Report: Brian Schottenheimer will be hired as Seahawks offensive coordinator

Former Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is getting another chance to run an NFL offense. The Seahawks will hire him as their offensive coordinator according to Adam Schefter.

Schottenheimer was in charge of the Jets offense under Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan from 2006 through 2011. His offenses typically performed poorly. Since leaving the Jets, he had unsuccessful stints as offensive coordinator with the Rams and the University of Georgia. He had been Colts quarterbacks coach the last two years.

Finding a quality offensive coordinator is not easy. The Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan, Josh McDaniels types who make units play above their talent level are difficult to land. You’ve typically done a decent job if you can just find somebody who won’t make your offense play below its talent level.

Consider that mission not accomplished for Seattle. It isn’t just that Schottenheimer’s offenses performed poorly with the Jets. It’s that he didn’t seem to grasp key elements of the job. He didn’t build his offense around the strengths of his personnel. He didn’t even seem to understand the strengths of his personnel for the most part. Nor did he seem to have any core philosophies, understand how to play call within the flow of games, or break tendencies. To the extent Schottenheimer had a plan, it almost seemed to be creating game plans around the weaknesses of his personnel to try and catch the opposition off guard.

Being an offensive coordinator is not an easy job. They tend to be the first to get blamed when their units struggle and pay for it with their jobs. It’s a lot easier to scapegoat the coordinator than it is to make more dramatic decisions like change the entire personnel on an offense or fire the head coach and general manager. More often than not, they are products of their surroundings.

If another team was considering hiring Marty Mornhinweg or Chan Gailey, I probably wouldn’t give a glowing review to a fan of that team. Both guys had major weaknesses. But I would also note that both men were ultimately undone because they didn’t have the necessary personnel to succeed. If you gave them a good roster, your offense could be decent.

I would say no such thing about Schottenheimer. He’s the anti-McVay/Shanahan/McDaniels. He makes any offense he touches worse. The Jets found this out so other teams wouldn’t have to. Just like the Rams and Georgia before them, the Seahawks have chosen to ignore the evidence in front of them.