Carroll, Schneider hires have Seattle going in the right direction. Matt Bowen
I like what the Seattle Seahawks have done to their organization over the past couple of weeks.
I will get to the Pete Carroll hire in a moment, but I was reminded today that this franchise is heading in the right direction after the abysmal 2009 season when reports surfaced that Seattle hired Packers director of football operations John Schneider to become the club’s new General Manager.
I was with Schneider when I played in Green Bay, and when you talk to people around the league about the move, it comes with a vote of confidence.
Schneider is a scout by nature. He isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty when it comes to evaluating talent and he is very meticulous in his organizational skills. He’s a perfect match for Carroll, who now has talent in the front office who knows NFL personnel. Schneider also has an established network around the league, and he’s a guy who has very professional relationships with the league’s most experienced decision makers.
Schneider will be the perfect complement to Carroll, who will have a true personnel man in his corner to help him with the Combine, free agency and the draft. And, the Seahawks can begin to move forward and begin to rebuild this roster that isn’t set up to compete with the rest of the NFL as of now.
But, getting back to Carroll — where this all started. The Seahawks have something positive going on here. They are building a winning staff that’s obviously highlighted by the former USC coach, but is also strengthened by the hiring of offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates — a coach that was desperately wanted by Jay Cutler, Lovie Smith and the city of Chicago.
On defense, Carroll has retained defensive coordinator Gus Bradley — a smart move to keep a sense of structure to the defensive side of the football — and hired Jerry Gray to coach the secondary. Gray was hired by Gregg Williams in Washington and was an added bonus to that staff, according to my former teammates in D.C.
The new staff is comprised of good talent, along with the reported hire of Minnesota Golden Gophers offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch to coach the quarterbacks — a position that will need to be thought out, evaluated and decided on in the near future this offseason.
And the offseason is when we will get to see the new front office and the new coaching staff in Seattle go to work. What do they do with veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck? With two first-round picks (No. 6, No. 14) in this April’s draft, is it time to at least explore the quarterback position and look for Hasselbeck’s eventual replacement? A rookie like Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen could be on the horizon, but that is all part of the discussion we will have as this offseason unwinds — just as the talk will increase when it comes to the defensive side of the football for the Seahawks.
With coaching and management changes comes multiple changes to the roster itself, and those moves can now start to be formulated and discussed at the Seahawks facility.
However, for now, the Seahawks are starting to build a foundation of good coaching and good management. And that, to me, is the perfect start to winning games once again in Seattle.
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I agree with you Bob, and I also agree with Matt. Great hires, big names, good college records. But that team needs a lot of work. However, I see Carroll getting the time he needs to put a winner together.
I also like the idea of drafting Clausen from ND. Carroll has seen him the last three years and knows what he can do. Let him play behind Hasselbeck for 2010 and then make him the franchise QB.
One more comment: as a diehard Bears fan I was disappointed that we missed out on Jeremy Bates, by all accounts an excellent offensive mind and someone who can pull Jay Cutler's head out of his rearend. But Matt, I'm sure you'll agree this has more to do with a great opportunity to continue working with Carroll for the richest guy in the NFL, and less to do with the rumored "nonattractiveness" of coaching for the Bears. This town's radio shock jocks would have you believe the end is coming for the Bears, but I think those in the know realize it's one of the great franchises to work for - passionate fan base, great marketing opportunities, and an ownership that gives coaches every opportunity to succeed or fail. Far from being the cheap skates many haters make them out to be, the McKaskey family ownership, while it certainly has its issues, is loyal to a fault. And that alone makes the Bears an attractive gig. And, like the Cubs, the coaching staff that delivers the big one will be revered forever. Ditka still can do no wrong in this city. What are your thoughts?
Bob-
I am with you on Bates. Thought he would be a great fit here in Chicago. But, I think the opportunity of working with Carroll--who he is familiar with--along with the job security in Seattle sold him. We have to think that if Seattle has success, Bates will become a hot name in the head coaching talk down the road.
In Chicago, I think the uncertainty of Lovie's job has to factor in. It might be a one and done deal, if they don't win next season.
I am still waiting on that Cubs World Series by the way, and I agree about Ditka. He is the mayor of Chicago--still.
I am not a huge fan of Carroll, but he does seem to be making the right moves and seems to have a lot of power already with the club. I think he is going to win quickly up there.
Schneider certainly has experience but he was one of two "Directors of Football Operations" with the Packers along with Reggie McKenzie. Schneider, McKenzie, John Dorsey, they all had input to Thompson. I guess the question with Schneider is "how many players on the current Packer roster did he identify"?
