From 2011 through 2017—the majority of the Pete Carroll era in Seattle—Tom Cable was Carroll’s “Assistant head coach/offensive line coach & run game coordinator.” It was a wordy title, but in short, Cable was in charge of drafting, recommending, helping to sign, and training the Seahawks’ offensive linemen.

And for the most part, it was an abject disaster. Cable’s personnel whiffs in the draft, where he was the primary voice in the room when it came to selecting blockers, formed a pattern that led to years of sub-par performances. Carroll defended Cable’s work throughout most of his tenure even in the face of results he likely wouldn’t accept from any other assistant coach—I was stonewalled more than once when asking about the logic behind Cable’s decisions and even the decision to retain Cable (which I’ve been going on about for a while)—but after a 2017 season which Carroll’s highly-prized run game fell apart, it was finally time for a change.

Cable was ousted on January 10 and replaced by veteran line coach Mike Solari. And to say that Solari has had a positive effect on the Seahawks’ formerly underwhelming offensive line is to stretch the concept of understatement.

Solari has been coaching the offensive line since 1976, when he did it for Mission Bay High School in San Diego, and he’s held that same position for seven different NFL teams, including the 49ers and Chiefs twice, and the Seahawks in 2008 and 2009. Solari did his best with the Giants’ offensive line last season, but given the level of talent he has on his current line, his coaching can come through as it has during his best NFL stints.

Through the last four weeks of the 2018 season, Seattle’s offensive line ranks first overall in Pro Football Focus’ Offensive Line Pass-Blocking Efficiency metrics, allowing just two sacks, two quarterback hits and nine quarterback hurries in 106 pass-blocking snaps. Last season, Seattle ranked 26th. The Seahawks’ line ranks 17th in Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Line Yards metric (after ranking 31st in 2017), but it’s the short-yardage numbers that really merit attention.

In 2017, the Seahawks ranked 27th in percentage of power runs (runs on third or fourth down, two yards or less to go, that achieved a first down or touchdown); this season, they rank second in the NFL. In 2017, Seattle ranked dead last in the league in percentage in runs that were stuffed; this season, they rank seventh.

The improvement in the transition from Cable to Solari is universal, graphic, and singularly impressive. Meanwhile, Cable is coaching the Raiders’ offensive line, and that’s its own quiet mess.

Why the difference with Solari and the Seahawks?

Personnel helps to a large degree. In the aforementioned four-game stretch, Seattle’s offensive line has been consistent from left to right—left tackle Duane Brown, left guard J.R. Sweezy, center Justin Britt, right guard D.J. Fluker, and right tackle Germain Ifedi—and the addition of Sweezy, who replaced 2017 second-rounder Ethan Pocic, has been instructive for a number of reasons. A defensive tackle at North Carolina State, Sweezy was recommended by Cable as a 2012 seventh-round pick and convert to offensive guard. It never really worked in Seattle—the technical switches seemed too much for the young player to handle—and after a season with the Buccaneers, he returned to a different line and a new coach. Now, he’s focused on power-blocking and learning the intricacies of inside and outside zone technique at a different level.

I’ve had more than one former offensive lineman tell me that Cable’s inside and outside zone concepts were so rudimentary, they didn’t present any schematic challenges to defenses. When you combine abysmal personnel evaluation with high school-level stuff on the field, it’s no wonder Seattle’s offensive lines were among the weakest groups in the league under their former offensive line “guru.”

Solari is a different breed of cat. While he runs both gap and zone principles, he also believes in fundamentals, and the radical theory that an offensive line should have players who are able to execute their assignments play after play. He has helped lines transition to more zone blocking (as he did with the Seahawks in his previous stint there), and he helped the 49ers run the more man-on-man power/counter/trap schemes from 2010 through 2014. With this group of players, Solari has shown that he can take a line to an entirely different level.

As the tape shows, overall performance in both run- and pass-blocking is fairly revolutionary in comparison to the last few years.