Searching For The Next Jack Zduriencik

Paul Allen, Tod Leiweke, and whoever else will help to determine the next general manager of the Seahawks: please, don’t screw this up. I’m not ready to endure another decade of lousy professional football in Seattle.

Earlier this week, sources indicated that the Seattle Seahawks had limited their search to four candidates: Baltimore Ravens director of player personnel Eric DeCosta, Green Bay Packers director of football operations John Schneider, Arizona Cardinals director of player personnel Steve Keim, and Philadelphia Eagles general manager Tom Heckert.

At first glance, none of the preceding candidates are “sexy” picks. It is obvious that Seattle isn’t going to make a huge splash like Allen opted for in 1999, when Mike Holmgren was acquired and given ultimate power over all personnel and coaching decisions. But as proven by Jack Zduriencik, you don’t need to be a household name to have success in a general manager role.

Jack Zduriencik has been great with the Seattle Mariners so far, but are any of the Seahawks’ candidates future front-office gurus? Will the next general manager be able to build for immediate and long-term success? Or will we experience another lame duck tenure that will trigger another depressing era of Seahawks football?

I completely trust ownership and the front office to make the right decision; they’re committed to winning and will select whoever they feel is the best candidate for the job. Compared with previous ownership groups in Seattle, that is saying a lot. And from a fan’s perspective, it removes a lot of anxiety from the entire process – all we’re required to do is show up every Sunday during the season and support the team.

After the four finalists were revealed, I did some basic research; to be honest, prior to their names being discovered, I didn’t know much about any of them. How each would fare in Seattle as general manager is to be determined, but a couple of things are consistent with each candidate: they’re all competent front office professionals who are coming from winning franchises (at least during their tenures).

Hopefully, this process won’t take too much longer. I don’t think it will affect the team much if a decision isn’t made right away (I’d rather have a long process that results in the right decision anyways), but there are several evaluations and personnel/coaching decisions that need to be made. Without a committed general manager (not an interim), any changes made would be unfair and probably ill-advised.

As I get more time, I’ll post my opinions on each one of the candidates. Keep an eye on the news, however, because it appears as if Mike Holmgren and the Cleveland Browns are also after Eagles GM Tom Heckert. And make sure to watch the playoff games this weekend – the Seahawks can only officially hire someone from another franchise after their current season has ended (Baltimore, Green Bay, Arizona, and Philadelphia are all playoff teams).

UPDATE: According to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, “Giants director of college scouting Marc Ross, a real up and comer, is scheduled to interview for Seahawks GM job next week.”