Norton is out as DC

[govandals]

I like the Desai hiring, better him than Donatell. Sounds like a lot of his former players like him. I guess his nickname is the "Mad Scientist" It will be interesting what his role exactly is. Hopefully we'll see some pre-snap movement and a more proactive defense in general and less of the death by a 1000 cuts defense.

I wonder if Solari and Waldron were not quite on the same page. I suppose Waldron got his guy with the promotion of Andy Dickerson. Given the talent he had, I thought Solari did well.

[Hawktawk]

The line played extremely well last few weeks . Stats don’t lie . Solari is a head scratcher . Reminds me of Richard in 2017

[tarlhawk]

Solari's firing seems to be a shift in O-line style from power two hand punch to more of a wide zone hybrid similar to previous O-Line Coach Tom Cable in the type of linemen utilized. Prior to coming to us last year from the Rams, Dickerson was an Assistant Offensive Line Coach for the Rams...then settled in as Running Game coach. Pete also referred to our team moving to a new o-line scheme which isn't suited for Solari's style.

From Pete:

"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.

An article last year pondered what the impact might be on Solari with the hiring of Dickerson away from the Rams :

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.

[RiverDog]

The line played extremely well last few weeks . Stats don’t lie . Solari is a head scratcher . Reminds me of Richard in 2017

Yeah, I was surprised at that move, too. According to PFF, our line did backslide from its 2020 performance, but that's not necessarily on Solari.

Pete has given Solari fewer and lower draft picks to work with than he gave Cable, plus we've never gone out and traded for or brought in as a free agent a top offensive lineman during his tenure. The firing has the feel of him being made a scapegoat.

[NorthHawk]

That's true RD, outside of Duane Brown, Solari was expected to work wonders with the players he was given.

[Hawktawk]

It’s one voice but an informed one . Dave Wyman can’t get off Phil Haynes bandwagon . He said Penney looked great but lots of those runs went right through Haynes . I believe he’s in the same situation as Penney being unsigned . So all the late season fireworks with those guys were engineered by a guy whose now gone . What does that mean for guys like Hanes and Penney . And aside from talent injuries can’t be predicted and Seattle and Solari have not been lucky .

[NorthHawk]

It’s one voice but an informed one . Dave Wyman can’t get off Phil Haynes bandwagon . He said Penney looked great but lots of those runs went right through Haynes . I believe he’s in the same situation as Penney being unsigned . So all the late season fireworks with those guys were engineered by a guy whose now gone . What does that mean for guys like Hanes and Penney . And aside from talent injuries can’t be predicted and Seattle and Solari have not been lucky .

The FO keeps talking about re-signing our players, but history shows us it doesn't mean much along the OL.
Haynes might turn out to be a good player, but will his abilities translate to Waldron's scheme would probably be the biggest question.
Perhaps the plays Waldron is designing are based upon the McVay model, but can be used with different types of blocking abilities and techniques.

[Hawktawk]

Haynes is a road grader mauler but he is quick enough to pull and do combination blocks etc . Wyman said he was our best lineman at seasons end and of course like Penney he was not signed for his fifth year .

[RiverDog]

Haynes is a road grader mauler but he is quick enough to pull and do combination blocks etc . Wyman said he was our best lineman at seasons end and of course like Penney he was not signed for his fifth year .

A fifth-year option is only for first round picks, is it not?

[NorthHawk]

That's what I thought as well, RD.

[RiverDog]

Haynes is a road grader mauler but he is quick enough to pull and do combination blocks etc . Wyman said he was our best lineman at seasons end and of course like Penney he was not signed for his fifth year .

The fifth-year option refers to the final year of an NFL player's rookie contract, most specifically a player drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft. Rookies who are drafted after the first round are only eligible for four-year contracts without an option for a fifth year, which is another advantage to being drafted in the first round.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/nfl/what-fi ... gency-news

[NorthHawk]

Boom. Got Desai!
https://www.fieldgulls.com/2022/2/11/22 ... e-columbia

Just heard a replay of Jake and Stacy and Jake said Desai will have final say over defensive game plan, personnel,
and that they would get more talent on that side of the ball.
Pete will still be involved of course but it seems like he’s taking a step back and being more of a CEO
instead of doing it all.
We’ll see how long that lasts but maybe Pete is planning his exit and I hope he doesn’t put more of
his attention on the Offense to compensate for doing less on Defense.

[govandals]

Fantastic news, if true.
I cannot imagine Pete giving up final say on game planning and personnel.
Remember a few years ago when Russ had a string of INT's and Pete stepped in to "reel in" Russ and Shotty instead of just letting Russ work through it? I envision the same thing here at the first sign of trouble. I sure hope I am wrong!

[NorthHawk]

Fantastic news, if true.
I cannot imagine Pete giving up final say on game planning and personnel.
Remember a few years ago when Russ had a string of INT's and Pete stepped in to "reel in" Russ and Shotty instead of just letting Russ work through it? I envision the same thing here at the first sign of trouble. I sure hope I am wrong!

