Richard Sherman is right, the Seahawks don’t need an overhaul

The Seattle Seahawks have had remarkable stability over the past decade. One bad season has some 12s ready to throw that all away. Pump the brakes, friend, and look around. There are far more dysfunctional franchises than stable. Richard Sherman is right – mostly.

Yeah, yeah, the Seahawks just wrapped up a miserable season. May I gently remind you that for over a dozen franchises winning seven games and putting your main division rival, the Whiners, under the turf twice would be considered progress. I know, 12s have higher standards, as do the Hawks. We should be disappointed with 10 losses.

What we shouldn’t do is overreact and say we need a complete overhaul. Richard Sherman is coming under fire for comments he made on his eponymous podcast on Pro Football Focus recently. He and fellow former Hawks stalwart Cliff Avril discussed the conference championship games, overtime, and of course the Seahawks. You’ll find that discussion begins at the 27:40 mark, should you want to cut right to the chase.

The Seahawks don’t need to tear down everything they’ve built

Mike Salk of 710 ESPN took Sherman to task for many of his comments. I agree with Salk on several of his reactions to Sherman’s statements. I think the 12s do want accountability. A prime example of this was the near-constant demand to replace Ken Norton Jr. over the past two seasons. Happily, we got what we wanted, and the Seahawks defense should improve by default.

I also agree with Salk that winning the Super Bowl should be the expectation. That should be the expectation for every fanbase – yes, even the J-E-T-S. Hi, Ted. But those expectations have to be tempered by reality. This is where I completely agree with Richard Sherman. It isn’t reasonable to expect your team to win the big game every year; no one does that. One losing season in the past ten is a poor reason to start from scratch. As Sherm said, “Oh my god. You talk about a rebuild – they get rid of Pete Carroll, good luck.”

Ask a Cowboys fan how fun it is to keep looking for a coach that can win a playoff game. Dallas has only won two postseason games in the past 12 seasons, posting an overall record of 2-4. In that same time frame, Pete Carroll has led the Hawks to a 10-8 record. One of those is just a bit better than the other. You could ask a Cardinals fan, who waited six years for a winning season.

Or look at the disaster that’s happening in Miami right now, to see how dysfunctional an organization can be. The on-field results are nearly as bad. Don Shula, one of the top coaches ever, coached his final game in 1995. He was about to turn 66 when he was asked to retire. The Dolphins were 17-14 in the postseason in Shula’s 26 years. In the 27 years and 11 head coaches since his departure, the Phins playoff record is 3-7. Be careful what you wish for, 12s.