New Regime Garantees The 2009 Seattle Seahawks Will Do It Ruskell's Way

The year 2008 will go down as the worse year in the history of Seattle sports.

When you put in perspective that the Seattle Mariners became the first team in Major League Baseball history to lose 100 games with a pay roll exceeding 100 million dollars, the Sonics moved to Oklahoma and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Washington Huskies football team went 0 -12, top it off with the Seahawks finishing 4 – 12.

One can argue that Seattle’s 2008 was the worst year ever for any city with a professional sports team.

Although, on the rainy side the 2008 Seahawks may have brought unexpected mediocrity, on the bright side it came with an unexpected gift, the 4^th overall pick in the NFL draft.

For a city that seems to be moving year after year, closer to the national spotlight (now seeing Matt Hasselback in protein commercials), I doubt Seahawks fans will hear about their marquee running backs telling the media they’re considering playing for a new team to get more national exposure.

The 4^th overall pick seem to highlight the fact the Hawks finished under .500 for the first time in years.

As we clamored over whether the Hawks should take a Quarterback or an Offensive Lineman, we kind of forgot there would be a new regime in 2009, given the task of bringing the Hawks back to the top of the NFC West.

The Leader of this new regime is Head Coach Jim Mora, who is entering his third year with the Seahawks and brings 25 years of defensive philosophy to the club. 

This fact is especially important considering the Hawks will be remembered for the next five years by how they perform defensively and how Jim Mora’s defense develops the 4^thoverall pick in this year’s draft, OLB Aaron Curry.

Mora in his first season with an overhauled secondary, led the NFL in touchdown passes allowed (15), and led the NFC (4th NFL) with 20 interceptions. He saw former first-round pick Marcus Trufant pick off a career-high seven passes and earn his first Pro Bowl berth.

Jim Mora seems to have a knack for first year turn around in 2004; as the Atlanta Falcons Head Coach he guided the Atlanta Falcons to a 11 -5 record and a appearance in the NFC championship game. 

Now with an overhauled defensive unit Mora is expected to do the same for the 2009 Seattle Seahawks’ defense.

To run his offense Mora appointed Greg Knapp as his offensive coordinator; Knapp joins the Seahawks after spending two years as the offensive coordinator with the Oakland Raiders.

Knapp was also the offensive coordinator for Mora in 2004 as they teamed to lead the Atlanta Falcons to the NFC Championship game and will call all the offensive plays for the Hawks in 2009.

Knapp, known for his version of the west coast offense that relies heavily on the running attack, has seen all of his offenses place in the NFL top-10 in rushing, including five top-five finishes, and led the NFL in rushing three consecutive seasons, all during Mora’s tenure in Atlanta (2004-06).

This news should be a breath of fresh air for Seahawk fans that saw last year’s team finish 28 out of 32 teams in offense.

Mora who will call most of the defensive plays, appointed Casey Bradley as his Defensive Coordinator.

The rookie Defensive Coordinator joins Seattle after spending the previous three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, serving the last two as the linebackers’ coach after joining the Bucs in 2006 as their defensive quality control coach. 

Before joining Tampa Bay, Bradley spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater North Dakota State (1996-2005), including six years as the assistant head coach (2000-05). 

If you know the history of the 2009 new Seahawk regime, one shouldn’t be too worried of whether or not they possess the familiarity or the talent to pull off the expected turnaround many Seahawk fans expect.

Current General Manager Tim Ruskell has been the target of criticism for some of his questionable decisions, most notably not franchising Steve Hutchison, and has been rumored to have pushed Mike Holmgren out the door.

Put that in context and there is no denying Ruskell has had his own plan and vision for the Seahawks, and has had if for a couple years.

Ruskell, Mora, and Knapp have all teamed together in the past and seen success in Atlanta, those three faces now run the show in Seattle and the fourth member Casey Bradley, rookie coordinator from Ruskell’s Tampa Bay school of defense, should squash any doubts. Ruskell handpicked every one of his Generals.

Tim Ruskell will probably always be remembered for letting Steve Hutchinson get away, but in a weird irony that was the only way the Seahawks would truly become his team. 

Face it Seahawk fans; we all feel if Steve Hutchinson was still a Seahawk the team would have went to multiple Super Bowls and the Seahawks’ golden age would always be known as the team Holmgren built.

The reality is Mike Holmgren never took the Seahawks to the Super Bowl without Tim Ruskell. Starting from the top down, Tim Ruskell would like nothing more than to become known as the man who brought the Seattle Seahawks their first Super Bowl title and not the man who ran off the legend.

The 2009 Seahawks will be the first team Ruskell built and its success lies in the hands of Jim Mora, Greg Knapp, and Casey Bradley all handpicked to guide Ruskell’s team to glory.