The Seahawk’s new offensive coordinator earned his own stripes despite having a famous NFL father and, as a result, has a clear vision of what it takes to coach an efficient offense in the NFL. Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald introduced Klint Kubiak as a great human being who has a clear vision of a successful offense.
“ I just really respect Klint as a person. Excited for him to work with our players. As a coach, just the scheme expertise, this guy has been around the game for a long time and well documented with his family and have so much respect for his brothers and for his father, Gary (Kubiak),” said Macdonald. “ I worked with him in 2014, but the passion for the game, the scheme expertise, the track record with the quarterback. Klint has a really great vision for where he wants our offense to go. It was very clear with that with the personnel we have on our roster.”
AN IDENTITY
Introductory press conferences are like the first day of school after the summer holidays. Everyone says the right things; there are a lot of smiles and plenty of compliments. So active listening means to pick and choose between what was said and what was not said. Macdonald spoke all last year about having a physical football team on both sides of the ball. Towards the end of the season, the defense’s physical play was evident. The offense, not so much. The inability to run when needed cost Ryan Grubb his maiden voyage as an NFL offensive coordinator. In the aftermath of the Grubb firing, everyone came to the conclusion it was not all Grubbs’s fault.
“I think it’s like all players, smart, tough, dependable. With the offensive linemen, they’ve got to be intelligent and they’ve got to be available. They have to be healthy enough to get better, practice every day, and contribute to the team,” said Kubiak when asked about the teams offensive line . “Those are really important things. The skill takes care of itself, that’s things that we’re evaluating right now. But, having a high intelligence between the ears and being able to react quickly to movement in front of you is very important.”
RUNNING THE BALL IS VITAL TO WINNING IN THE NFL
The numbers are very clear when it comes to the correlation between winning and running the ball in the NFL. The top six run attempt teams in 2024, Philadelphia (621), Baltimore (554), Detroit (534), Pittsburgh (533), Washington (526), and Green Bay (526), all made the playoffs. Having an efficient run game opens up the passing game, which leads to a balanced offense.
“You’ve got to be a balanced team. I think balance is important. Sometimes you do have to drop back 50 times to win the game, and sometimes you’ve got to run it 50 times. But when it all comes through, we want to be balanced. We want to be able to win multiple ways ,” said Kubiak.
BRINGING HIS OWN PEOPLE
After agreeing to be the team’s OC, Kubiak made a point to bring his most trusted assistants to his new job. The Seahawks announced the hiring of John Benton as the offensive line coach, Andrew Janocko as the quarterbacks coach, and Michael Byrne as an offensive assistant.
I’ll start with coach (John) Benton. If our identity is going to be a running football team, it starts with coach Benton and his approach. Just really impressed with his ability as a teacher, number one. He’s an excellent teacher. The way he runs the room, holds his guys accountable. I’ve just seen the way he leads men and his schemes are excellent. Andrew Janocko, I’ve been with him at two different stops, another good teacher. Those are the things we’re looking for in our coaching staffs, great teachers and guys that can motivate. Andrew Janocko is a really good teacher. I’ve seen him do it with Kirk Cousins, with Derek Carr, and seen him relate to the younger players like Spencer Rattler and develop those guys. I’m really thankful for Mike (Macdonald) and John (Schneider) for letting us bring those guys here and to get us started quicker.”
COMPARING THE OFFENSES
A comparison of the two Saints and Seahawks offenses in 2024 shows the gulf between the two when it comes to running the ball.
The 2024 Saints ranked 11th in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage (58.1%), 13th in yards per carry (4.4), 14th in rush yards per game (114.9), 21st in total rush attempts (444), 21st in total offense (5,442 yards), 24th in points per game (19.9) and 28th in third-down conversions (35.2%).%)
The Seahawks in comparison, were ranked 14th in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage ( 57.1%), 17th in yards per carry ( 4.2), 14th in total offense (332.2 yd per game) ranked 29th in rushing attempts ( 383), and 28th in total yards ( 1627), 21st in third down conversions I 37.6), 18th in points per game (22.1)
Up next for the Seahawks will be the restructuring of Geno Smith‘s contract. Macdonald is on record saying the team can win with Geno, and Kubiak pretty much repeated the same sentiment during the press conference. “
“I think Geno’s (Smith) tough as nails. I think you look at the guy in the fourth quarter and he goes and wins football games. So that excites me. That fires me up. I’ve watched his career, studying him more now than I ever have before. But you think about a guy that’s been through a lot of adversity, the guy that’s been knocked off the high horse and had to claw his way back into the starter’s role and then he comes back the last two years and wins more games in the fourth quarter than anybody in the NFL. That’s a guy that I want to coach, ‘ said Kubiak .
CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
The first of the three offensive player dynamos should happen before the NFL free agent signing period begins on March 8th . Smith’s cap hit for the 2025 season is $44.5 million. The other two are DK Metcalf $ 31.8 million and Tyler Lockett $30.8 million.
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