Lofa Tatupu added to our coaching staff!

[c_hawkbob]

How cool is this!!

Lofa's greatest assets were always what he had between his ears and beating in his chest! That's why he was a perennial Pro Bowler out of the box in spite of being too small and too slow to play in the NFL. It made for a short playing career but I couldn't imagine a greater coaching prospect!

http://www.seahawks.com/news/articles/a ... 8cd16a2777

[mykc14]

I love this hire.

[NorthHawk]

In time, he might be able to replace Norton, but probably not the first year.

Edit:
They also added Former NFL Linebacker Michael Barrow as a LB coach. For those who don't want to follow the link.

[HumanCockroach]

I was wondering if they might add Farwell in some compacity with the LB's this season ( as I am guessing he is done playing after his injury last year) but approve of both Barrow and Lofa in those positions...

According to Farwell he is trying to give it another go, and hopes it is in Seattle ( not sure if they will be able to again give that space to Farwell) and that Seattle did indeed offer a coaching position, but that he wasn't ready to hang them up yet...

[NorthHawk]

Maybe start with Special Teams as an assistant to learn how a coach prepares and motivates.

[Zorn76]

Great hire, indeed.

The guy was stellar during the early years of his career, loves Seattle, and likely will put an equal amount of zeal into his coaching as he did his playing.

Welcome aboard, Lofa!

[jshawaii22]

Evidently, there was no bad blood when Pete released him in what was the start of the house cleaning. I think this is awesome. He had a big heart and is similar to Wagner in size and style.

js

[NorthHawk]

He played for Pete and was coached by Norton while at USC so he should know what is expected of a MLB in this system.
Because he was undersized, he couldn't rely on his athleticism and had to truly understand the position which I think will help him as a coach.

[Steady_Hawk]

Amazing.

One of my all time favorite Hawks now one of our coaches. Talk about unexpected, but this really takes the sting away from losing Ken to the Raiders.

Lofa was always so smart, coaching may come naturally for him.

[monkey]

When I saw this yesterday, I was pretty stinking happy. I LOVED Lofa, absolutely loved watching him play, and pre-read exactly what the offense was doing time after time. He was one of my favorite ever Seahawks players, it always bothered me that his career was so short.

[SalmonBB]

Welcome home, Lofa!

GO SEAHAWKS!!!

[Agent 86]

I always think of one thing when I think of Lofa. I joined the Seattle PI board on draft day April 2005, the day Lofa got drafted. It was my first time visiting the forum, and oh man, the stuff that was being said at the time about the pick was disturbing to me. It was my first time really joining a fan forum, I was stunned. I was wondering if all fan forums were like that. Lol...

Lofa turned out to be a great player, definitely his career ended much too soon. But glad he is back in the Seahawk family.

[obiken]

He can teach because he couldn't use his natural size to play LB, cause he didn't have any. He was a great hitter. I like it too. I just wish they would have given Ken the DC job but no use in continuing to whine about it.

[Hawktawk]

He can teach because he couldn't use his natural size to play LB, cause he didn't have any. He was a great hitter. I like it too. I just wish they would have given Ken the DC job but no use in continuing to whine about it.

Lofa got run out of the league by injuries but in his brief prime he was a QB on the field, very smart, instinctive, and fundamentally sound. He was excellent in pass coverage as well.

As for Kenny obviously PC viewed Richard more favorably.so did Quinn whop tried to poach him which Kris declined. Quinn did not reach out to Norton as far as is known. I hope we got the right guy and im rooting for Quinn, Bradly, Norton, Richard, and Lofa to tear it up in their new roles!

[RiverDog]

It's hard to tell what kind of a coach Lofa is going to be. Good players, even those that on the surface appear to be cerebral and knowledgeable enough to write a book on the subject, don't always make good coaches. I've heard that Peyton Manning is a very poor mentor for young quarterbacks. The best coaches seem to be those that were not highly successful as players. Heck, take a look at Pete Carroll himself. How many Pro Bowls did he make as a player?

But I have come to trust Pete in these matters. He recruited Lofa and coached him in college, inherited him here as a player. He obviously thinks that Lofa has something to contribute.

[c_hawkbob]

I'm sorry but it is not at all hard to imagine what kind of coach this player is going to be. Cliche's are not always applicable.

[kalibane]

It's not just about being cerebral you also have to have a desire to teach. It doesn't surprise me that Peyton hasn't been a good mentor.

For one the veteran QB being a mentor to the young guy is largely a myth. There aren't many people who want to help train the guy who's going to replace them. Peyton is obsessed with his legacy and I don't see him taking time away from his own dogged pursuit of perfection to teach some kid who is light years behind him.

Secondly, truly great players don't usually make good coaches. There are things in the game that 95% of the players in the league can't do based on god given gifts, be they physical or mental gifts, but are completely natural to great players. It's tough for someone to teach something they never had to work on to be good at. They often have a hard time understanding why other people can't do the things that are simple to them.

Lofa fits the mold of guys who typically are able to transition into good coaches. Good leader. Average talent. Had to work extremely hard and use his mastery of the game to overcome his physical shortcomings. If he has the desire to teach, I can't see a reason why he wouldn't be a good coach. You may be tempted to say that Manning falls into that category now, but that's not true. He may have not been John Elway physically but you don't draft a QB #1 overall based purely on his study habits. Manning was the #1 on peoples draft boards from the start of the college season to the draft for a reason beyond work ethic.

[NorthHawk]

Lofa is only the Assistant LB coach.
Micheal Barrow is the LB coach replacing Ken Norton. He was the Miami Hurricanes LB coach for 7(?) years, so he has a lot more experience than Lofa.
I do like the signing, though as I think Tats will eventually do well in that position.

[RiverDog]

There's not too many former Pro Bowl caliber players that made great football coaches. Dick LeBeau is one I can think of, Mike Ditka another. Bart Starr fell on his face. Jim Zorn was one of those middle of the road players, no Pro Bowl selections but still relatively successful that turned into an excellent position coach. Josh McDaniels had some credibility issues with his players when he was the HC at Denver that was related to the fact that he'd never played a single down in the NFL or at a major college, but he's been a successful OC. So who knows.

The attributes of a successful NFL coach might be an interesting topic to throw around here in the offseason.