Following the resignation of longtime head coach Pete Carroll, who was a major factor in the roster choices made by the organization throughout the years, general manager John Schneider of the Seahawks has been given the responsibility for personnel under the new administration. Schneider also has a new title as of late. Schneider was formerly the executive vice president and general manager. According to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times, Schneider will assume the position of president of football operations in 2024.
His new position “largely signifies (that the) coaching staff now reports to him,” Schneider claims. Carroll used to be the person under whose direction the staff reported, but Schneider allegedly had it written into his contract six or seven years ago that he would take over that role upon Carroll’s departure.
Schneider said that although he will now oversee them, his involvement in the hiring of assistant coaches is “very much like support.” He claims that Mike Macdonald, the new head coach, will be the one to assemble the staff.
A couple more staff updates from Emerald City are as follows:
According to Jonathan Jones of NFL on CBS, the Seahawks interviewed Fred Walker, the offensive assistant for the Raiders, for their open quarterback coaching position. Walker had coached quarterbacks in a number of his prior college positions. He had experience with quarterbacks like Dak Prescott of Mississippi State and Daniel Jones of Duke. After two years in Las Vegas, he is hoping to land a coaching job in the NFL.
Additionally, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Seattle is moving to appoint Frisman Jackson as their new wide receivers coach. Jackson will work as an NFL receiver for the fourth time. After an uninspired group of Rishard Matthews, Eric Decker, and Corey Davis put up mediocre numbers in his first NFL coaching season in Tennessee, Jackson rebounded with a 1,000-yard season in 2020 at Carolina with D.J. Moore and Robbie Chosen, and Curtis Samuel (851 yards) not far behind. He has been a Pittsburgh mentor to Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, and others for the past two years.
Lastly, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Seahawks will appoint veteran NFL running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu to the same role in Macdonald’s new staff. Throughout his NFL career, Polamalu has established a solid track record of developing running back tandems. Following his 2004 league debut with the Browns, Polamalu coached Jacksonville’s illustrious Fred Taylor-Maurice Jones-Drew duo for five years. Polamalu returned to the college levels for a while before rejoining the NFL to help establish the Dalvin Cook–Alexander Mattison combination in Minnesota. He has coached the Raiders’ backs in Vegas for the past two years, but after Antonio Pierce became the official head coach after his temporary term, he was not kept on.
