As the Seattle Seahawks continue their search for their new offensive coordinator, one name stands out as a prime candidate. It's not Hank Fraley, Grand Udinski, nor Kilint Kubiak, who Seattle has reportedly scheduled a second interview with. Rather, it's a familiar name who was suddenly and, arguably, unjustly fired after three very productive seasons in Seattle.
With Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy receiving the axe earlier this week, it's widely speculated that his coaching staff in Dallas will also be looking for a new home in 2025. That includes offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who spent 2018-2020 as Seattle's offensive coordinator before his stint in Dallas. Schottenheimer will likely be a hot commodity this off-season.
Schottenheimer, who called three straight top-ten offenses in his three seasons in Seattle, will likely be available for Seattle this off-season. The Seahawks' offense has yet to come close to the firepower and production they experienced with Schottenheimer since his departure in 2020, so why not go back to the well? Seattle experimented with unproven coordinators in Shane Waldron and Ryan Grubb, but in four combined years between the two, they never cracked the top 16 in total offense.
Why the Seahawks should bring back Brian Schottenheimer
Schottenheimer, or "Skybox Schotty" as he was known in Seattle, called an entertaining, very productive offense with the Seahawks. Under Schottenheimer, QB Russell Wilson had career years, including a 106-25 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Wilson was a fantastic quarterback on his own, but it's worth exploring his sudden surge under Schottenheimer. Because before and after Schotty, Wilson never looked as great.
Perhaps even more important than just calling a quarterback-friendly offense, Schottenheimer called a balanced offense, including tremendous production by his running backs. In 2018 and 2019, in which running back Chris Carson played in all but a handful of games, Carson rushed for 1,151 and 1,230 yards on 247 and 278 carries, respectively. To put those numbers into perspective,
Chris Carson alone rushed for almost as many yards in one season as Seattle had as an entire unit in 2024, with only 1,627 yards, good for only 23rd in the league. In 2018, Schottenheimer's Seahawks offense led the league in rushing, and a year after that, his offense finished fourth in the league in rushing.
Since his firing in Seattle, which is widely believed to be thanks to Russell Wilson wanting a new offensive coordinator and Pete Carroll being a yes-man to Wilson, Schottenheimer has been on fire in Dallas. He was able to squeeze the most out of QB Dak Prescott, and even backup QBs like Cooper Rush, as he called one of the league's top offenses several years in a row. In both 2022 and 2023,
Schottenheimer's offense finished top-ten in the league in scoring, including the top-scoring offensive unit in 2023 with a healthy Dak Prescott. And even with subpar running backs, the Cowboys finished top-ten in rushing multiple times during Schotty's stint.
Schottenheimer's offense is as balanced as it gets, with a productive run game that translates seamlessly into play-action pass plays. If there's been one thing missing from Seattle's offense since 2021, it's been the play-action game. In 2024, that became painfully evident as the run game seemingly disappeared, and Geno Smith was hung out to dry as defenses sat back in cover-two daring him to throw.
Both Geno Smith and the receivers would truly benefit from a more balanced offense, including play-action calls that don't just let defenses sit back in coverage.
With head coach Mike Macdonald and former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb reportedly having differences in philosophy, there may not be a better match for this team than Schottenheimer. Schotty wants to establish the run before digging deeper into the play sheet, which is the exact opposite of what Grubb wanted in Seattle.
As a defensive-minded head coach, playing a physical brand of offense and controlling the clock is likely something Macdonald will value as Seattle continues to look for its next play-caller.