With Kris Richard likely out, the Seahawks are expected to turn to Ken Norton Jr as defensive coordinator, sources say. All indications are he’ll be back in Seattle, where he was the team’s LB coach from 2010-14. 🤜🏾🤜🏾🤜🏾🤜🏾🤜🏾 — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 15, 2018

Mike Garafolo also reports Norton Jr has an out in his recently signed contract with the 49ers to move to Seattle. The report is backed up by Alex Rozier who claims it’s a three-year contract.

The length of the deal suggests Pete Carroll isn’t thinking of quitting any time soon.

It became apparent Seattle was moving on from Kris Richard when they tried to lure Gus Bradley from the Chargers. Did they expect to land Bradley? Have they been seeking an alternative since?

Expect to see a lot of statistics highlighting how bad Norton Jr’s Oakland defense was. Some key points need to be highlighted here:

— Jack Del Rio pretty much ran Oakland’s defense. Pete Carroll might do the same in Seattle and he’s going to be better at it.

— Oakland had Khalil Mack but they didn’t have Bobby Wagner and Earl Thomas.

— Norton Jr is a great motivator and commanded great respect from Seattle’s alpha dog defense before he left for Oakland.

Bucky Brooks made this observation on the hire:

If this is true, it's all about Pete Carroll wanting a joystick as a DC. There's no way metric or film study that suggests Norton is a better game planner or play-caller than Richard.. This is about the HC wanting someone who won't challenge his ideas or suggestions https://t.co/3NuBRYmE8S — Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) January 15, 2018

I’m not sure it’s quite as negative as this. Brooks implies Carroll wants a yes man. That’s one way of looking at it. The Brian Schottenheimer hire also plays to this dynamic. Rex Ryan highlighted Schottenheimer’s loyalty to the Head Coach during an interview on Brock and Salk this morning. Ryan told this story during the piece:

“One day, we were playing the Detroit Lions and I told these guys, ‘Look, we are going to run the ball 40 times tomorrow,’ because I thought in my heart that was the best way to beat them. We’re just going to pound them. So, sure enough, we’re doing it, they got (Ndamukong) Suh, they got all these other guys, and we’re running the ball. Well, all of the sudden, they’re putting eight, nine guys down there and we can’t run it. Yet, Brian is so loyal to the head coach, that by God, we’re getting beat 20 to nothing and we keep running it. I finally went over and said, ‘Guys,’ I’m looking at Schotty, I said, ‘Schotty, we’re down 20,’ and he said, ‘Yeah but Rex, we’ve got to get those 40 carries.’ I go alright, forget it. I call the offense over and Brian said, ‘I think we can throw it on them,’ and I said, ‘Well, you guys want to win the game, I know I told you we were going to run it 40 times. Would you rather win the game or run it 40 times?’ I said alright, let’s just light them up. And that’s exactly what Brian did, he flipped the switch, we went no-huddle, ended up forcing overtime and winning.”

That’s pretty striking evidence that Schottenheimer will do pretty much whatever Carroll asks.

However, I’m not ready to assume Carroll is an overlord demanding everyone ‘respect his authoritah’. It could be that he wants to be more hands on. It’s possible he simply believes his message has been lost over the last two or three years — or that he’s relinquished too much control.

He wants to run the ball as a point of emphasis, so he appears set to name an offensive coordinator committed to doing so. He possibly wants more control of the defense. In the past maybe it was Bradley, Richard or Dan Quinn leading the way on game day, with Carroll acting as the motivational source? Perhaps the roles are flipping, with Carroll now in charge and Norton Jr doing what he does best?

One other thing to consider:

When Norton was fired in Oakland, some of the players seemed to suggest he was never given much control, was a scapegoat https://t.co/DJRQFDNlyN — HawksChronicle (@HawksChronicle) January 15, 2018

The two coordinator hires are not flashy. They aren’t new or bold or different. The Seahawks haven’t gone after big names to do things differently. This really is Pete Carroll going back to his roots. This is an attempt to play the way he wants to. We’ll see if Norton Jr and Schottenheimer help make that happen.

Meanwhile…

One more assistant coach about to return to Seattle: Mike Solari will once again be the team’s OL coach, replacing Tom Cable, source says. Solari is the latest Ben McAdoo NYG assistant to find work elsewhere. — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) January 15, 2018

Here’s your Tom Cable replacement. Solari was Seattle’s O-line coach between 2008-09, spent four years as San Francisco’s O-line coach between 2010-14 and most recently spent two years coaching the Giants’ O-line.

In 2009 I wrote a piece for Bleacher Report looking at Solari’s version of the zone blocking scheme. Here are some notes:

Offensive line coach Mike Solari has predominantly favoured a slightly different variation. It could be described as a “power ZBS” in that the guards are usually bigger and do most of the heavy work load. Unlike Knapp’s ZBS, they are the primary movers with the center more likely to progress to the second level and attack linebackers due to directional drive blocking. The advantage of Solari’s system is that if a defense goes run blitz, the linebackers can be driven out of the play creating huge gaps. It’s possible the Seahawks could combine the two. Looking at the current roster, the potential is certainly there to be flexible. Guards Mike Wahle and Rob Sims are athletic enough to fill Knapp’s ZBS. Wahle in particular has good technique and should be able to execute well as a starting left guard. Neither are the big power types that would usually be used in Solari’s scheme. Mansfield Wrotto, however, stands at 320lbs—the perfect kind of weight to fit the power ZBS. He’s also a good athlete, so he could excel in this system. The downside is he’s still a little raw even approaching his third year in the league. The mental side of the Solari version is less demanding which could help Wrotto get on the field. The center position is a point of contention. Chris Spencer has the freaky athleticism and solid strength which would make a good fit at guard in either system. His issue has always been execution and technique, which would be a problem at center in either scenario. Recently drafted Max Unger is a little more predictable. He is an obvious guard in Knapp’s ZBS background and a center in Solari’s. I have to believe the Seahawks won’t be willing to flex between the two at center, but they may have to in certain circumstances.

Expect the power ZBS in 2017.

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