Me neither. He has been a control freak for the most part and to give up some of his authority he either really believes in Desai, was told by Jody/Vulcan to give up some power, or maybe he's doing some
succession planning in the event he wants to retire after this year.
But then again, maybe I'm just inferring from the show what I want to hear...

[Hawktawk]

I heard a live interview from Diggs . He wants to be here but he wants to get paid . He was highly critical of the defensive scheme . He alluded to having secondary covering receivers and front 7 rushing as more effective , gave it credit for the improved numbers . He likes Clint Hurt but said Kenney wasn’t the final say on the defense . “ everyone knows everything runs through Pete . “ Pete invented cover 3 and it’s all over the league ” but people are on to cover 3 now”.


Thinking back to stuff like the zone blitz vs Atlanta allowing the long completion , “ the call” some of these game plans . How much personaI responsibility does he have for some of those huge failures ? I. bet all these young coaches are not cheap but there is no salary cap . I can’t imagine Vulcan bringing them in to be placeholders. I think PC is hearing wolves at the door .

[TriCitySam]

I heard a live interview from Diggs . He wants to be here but he wants to get paid . He was highly critical of the defensive scheme . He alluded to having secondary covering receivers and front 7 rushing as more effective , gave it credit for the improved numbers . He likes Clint Hurt but said Kenney wasn’t the final say on the defense . “ everyone knows everything runs through Pete . “ Pete invented cover 3 and it’s all over the league ” but people are on to cover 3 now”.


Thinking back to stuff like the zone blitz vs Atlanta allowing the long completion , “ the call” some of these game plans . How much personaI responsibility does he have for some of those huge failures ? I. bet all these young coaches are not cheap but there is no salary cap . I can’t imagine Vulcan bringing them in to be placeholders. I think PC is hearing wolves at the door .

But, it has also been said by some players that Pete gave Norton freedom, which led to Ken's "experimenting" - the disaster of having rushers drop into coverage, etc. As Diggs said "Let rushers rush and the cover guys cover". I think we'll see improvement.

[Aseahawkfan]

But, it has also been said by some players that Pete gave Norton freedom, which led to Ken's "experimenting" - the disaster of having rushers drop into coverage, etc. As Diggs said "Let rushers rush and the cover guys cover". I think we'll see improvement.

It's Pete defense. He can only keep pushing his generals in front of the bus for so long. Gus Bradley and Dan Quinn became head coaches when our talent was elite. Kris Rashard and Ken Norton end up fired when our talent is weak.

I still am not sure why any Seattle fans can't see that Pete and John have let the talent drop into the gutter. That's why the defense and offense are not performing. Run game is inconsistent with constantly injured Rbs. Defensive line cannot get pressure or sack the QB. Only thing that has been holding us together is an elite QB some of the fan base wants to get rid of for made up reasons about him being a diva rather than thinking maybe Russ can see that Pete and John are failing to get the talent he needs to win.

It's a fact that the talent isn't good enough to win a Super Bowl. They are bad at extremely important positions. No amount of scheming is going to hide bad talent. Pete and John need to draft better. Period.

[NorthHawk]

The people who can’t see the talent drop usually hide behind the win-loss record and think
things are going to get better. It’s possible, I suppose but quite unlikely IMO without considerable
changes. Maybe this is the start of it.

[TriCitySam]

The people who can’t see the talent drop usually hide behind the win-loss record and think
things are going to get better. It’s possible, I suppose but quite unlikely IMO without considerable
changes. Maybe this is the start of it.

If you didn’t hear Clint Hurtt on Wyman and Bob, it’s worth a listen. The podcast will be up tomorrow, impressive.

[Hawktawk]

The people who can’t see the talent drop usually hide behind the win-loss record and think
things are going to get better. It’s possible, I suppose but quite unlikely IMO without considerable
changes. Maybe this is the start of it.

If you didn’t hear Clint Hurtt on Wyman and Bob, it’s worth a listen. The podcast will be up tomorrow, impressive.[/quote]
I heard it. Very excited . He’s a great football mind , very intelligent and articulate . I won’t spoil it but fellow shack dwellers pull that interview up it’s well worth the listen .

[Old but Slow]

He has an obvious leaning to the 3-4, and this makes personnel important, as the skill needed are different from the standard 4-3. Linebackers have more pass rush responsibility, for instance. It will be interesting what impact on free agency and the draft will come from the new defensive coaches.

[Hawktawk]

I know he hasn't called a play yet but I'm excited to hear what he has to say. If we could bottle up the offense and run game the last few weeks of 21 and pair it with a simply decent defense were right back in it.

[NorthHawk]

I just listened to that.
He sounds like a coach I'd love to play for.
But at the end of the day, it's still Pete's Defense and until I see a significant change I won't believe our D will look much different than it has the last 10 years.
What I can hope for is a more complex Defense using the same base, meaning more disguised coverages and last second switches from man to zone or some
sort of mix. Something that might keep the opposing Offenses guessing at least a little.

[Hawktawk]

I liked his comments about being more aggressive and “less zoney” he explained that even within the framework of a zone there can be more wrinkles, man , jumping routes instead of playing cautious . I’m ready for the draft right now