Carroll will be making all the calls on draft choices so Schneider is basically doing what he did before yet with a great title upgrade, more responsibility and some more cash - yet it won't be his team. Nice work if you can get it though. Carroll has been out of the NFL for nine years, never showed an ability to pick players as the head man before. Floyd Reese would have made more sense.
Bob K - no playoffs for the Bears in 2010 means they are all toast - Angelo,Smith, everybody.
So why would a hot coordinator candidate come for a year?
I have lived in the Chicago area my entire life and the Bears always have the potential to be special. However the entire organization is dysfunctional. There is no consistency. Up, down, Up, down. There is usually a negative vibe surrounding the Bears in one way or another. More often then mot, the press don't create it - the Bears do. The SCORE and AM1000 just feed of the negativity.
Matt - I am a Cub fan also for 45 years. I think we have more waiting to do buddy. Makes me glad to be a Packer fan of 43 years where for the last 17 years at least, they have had an intolerance for stagnation
Mack, I can only HOPE that no playoffs in 2010 means the whole gang is gone. The one who really needs to go is Jerry Angelo. This is the guy who didn't bother to bring in Darren Sharper because he had the GREAT Daniell Manning - a great returner but a disaster at FS. Look, I'm not saying Lovie is the greatest coach ever, but he's actually got a good record and his players respect. Whether that means he treats them like men or his training camps are like being on vacation, I'm not sure. But it is what it is.
As to why an OC would come in, it's exactly because of the way they operate - they will give a multi-year contract to the guy they want. Ownership is loyal to a fault. It's a great city to coach in with a rabid fan base. I'm pretty sure they would have had a good shot at Bates until Carroll took the gig at Seattle. I mean, who saw that coming.
BTW, my sources tell me THIS is the THE YEAR for the Cubbies! LOL! It's tough being a fan in the Windy City, unless you like hockey, which I don't.
You are right on Sharper Bob.
Even the Packers too, who needed another safety did not bother.
I understood not paying him a $4 million roster bonus but they should have kept him.
He will be motivated this weekend. When he was with the Vikings, he played well against
Favre
I'm not sure I would say Lovie has a good record (56% reg season), but then say that Carroll's win record is horrible (52%).
There's all this speculation on whether or not Carroll can succeed in the NFL, but no one has any clue how well he'll do. Yes, I agree that with the exception of Jimmy Johnson, the transition from college coach to NFL coach does not usually work out. However, I also know that after a decade in any business, you could look back on your former years and see mistakes you made and wonder why you ever did things that way in the first place. So I'm willing to give Carroll the benefit of the doubt that he's a better coach today (college or NFL) than he ever was with the Jets/Pats. I agree with Matt that the right personnel are joining his ranks, and I look forward to seeing some change in Seattle. But then again, I'm a Hawks fan, so I'm going to be more optimistic when it comes to these things.
Seahawks a playoff team next year, double or nothing with Lombardi?
*Not that it matters, but Smiths reg season winning is 54%, not 56%
Danged Bears fans, hijacking the comments thread on an article about another team!
(Just kidding. I grew up in Illinois and was a diehard Bears fan too, before moving out here to Seattle. When Bubba Behring bought the Seahawks, he immediately reminded me of Abe Gibron -- so I knew it wasn't going to turn out very well. Thank God we were able to pry the team away from him!)
Carroll can't be any worse than Lovie Smith. The bears have only gotten worse since Lovie took over.
If you worked under Thompson, you must be pretty good I would think.
Are we now going to see some Green Bay-Seattle trades where Schneider trys to get his guys that didn't work out in GB. Further strengthing the bond between these two teams.
Gerg,
So, Johnson was the only successful college coach. How about Dick Vermeil, John Robinson, Bill Walsh, etc.?
good
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Jan 19, 2010
04:44 PM
Well it looks like a fine staff and a great hire. But so did Nick Saban in Miami and Bobby Petrino in Atlanta. I think Carroll is a GREAT college coach, much like Saban, Urban Meyer and Jim Tressell. But these are all guys that I think are great COLLEGE coaches, you know, love to work with kids, are teachers, etc. It's one thing to work with walk ons and even blue chippers, who are eager to learn and are coachable. It's another to deal with 25-year old millionaires, some of whom remain hungry because they were raised right and some of whom are, well, puds and know it alls.
I hope it works out for him and Seattle but won't be surprised if it doesn't.