Seahawk Addicts
Why would they replace Solari after just signing him and touting him so highly?
Maybe Solari is hoping to parlay this year into another o-coordinator gig?
Else, maybe he just wanted to learn from Holmgren while he still had the chance.
It is also possible that he will stay and Cable will perform a different duty.
We will have to wait and see...
That's a good way to look at this, Michael. Performing in a 'contract year' usually brings out the best in athletes, so why not coaches too. They get paid enough. Let's see them compete.
This is exactly what I didn't want.. If they don't retain Haskell I'm going to be very pessimistic..
With all due respect there is a reason Oakland was where they landed..
I wish people would just hire the best person available instead of having to bring in their own guys. I would lose respect for Mora if he had to clean house just to bring in his Atlanta guys. Solari is one of the best OL coaches around, to get rid of him just to bring in "my guy" is stupid.
The sports writers are going to be spinning which coaches will be going where, but they can't know anything to a certainty. Too much can happen in a season.
If Solari's influence on the o-line produces good results, I think it unlikely Mora would get rid of him in his first year. Announcing Mora as HC was supposed to assist with continuity for the team, and unless Solari stinks up the joint (and how likely is that?), I don't see how getting rid of him would help our o-line gain consistency.
However, if Mora wants to get rid of John Marshall, I'm all for that!!
I'm hoping it doesn't come down to an offensive housecleaning. I think that's the surest way to give yourself the worst chance of success initially. The OC debate between Haskell and Knapp isn't really the pivitol decision in my opinion. Haskell isn't a proven play caller whatsoever but he does have Holmgren's endorsement that he could do a good job (that and a dollar gets me a coffee). Knapp has real game experience at calling games and if his WCO offense uses very close to the same terminology (likely), there shouldn't be any problematic learning curve with the playbook.
It's the rest of the offensive staff that I think it all hinges on. Solari is showing himself to be a quality coach who will probably make a big difference this season. If the offense comes together this year and has a successful season, it would be riskly to disassemble a successful and proven staff in favor of a new one who will have to re-build their rapport with the players and among themselves as well as establishing their way of getting the job done. Regardless of what version of the WCO Knapp runs, having a completely new staff of position and assistant coaches is going to feel like learning a new offense and the players are going to be facing a learning curve along with the coaching staff. This action effectively kills the advantage of the way the Seahawks have orchestrated this turnover from Holmgren to Mora in my opinion.
Instead of the smoothest turnover in NFL history, you very well could be looking at a more conventional rebuilding period when a new head coach takes over and moves in his own regime and players and the team re-adjusts to a different style of coaching, training, and preparing for games.
Since the playcaller is going to be new no matter who get's the OC's job, that's a given. The head coach is going to be new too so that's another given. If Mora kept the rest of the team intact with Knapp as the OC, I think the offense would continue to function at the same level it did under Holmgren or very close to it with few problems. There's a very good chance we would just carry on like nothing happened let alone a major coaching change. Business as usual in the West.
Now Mora can assess how the team is functioning with minimal learning curves and if he has some changes he would like to make, they can be made carefully while continuing to be the baddest thing in the NFC West. Eventually, he'll get the players/coaches he's happy with and assuming he didn't drag the team down into ruins by the changes he made, the team should remain poised as contenders while his changes take effect gradually. That way we don't have to take a couple of steps backward before we charge into the future.
So far, what I'm hearing scares me a little bit. If he keeps the defense intact, that's half the battle but I wish he wouldn't just blow away the offensive staff and risk putting things out of kilter for a year or two before we get on track with Mora at the helm. Whatever changes he makes are being made I hope with the team's best interests at heart and not payback gigs for past favors debts. If he cleaned house on both sides of the ball, I'd be royally upset because that's the sure way to take us out of contention in 2009 and put us firmly in rebuilding mode.
well wouldnt T-bone ruskell have sumthin so say here?? also i have to believe that players are signing contracts with knowin the coachin situation will be gentle.
I would think that this organization has peojected it's course farther then on year ahead. It's a successful corporation for cry'n out loud. When Ruskell spoke off a smooth transition I'm certain he was not merely referring to the head coaching position.
I'm not buying that Mora is going to can everyone and bring in only guys he's worked with before. It isnt like Mora knows diddly about offense--and it isnt like his Atlanta teams had much in the way of offense. If he is smart, he will at least attempt to keep Haskell.
These rumors may be coming from Knapp and company--who the hell wants to work for the Raiders?! I guarantee all of the coaches named would love to work for Mora in Seattle, but that doesnt mean they are going to.
I'm gonna wait to hit the panic button until the housecleaning happens.
Hopefully Mora learned from his firing from Atlanta not to surround himself with cronies.
I dont buy into the contract year for coaches and them performing better. When you think you are going to lose your job or know it most people worry. You start thinking about what you are going to do and where you are going to go. This is especially true for the older work force. Say what you want about the nature of the game and people expect that but most people do not like change and greatly value security. People in that position at some point will have to start thinking about thier future and thier family - that could mean taking time away from your current team to do things like having a meal with someone you think might be able to give you a job when the season is over. Plus, will they wait once the season is over to see how things shake out or will they jump at a different opprotunity if availible to gain some security?
