New Face In The Northwest: A Seahawks Franchise (HC 09)

[nathanwindu]

Hey everyone, I'm 0-2 so far on attempts at a Seahawk dynasty, but I'm telling myself now that I will stay committed to this one for at least 3-4 seasons. I will try and make the Franchise interesting, and not so bland and unoriginal. I also may switch teams if I dominate the league too much with the 'Hawks. But I haven't really seen any Seahawks Dynasties, so I'll try my hand. Other things to note:

I am a master of the 2008 Draft Class, but have never really kept interest long enough to tread the waters of the other draft classes, though I do know some good players here and there. But it will mostly be a surprise for me, so I ask nobody to spoil anything except for the '08 Draft Class, but you can give me my 'Doh!' moments later on if swing and miss.

[nathanwindu]

Change Coming to the Seahawks

In a surprising move, Seahawks Head Coach Mike Holmgren announced his retirement as the coach of the team, but says the owner has asked him to stay on as Team President and he has accepted. He will name the new Head Coach of the team, and says that whoever he hires will be required to keep the staff Holmgren has assembled for the upcoming season until at least next season.

Several candidates have already interviewed for the job, including Jim Zorn, Jim Mora Jr, and Mike Tice, but there is no front-runner as of yet.

[nathanwindu]

Seahawks Tab Marra for Head Coach Position

In a very surprising move, the Seattle Seahawks have tabbed Nathan Marra as the new head coach of the team, the Seattle Times reports.

Marra, 38, will be tasked with re-tooling the Seahawks Franchise.

A quote from Marra: "I'm very excited to have this opportunity to become the next Head Coach of the Seattle Seahawks Franchise. Coaching the Seahawks is my dream job, and for once, a dream can now be fulfilled in reality. It's surreal and I'm still coming to terms with this new experience."

Many people may question Marra's credentials, as his latest coaching stop was Defensive Coordinator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has served in this position for 2 years. He had previously served as the DB Coach for Nebraska for 4 years, and before this, he served as the Defensive Coordinator at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. His first coaching gig came as a Graduate Assistant at Doane Collage in Nebraska, when he then was hired as DB Coach at UNO, then was promoted to the DC position.

Marra said that he has agreed with Team President Mike Holmgren that he will not remove any of the coaching staff until next season.

[nathanwindu]

I'll put my coach's stats here before I get too far in and forget:

Nathan Marra
Personality: Optimist
Skills: Lvl. 3 Performance
Special Skills: Ambition, Charm, Charisma, Off-Season Seminar, Regular Season Seminar
Overall Skill: 12

[nathanwindu]

Set my Team Philosophy:

Coach Hire: All no control except GM, which is A Little Control
Trade: All Neutral/Normal
Draft: All Team Needs
Contract: Very Standard, everything really in the middle
QB: Field General
HB: Balanced
FB: Balanced
WR: Quick/Route Running
TE: Soft Hands/Routes
OL: Pass Block Specialist Tackle, Balanced Guard/Center
DL: Run Stopper DT, Undersized Speed Rusher DE
LB: Run Stopper OLB, Coverage/Speed MLB
DB: Balanced CB, Centerfielder FS, Run Support/Big Hitter SS
K/P: Both Balanced
Evaluation: Build Throught NFL Draft, Favors Upside
Playcall: Blitz Normal, Zone Coverage, D Playbook Control Head Coach, Defensive Scheme 4-3, Defining Moment Balanced, No Huddle Balanced, O Playbook Control OC, Offensive Scheme West Coast Normal
Depth Chart: All Balanced
Injury: Moderate

And I also forgot to note that my schemes are:
Offense: Holmgren West Coast
Defense: 4-2-5

[nathanwindu]

Didn't Franchise Tag a player.

New Season Goals are:

Acquire a TE with an overall of at least 85 (may have to trade to do this)

Acquire a Kicker with an overall of at least 85 (shouldn't be too hard)

Acquire a RE with an overall of at least 85 (we'll have to see)

[nathanwindu]

Marra Impressed With Several Seniors

We had a chance to sit down with new Seahawks coach Nathan Marra, and here's a portion of the interview:

Q: So, why didn't you Franchise Tag any of your players?

Marra: Well, we felt that Marcus (Trufant) and Josh (Brown) were a couple of guys we would maybe use the Tag on, but in the end, we decided that if we wanted these guys for the future of our team, then we were going to sign them to long-term deals

Q: You visited the Senior Bowl yesterday, how'd that go?

Marra: Great, actually. I got to a lot of very talented football players, and we now feel that there are some really great players out there to take a look at.

Q: Any names you want to say?

Marra: Well, I can tell you Dre Moore from Maryland really impressed us, and we think he'd be a great fit for our team.

Q: Alright, a couple more questions. What's your opinion on the offense?

Marra: Well, I'm very confident in Gil (Haskell) and I think we can make this offense work. I will be running a West Coast offense very similar to Mr. Holmgren's when he was coaching the team.

Q: And what about the defense?

Marra: We're going to run a defense that's not used often, the 4-2-5. It's a defense that we feel can give us the edge in coverage with the Zone and also allow us to get good pressure ont he Quarterback, I think it'll work really well.

Q: Alright, last question. Any ideas of your own for the offense?

Marra: I'm not an offensive guru, but I am the Head Coach, so I understand I have to have some input when things are working or when they're not working. I do have some ideas, yes. I'll probably run some through with Gil this week.

Q: Thanks for your time, Coach Marra, and good luck this season.

Marra: Alright, thank you.

[nathanwindu]

Quick look at my coaching staff:

OC: Gil Haskell 60: good right now, but doesn't have much upside. I'm 50-50 right now on retain-fire.

DC: John Marshall 51: servicable for now, with a bit more room to grow as a coach. better LB Coach than DC. Maybe fire

ST: Bruce DeHaven 99: not much room to grow, but ST Coordinators are hard to find, so I'll keep him.

QB: Bill Lazor 37: good teacher of QB's, but has low Max lvls, not to mention there's always some better stuff to get out there. Likely fire.

RB: Kasey Dunn 1: Has some room to grow, but Performance Max is 2. Likely fire.

WR: Keith Gilbertson 28: Has solid max lvls, and also room to grow. Probably keep.

OL: Mike Solari 76: His Performance is only Max 2, but it's hard ot get a good OL Coach as well, and he could be a good OC with a High PlayCall Max Lvl (I think it's 4.)

LB: Zerick Rollins 14: Has potential, but Performance is only Max 2, and there's better options. Probably fire.

DL: Derek Brock 30: Has lots of room to grow, with Performance Max 3, and still a lot of open spaces on the DL Development. Could make a good DC with a PlayCall Max 5, and some development. COuld take a couple years, but has the makings of a good coach. Probably keep.

DB: Jim Mora 85: Best coach on the team, by far. Performance is Max 5, and nothing is below Max 3. And he already has all the DB Special Skills (Improved Press, Coverage Analysis, Interception Training) I'll def. keep, and maybe even promote.

GM: Tom Russell 76: Not much as far as Special Skills go, but can def. scout the big schools. Likely keep, unless there's a better option like Gil Darnell.

TR: Shane Butler: 14: Fire, then get Arron Lee or Robert Wyman later.