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https://www.seahawks.com/news/seahawks- ... ike-solari

What do you think? Another scapegoat firing?

Just posted this under post for "Norton is out as DC".

"Mike and I agreed that parting was right for our continued offensive transition. Mike is a fantastic coach and a great person, and I am forever grateful for his service to the Seahawks," said Pete Carroll.

What the Andy Dickerson hire likely means for Seahawks Mike Solari
By John P. Gilbert@JohnPGilbertNFL Jan 29, 2021, 9:00am PST

According to reports, the Seattle Seahawks are set to hire Los Angeles Rams assistant offensive line coach Andy Dickerson to be the team’s run game coordinator in 2021. That hire makes a lot of sense given that new Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron comes from a system that has used a different style of running than the Hawks in recent seasons, but it certainly leads to the question of what exactly Dickerson’s hire means for Seattle offensive line coach Mike Solari.

The first concern raised by many has been whether the Hawks have the offensive linemen athletic enough to play within a wide zone scheme given Solari’s preference for maulers. It’s certainly the case that many of the interior offensive linemen the Hawks have used in recent seasons, including D.J. Fluker and Mike Iupati, lack the athleticism ideal for implementing a wide zone scheme. However, 2020 third round pick Damien Lewis’ athletic testing numbers from the combine put him at above average athleticism among NFL offensive linemen. That, of course, leads to the question of whether his testing was simply buoyed by combine prep because his film shows blocks missed in the second level due to poor angles and change of direction questions once up to speed, but from a numbers and testing perspective Lewis meets the criteria. In addition, both Brandon Shell and Duane Brown at tackle have the athleticism necessary to play in a wide zone scheme, though between age for Brown and heavy footedness for Shell, they may not be the perfect fit.

That said, the big questions for the Seahawks on the offensive line remain the same as they were prior to the hire of Waldron and Dickerson. Specifically, what will the team do at left guard and center. Ideally 2018 fourth round draft pick Phil Haynes would stay healthy and take over at left guard, but that could be a big ask for a player who has played exactly one regular season offensive snap so far in his career.

Center likely becomes the true beacon of what to expect from Seattle next year in terms of the run game. 2020 starter Ethan Pocic is set to be an unrestricted free agent, and lacks the size and power that Solari tends to prefer. However, the reason Pocic is on the roster is because he is a good fit for wide zone, and thus was drafted under former offensive line coach Tom Cable.

I never thought much of Solari myself. Not sure who else we will get. He was in here 2008 and 2009. He didn't do a whole lot then either. I'm sure he's a competent coach. But not a gamebreaker one way or the other.

Solari is a well rounded coach and he HAS used some ZBS concepts in the past. Maybe he just didn't want go all in on it, though.

trents wrote:https://www.seahawks.com/news/seahawks-part-ways-with-offensive-line-coach-mike-solari

What do you think? Another scapegoat firing?

Yep. I started a thread awhile ago, how in comparison to the 4 years prior to Solari's arrival in 2018, Pete gave then OL coach Tom Cable more and higher draft picks from which to work with. In addition, we never traded for or brought in a top shelf free agent, as we did for Cable when we traded for Duane Brown in 2017, instead giving him table scraps with other team's rejects.

RD, I pretty much agree.
Since 2018, Pete has drafted 4 o-lineman. None in the first 2 rounds. One each in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th rounds. For a coach who wants to run the ball like Pete, this isn't much of an investment. Although I did like the acquisitions of Brandon Shell and Gabe Jackson, both serviceable, but not spectacular.

govandals wrote:RD, I pretty much agree.
Since 2018, Pete has drafted 4 o-lineman. None in the first 2 rounds. One each in the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th rounds. For a coach who wants to run the ball like Pete, this isn't much of an investment. Although I did like the acquisitions of Brandon Shell and Gabe Jackson, both serviceable, but not spectacular.

And if you contrast it with the previous 4 years, from 2014-17, when Cable was our OL and assistant HC, the deficiency is even more apparent:

2014 Justin Britt (2), Garrett Scott (6) Total picks all positions: 9
2015 Terry Poole (4), Mark Glowinski (4) Total picks all positions: 8
2016 Germain Ifedi (1), Rees Odhiambo (3), Joey Hunt (6) Total picks all positions: 10
2017 Ethan Pocic (2), Justin Senior (6) Total picks all positions: 11

Number of OL selections: 9. Average round: 3.78. Total picks all positions: 38. Percentage of picks used on offensive linemen: 24%.

2018 Jamarco Jones (5) Total picks all positions: 9
2019 Phil Haynes (4) Total picks all positions: 11
2020 Damien Lewis (3) Total picks all positions: 8
2021 Stone Forsythe (6) Total picks all positions: 3

Number of OL selections: 4. Average round: 4.5. Total picks all positions: 31. Percentage of picks used on offensive linemen: 13%.

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ ... /draft.htm

During the 4 years from 2014-17, Pete gave Cable a #1 draft pick and two #2's. The highest selection he gave Solari in his 4 years was a #3. Add into the above information the fact that the trade for Duane Brown occurred in 2017 when Cable was the OL coach.

It's pretty clear that Pete was not giving Solari near the resources that he gave Cable, yet he expected better results than Cable gave him.

There were a couple of things that didn't work in Solari's favor.
One is he wasn't given much to work with
the other is Waldron probably wanted his guy who knows the type of blocking schemes he wants to implement.
That might mean different types of players on the OL as some Offenses use quicker but smaller OL and others use hulking OL.
FA might tell us what if any directional change we are to expect but maybe we will get a good Center out of it.

Meh. I’ll get excited when they start whacking personnel decision makers……..

curmudgeon wrote:Meh. I’ll get excited when they start whacking personnel decision makers……..

Well, nobody has been held to account for the drain of talent over the last 7 years, so I doubt it will happen with this regime.
The best I can do is hope Pete gives some of his Offensive authority away to the Offensive coaches who actually know Offense.

As much as the draft is a crap shoot, drafting OL is an even bigger one. Cable had big influence on the OL picks, and was pathetic at it, using higher draft picks than Solari and basically wasting them. Ifedi was a bust, Britt was the best of the bunch, but certainly not worth a #2. The lower one's used during Solari's tenure may well prove to be as good. There be said for trying to improve via FA and trade vs the draft. We're seeing the Rams success built on trading away higher end picks for proven talent, avoiding high end busts and using mid-low rounds to supplement depth.

The stated reasons for the move to complement the offensive style of Waldron makes sense. I hope it works out.

I just saw an analyst breaking down offensive off-season priorities . In discussing the colts they mention the need to re sign Mark Glowinski .

Hawktawk wrote:I just saw an analyst breaking down offensive off-season priorities . In discussing the colts they mention the need to re sign Mark Glowinski .

I think that speaks to system or scheme fit. The Colts are a power run team and that fits what he does best. In a ZBS that requires a quicker player he may not be as
successful. And that's one of the keys to drafting OL. They have to know what the identity of the OL is, the scheme they are playing and how the player fits into it.
I think it might be in part why Cable wasn't very successful in that when he was here he ran a hybrid scheme so players would often be in the middle of two systems.
Glowinski was on the more physical side and when he went to Indy, he was able to develop into a very good Guard, but in our system he had trouble with the quickness.
That's my theory.