I think Mora will remember how hard it was to be successful on offense in Atl. Even though he wont be forced to play a one dimensional qb Hass and our recievers are made for our type of offense. Not saying Hass couldnt change but I think this is the best use of his skills.
The best hope that I can see is that Mora learn from Holmy - stay away from what you dont know and hire people to take care of it for you. Remember when Holmy first got here and brought his D coordinator from Green Bay - Fritz Shurmur, who passed away in the first season. Holmy lost a friend and a trusted football security blanket. In Green Bay he didnt have to worry about the D because Fritz took care of business. It took years to find someone to run the D for Holmy - Ray Rhodes, who had things moving in the right direction before he got sick.
Mora has to find someone he trusts to run the offense so he can focus on being the head coach and the D, just like Holmy needed someone to run the D so he could focus on the offense.
The offense might be better with the right O coordinator if they keep Holmy's system in place -not blaspheme here - remember the post about how Holmy had to be more conservative because he was calling the plays and the head coach. If the o coordinator is calling the plays maybe we put the hammer down a little more and really put the hurt on teams and close them out in the second half instead 3 runs and punt clock management trying not to lose a game instead of crushing the will of the other team.
As a U of Idaho alumni I have no love for Cable...he did a horrendous job while head coach there...we had winning seasons every year I was there and when he showed up it all went down hill. I know you can't blame just one guy for the downfall but as head coach it does ultimately lie on his shoulders...keep Solari...big mistake if he's let go...in my humble opinion
I really don't like projecting who will be the coaches next year. First of all, I think we have some excellent coaches that Mora would like to keep around. Yes, it is nice to have people you are comfortable with around you, but after two years of working with the Seattle coaches, he probably became comfortable with them also. Additionally, lets face it but with the exception of Mora's first year in Atlanta, his record was not outstanding in any way, shape, or form. We can all debate why it wasn't good (uh hum . . . Michael Vick), but it still wasn't good. Maybe he needs some new coaches than the ones he had in Atlanta. I don't like all the pressure on these coaches. It pushes them to make drastic changes at the slightest mistake. Look at Carolina's draft. Fox is on the "hot seat". So they trade next year's #1 draft pick and a couple other picks for Jeff Otah from Pitt. I'm a Pitt grad and my parents are Pitt grads. We are die-hard fans, but Otah isn't worth what they gave up to get him. BUT with Fox being one and done if they don't win this year, they had to do it. Trade in the franchise's well-being for a chance to win this year. Same may be true in Seattle, the coaches will make unnecessary sacrifices this year to hopefully secure a job for next year with Mora.
I don't care about next year either. I do, but I don't want people to focus on that to the point where it becomes a distraction. There's a special season to be played in '08 with a trip to Tampa in Feb of '09. I don't want to overlook what should be a fun season.
I know Walt will have gotten another year older, but whoever the OC is in '09... they have an advantage... the WRs will be a year older and Carlson will be a 2nd year TE, not a rookie like Holmgren has to deal with...
Hey guys, I like the overall optimism prevailing over the Mora turnover. If we conclude that Mora's no fool, we have to hope he's not going to do anything too stupid that would diminish his chances of continuing on with the success the Seahawks have had over the last 5 years.
On the conspiracy side though there is a nasty rumor that has come out over the last year or so that says that Ruskell is insanely jealous of Holmgren's success and wants desperately to have that success be reflected on his management of the franchise rather than Holmgren's coaching. In this scenario, Ruskell wants to get rid of Holmgren's coaches and supporters so that no one can say that continued success of the team is because of what Holmgren built and left behind. This same rumor has it that Ruskell would do what he could to insure that Holmgren doesn't have a good year this season so that he and Mora can come in the following season and bring the Seahawks back up to a level of contention for the title amd prove that it was Ruskell's leadership that got them there. I've heard this particular rumor brought up more than once over the last year. Michael, you must have heard this one too somewhere along the line.
In a word, bull Schmitt! (I just love our new player's whose name lends itself to a whole new category of phraseology). 
Being a Ruskell supporter, I just don't believe it for a second. Some of us were watching the draft carefully this season to see if there was any indications of Ruskell drafting in a way to not give Holmgren what he needed to have a great last season in Seattle. He got Holmgren his TE at the cost of a very valuable 3rd round draft pick given to move up and assure that they would get him his choice. He rebuilt the running game as promised and has seemed to support Holmgren in every way.
Those rumors are just plain wrong and as such, I don't believe they will get rid of anyone just because of his association with Holmgren. Overall, because both Ruskell and Mora want to succeed in the post Holmgren era, they will do what's best for the continuity of the team on both offense and defense. I'm also an optimist at heart and Ruskell has never shown me that he's driven by anything other than a desire to win.
Lot's of what if analysis.
Dungy came close to a bowl game, built a great defense and competent enough offense and still couldn't make the big win happen.
Gruden came in a year later and broke the streak. The worst team in football became superbowl champs.
You just never know.
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