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Brady HendersonESPN
SEATTLE – During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Seattle Seahawks’ new offensive coordinator, Shane Waldron, looked a lot like the coach who just signed him.
He said his offensive approach starts with the belief that “it all revolves around the ball”, a phrase by Pete Carroll that emphasizes the importance of winning the battle for the turnover. He made several mentions about his desire for offensive balance and one about playing complementary football, two of Carroll’s favorites.
It is no coincidence that the Seahawks chose Waldron to replace Brian Schottenheimer, whose confrontation with Carroll led the team to announce last month that he would not be returning after three seasons because of “philosophical differences”.
“That was really, in my opinion, what was so natural about the interview process, was that there was a lot of philosophical alignment between him and me,” said Waldron. “I mentioned it to him: it wasn’t like an interview in which you’re trying to sell yourself to get a job in any type of sales field. It was a conversation, and it was a football discussion that had so many things in the lineup that it felt natural progression as we got to know each other and talked about things. So a lot of those things were naturally aligned, and that’s where I think I felt really good about the process. “
As much as Carroll and Waldron were on the same page when talking over the phone, FaceTime and Zoom over the course of several days, Carroll did not come to his decision alone. Quarterback Russell Wilson made it clear that he wanted to get involved in the hiring process – and he was. A source told ESPN that Waldron was among the candidates that Wilson liked most during the two-week search and that the quarterback was excited about the hiring.
Jake Heaps, Wilson’s personal quarterback trainer and co-host of the 710 ESPN Seattle, called Waldron a “perfect match” of what Carroll and Wilson want in their new CO.
“I had a great chance to meet him as a person,” said Waldron of his conversations with Wilson during and since. “[We] we talk a lot about our families and really getting to know each other better as people, because I think football is part of that, that will be an important part when the time is right, but our conversations really focused only on who we are as people because you are in a room with a few guys for many hours every day when the season starts. … He seems to have this relentless desire to be better, to be the best he can be, so I think when we started talking about these things, that’s when we had some really fun conversations. “
Waldron’s coaching career included stints at Notre Dame and UMass, a year in UFL and NFL jobs at the New England Patriots and Washington Football Team before his four-year stint at the Los Angeles Rams. He said he took advantage of each stop to build an offensive philosophy centered on three things: protecting the ball, fundamentals and balance.
“I think the best part about Russell Wilson within that system is that he has the ability to do a lot of different things, and just because I’m saying it’s a balanced attack doesn’t mean it’s a conservative attack,” he said. “I never want to be so confused.”
What was not clear from Waldron’s first comments to the Seattle area reports was how much of the Seahawks’ offense will be what he brings in comparison to what they were already doing.
“I have a basic set of beliefs that I will follow, but we are going to build that together,” he said. “I think the only thing with Russell and the rest of the players on this team, they have a great base and have won a lot of football games together, so will there be parts of the material that will be transferred? Certainly, because there were some things they have done in the past. “
Waldron called Sean McVay a friend and mentor, while saying that the Rams’ head coach was instrumental in helping him get where he was going. Waldron has spent the past three seasons as a game coordinator in Los Angeles and said he has played a variety of roles in this role, including being responsible for certain situational aspects of the games, helping with game planning and staying in the headphones with McVay. Waldron also held the title of coach of QB in 2019.
One thing he didn’t do: call moves. McVay took care of these tasks with the Rams. Waldron didn’t do it in college or in the NFL, at least not in a real game.
“It is a great challenge, and it is a challenge that I have prepared for my entire life,” he said. “I think it’s one of those things that I’m ready to start and excited to tackle that opportunity. I learned a lot from Sean along the way. With this experience of calling the game, he gave me the opportunity to do it in different configurations, be it the pre-season or friendly games or training. So I have a small hand in this, knowing that it is obviously not the real deal and that there will be this opportunity coming here.
“I’m a guy who likes to prepare. I want to be organized, I want to have a very consistent approach and, in my head, this preparation started a long time ago and I can’t wait for this chance to go ahead and do that. “
Waldron is bringing with him an assistant from Los Angeles, Andy Dickerson, who will be the coordinator of the Seattle run-game. That position became vacant with Brennan Carroll leaving the Seattle team to be the offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. Waldron said that when Carroll asked him if he wanted to bring someone with him who could help with the transition, his first thought was Dickerson, who spent nine seasons as an assistant coach on the Rams offensive line. He and Waldron were teammates at Tufts University.