in the fourth round in 2015, coming off an excellent college career at West Virginia, and he should have become one of Seattle’s line mainstays. Instead, Carroll and Schneider let him go in 2017 and he turned into one of the Indianapolis Colts’ best linemen in 2018, earning a contract worth $6 million a year.

Glowinski is the latest — maybe the greatest — example of how Cable’s system held players back in Seattle.

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Contracts, Franchise history, The roster

Will Schneider pay to end Curse of Hutch?

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Salary cap logoAs former Seahawk Steve Hutchinson waits for the Hall of Fame to come knocking this weekend, it is a reminder of what the Seahawks once had — and what they need to build again.

The big question some fans have: Will John Schneider do what Tim Ruskell would not and pay an All-Pro guard?

As longtime fans (pre-“12s”) will recall, Ruskell (Seattle’s GM before Schneider) chose not to franchise the All-Pro Hutchinson in 2006 and ended up losing him to Minnesota.

Hutch and Hall of Famer Walter Jones keyed the best line in Seattle history in the early to mid-2000s, but Seattle has not been able to field a strong line since Ruskell’s huge mistake. We’ve called it the Curse of Hutch.

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Coaches, State of the team, X's & O's

Familiar enforcers will drive Carroll’s club

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)After a steady three-year slide that ended with Seattle out of the playoffs this season, Pete Carroll apparently is ready to re-forge control of his team and re-establish his principles.

Carroll recently said he plans to make his team more disciplined while rejuvenating a once-strong running game that is the identity of the offense.

To do that, he needed some new voices in his coaching staff. So he reportedly is bringing in some familiar enforcers who will command players’ attention and be loyal to Carroll’s approach to winning.

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

O-line expert: Cable & Bevell were passive, predictable

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Cable and CarrollTom Cable’s offensive line failed because it was passive and predictable and did not use the players’ skills as well as it should have, and the lack of creativity by Cable and Darrell Bevell made it easy for defenses to beat Seattle — according to some great analysis by former Seattle first-round tackle Ray Roberts on 710 ESPN.

Roberts confirmed what we have said for a long time: Cable’s zone scheme has not worked partly because the Seahawks have not incorporated enough pre-snap motion. There has been almost no misdirection to make defenses wonder what is coming.

“There’s no other thing for linebackers or defenders to read,” Roberts said of the running game. “They know exactly where it’s going and they can come right downhill and defend it.”

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Coaches, State of the team

Firings prove Carroll is serious about fixing Seattle’s offense

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)The turnabout was a little surprising for the loyal-to-a-fault coach, but Pete Carroll’s actions made it clear he is serious about fixing an offense that has regressed from good enough to good for nothing over the past three years.

In one sweep of the ax, Carroll cut ties with longtime assistants Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable — and now Carroll will look for replacements who can be true to his three-star philosophy of running the ball, protecting the ball and making big plays.

Carroll obviously has replacements in mind, and the top guy for the offensive coordinator position appears to be John DeFilippo, the Eagles’ QB coach who helped turn Carson Wentz into an All-Pro in his second season.

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State of the team, X's & O's

Will missing playoffs motivate Carroll to make changes?

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Cable and CarrollIf one positive comes from Seattle’s playoff streak ending after five years, it appears it might be Pete Carroll finally figuring out that it’s time to change some of his coaching approach (and maybe coaches).

“Unfortunately, the truth came out that you do get what you emphasize,” he said last week, admitting he has preached so much about finishing strong that he has ignored starting well. He also lamented Seattle’s team-record penalty count and poor running game and made fixes for those issues his offseason priorities.

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Coaches

Schneider’s staying, but other staff changes could be coming

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Draft -- Schneider and CarrollThere was lots of scuttlebutt — real and perhaps imagined — around the Seahawks’ football staff over the weekend.

John Schneider is staying, Gus Bradley might be returning and the Seahawks also might be looking for a new offensive coordinator and/or assistant head coach.

The Seahawks rebuffed the Packers’ request to interview Schneider, leading to speculation that the Packers might try to trade for him. But that was quickly quashed when the Pack stayed in-house to replace Ted Thompson.

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Franchise history, State of the team, Week 9: Washington

Seahawks are always scrambling on offense

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Logo -- WashingtonThe Seahawks say they aim to be the best scrambling offense in the NFL — so it figures that’s what they’re doing this week: Scrambling once again to fix their offense.

The trade for Duane Brown, an excellent if belated move to shore up left tackle, and the decision to ride one running back are steps that should have been taken long ago. These moves at this late date are emblematic of Pete Carroll’s offense: They never seem to have a good plan.

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State of the team, Week 2: San Francisco

When will Hawks’ O-line investments pay off?

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Logo -- San FranciscoTalking about it is tiresome, but it’s really the only thing hindering the Seahawks from winning another Super Bowl, so, until the Seahawks fix their offensive line, it will remain the topic du jour.

People can talk all they want about Kam Chancellor’s 2015 holdout or Earl Thomas’ 2016 injury being major factors in the Seahawks not advancing far in the playoffs those years. But the simple fact is: If the Hawks’ offensive line had been anywhere close to average in those seasons, the Hawks would have had a great shot at winning the Super Bowl — even with the issues in the secondary.

So now here we are again, coming off a significant opening loss to one of Seattle’s top NFC rivals, and the offensive line remains the biggest hindrance to Seattle’s success. And we have no idea if it will become any good, despite the insistence of Pete Carroll and Tom Cable that it will.

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Contracts, Preseason, The roster

Will any other O-linemen be as worthy as Britt?

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Minnesota logoWe learned a lot about the Seahawks’ offensive line over the past couple of days — and we’ll learn a little more tonight when the Hawks host the Minnesota Vikings.

On Wednesday, Tom Cable announced that three-fifths of the line is set for the season opener, and Thursday the team announced that one of those three is set for the next four seasons — Justin Britt signing a three-year, $27 million extension.

It’s the only second deal for a Seattle starting lineman since 2012, when the team re-signed Breno Giacomini and extended Max Unger. As everyone knows, those two and the rest of the 2013 Super Bowl line were all gone by 2016 — none of them meriting what the market dictated the Hawks would have to pay.

His first two years, it certainly didn’t look like Britt would buck that trend. But he found a home at center last year and benefitted from the departure of J.R. Sweezy, becoming a technician rather than a Sweezy-style brawler.

“He has been a fantastic leader for us up there,” Pete Carroll said. “He had an excellent (2016) season and (has) played three spots and started at tackle, guard and center now. We really think he is in the best spot for him. I think it’s a recognition and acknowledgement of the player and teammate he has become for us.

“And also the fact that we are able to do it in the offensive line — I think it is important to note.”

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