Who should be the Seattle Seahawks' Future Head Coach and General Manager?
As of February 2 2022, all signs suggest that the Seattle Seahawks will have at least one more shot with Russell Wilson, which is great news for the team as it means that a complete rebuild can be put off until at least 2023.
However, with a great quarterback comes great responsibility, and if owner Jody Allen and the Seahawks fail to support their franchise quarterback with sufficient talent, as they have for the past few years, they may look up one day to find Russell Wilson in a different colored jersey.
So who should be the GM and HC duo to shoulder this responsibility in the 2022 offseason and beyond?
The Seahawks' future at head coach:
Look, Pete Carroll has to go. There's no denying his importance in Seattle history and his greatness as a coach, but his philosophy is outdated, and the overall play of the team looks unimaginative and stagnant.
Too often this season, the Seahawks have had a three-and-out that goes exactly like this: a screen to DK Metcalf on first down that's read quickly and blown up, inside run to Alex Collins for three to four yards, and an incompletion on third down, punt.
The Hawks need a new head coach, who's creative and ambitious enough to breathe new life into this offense. In many ways, the situation is similar to the Green Bay Packers at the end of Mike McCarthy's tenure there as HC - an accomplished coach whose scheme has become outdated, and needs to be replaced with a young visionary able to make full use of their Hall of Fame QB.
The Packers found their man in Matt LaFleur, so who's the right guy for the Seahawks?
It's important to note, the 2018 Tennessee Titans (LaFleur's final stop before moving to Green Bay) ranked 27th in points per game, so though co-ordinators for the best offenses in the league get the most attention, they may not actually be the best fit for the job - it must also be considered that those OCs also have the best players to work with.
Ultimately, the job of the offensive co-ordinator isn't to create the best offense - it's to make the most out of the pieces available to them.
No-one expects Mike LaFleur (Jets OC) to create an offense that scores more points per game than Dallas. What the Seahawks need is someone who can create an offense that exceeds expectations.
Introducing, Shane Steichen...
Certainly a lesser known name in the NFL's offensive co-ordinator collection, Steichen (36) has been the OC for the Philadelphia Eagles this past season, after a year holding the same position for the Chargers in 2020.
In LA, he was the man behind Justin Herbert's historic rookie season, where the Oregon QB broke the NFL record for rookie TD passes as well as passing yards per game, and completions.
However, Steichen's work in Philly this year has arguably been even more impressive, as he turned the Eagles disappointing offensive start into a 7-3 record and 28.5 points per game (which would be third in the league if it was across the whole year) over the final ten games of the season.
Steichen demonstrated a great ability to make key adjustments to evolve and fix an offense mid-way through a season - an absolutely crucial skill for a head coach to have.
Furthermore, Steichen showed he's able to do this without a roster that's overflowing with talent. The Eagles' strongest group on offense is confidently their offensive line, which ranked ninth in the league (per PFF) with stars like Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson.
However, outside of the trenches, Philadelphia is one of the more talent-deprived teams in the NFC (see: their starting lineup prior to the 2021 season):
- QB Jalen Hurts had only five NFL starts coming in to 2020 (2-3 in those games)
- The Eagles' top five receivers had less than 1,500 career receiving yards combined prior to the 2021 season (the Eagles' top receiver this year was Devonta Smith with 916 yards)
- RB1 Miles Sanders was ranked only 19th in the league by PFF coming into 2021
Despite this, Steichen was still able to create a strong identity, with a very strong rushing and play action game (Eagles had the best rushing attack in the NFL this year). With Russell Wilson at the helm, and DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett outside, his results may be even more impressive.
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Who's the best choice for Seahawks GM?
The position of general manager for the Hawks is similar to that the head coach - John Schneider has been undeniably great for the Emerald City, but he's had his day.
Russell Wilson has been sacked over 40 times per season since the beginning of his career (the most in modern NFL history), which, especially for such a mobile QB, is simply inexcusable.
The reason for this is clear, the Seahawks have not been able to hit on offensive line draft picks in a long time - naturally leading to a major talent deficit at the position.
Grades and stats on every first- and second-round pick by the Seahawks since 2015 (and the rest of the NFC West) in our draft history look back ⬇️ ⬇️ :
profootballfocus.com/news/pro-draft… https://t.co/64YdfLleM7
It's the Hawks poor offensive line which is the reason behind Wilson wanting to leave, not to mention the other positional weaknesses across the roster such as at the corner and defensive line positions. John Schneider has done little in recent years to suggest he can fix these issues with Seattle's limited draft capital, and there's no time to wait and find out.
This leads to the realization about who the Seahawk's future GM should be: they need to improve at offensive line, defensive line, and cornerback. Which NFL team is associated with being exceptional in those areas?
That's right, the San Francisco 49ers.
Meet Adam Peters, assistant GM / director of player personnel for San Francisco:
San Francisco (who reached the NFC championship this year) has PFF's third best offensive line, finished fifth in the league in sacks, and finished with the fifth best pass defense (averaging only 206 pass yards per game).
Adam Peters, formerly of the Denver Broncos, has spent four seasons with the 49ers, over which time San Francisco has hit on several draft picks such as Mike McGlinchey and Nick Bosa, as well as acquiring numerous impactful FA players such as Jason Verrett, Trent Williams and Kerry Hyder.
Vegas, baby!
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What Adam Peters has helped build over the past few years is exactly what the Seahawks need, and considering the Hawks have around $35 million in cap space (per Spotrac.com) in a year with star free agent players such as G. Brandon Scherff, CB. Kyle Fuller, and LT. Terron Armstead, now is the time to strike.
If you'd like to read more from me about the 2022 NFL offseason, check out some of my draft content below:
Aidan Hutchinson vs Kayvon Thibodeaux
NFL Draft corner rankings
Also Check Out: Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl Wins