Shane Waldron, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator.
It’s official; the Seattle Seahawks have their new offensive coordinator. Well, almost official. He hasn’t signed the contract yet. But unless Shane Waldron pulls a Josh McDaniels, he’s the guy. McDaniels is a one-in-a-million, and I don’t mean that in a positive way. I can’t see any other self-respecting coach ever agree to coach a team only to back out a few hours before the introductory press conference.
He now takes over the job from Brian Schottenheimer. His goal is to get an offense filled with talented skill players back to the Super Bowl. We take a closer look at Waldron’s career so far and what he can bring to Seattle.
Waldron is a Pacific Northwest native, born in Portland, OR. He’s a former football player and graduate of Tufts University in Somerville, Massachusetts. It’s a Division III school whose mascot is the Jumbo Elephant.
Waldron played long snapper and tight end for the football. In 2002, his graduation year, he interned with the New England Patriots. He followed that up with three seasons as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame. He returned to the Pats in 2008 as their quality control coach. A year later, he became the tight ends coach.
Next on his resume was a four-year stint at UMass, coaching tight ends and offensive line. That was followed by a year with UFL’s Hartford Colonials, coaching wide receivers, and finally, a high school offensive coordinator in Cambridge, MA.
In 2016, he joined Sean McVay, coaching the Washington Football Team as the offensive quality control coach. Waldron went with McVay to coach the LA Rams, where Waldron’s been coaching for the last four seasons.
Waldron held the title of quarterbacks coach. When the Rams offensive coordinator role came open before the 2020 season, Waldron was passed over for Kevin O’Connell. McVay does think very highly of Waldron. During Waldron’s time with the Rams, the Rams ranked 25th in drop back rate. How much of the Rams type of offense will Waldron bring to the Emerald City?
A long-standing hashtag and rallying cry of 12’s everywhere is #LetRussCook. Subsequently, at the start of the 2021 season, Russ was cooking up a feast. The team started 5-0, putting up all kinds of Star Wars numbers. Russ and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer were the talk of the league. RW3 looked like a shoo-in for the MVP.
We know how the season ended. Seattle parted ways with Schottenheimer this year because of “philosophical differences.” Translation, head coach Pete Carroll wants to run the ball more. With this line of thinking in mind, Waldron is a logical hire. Something to keep an eye on with Waldron, he’s never called plays in the NFL.
A few other items of note. Russell Wilson stated he wanted to have input on the next offensive coordinator. From all reports, Russ got his wish. It was far from a Deshaun Watson/ Houston Texans situation.
Does that mean Russ wanted the Seattle Seahawks to hire Waldron as his first choice? Might Wilson have wanted his personal quarterback coach, Jake Heaps, to be the new OC? Or another candidate altogether? We may never know, but for the record, Heaps is excited about Waldron’s hiring.
The challenge ahead for Waldron is to keep both his boss, Carroll, and star quarterback Wilson happy. The last time Seattle got a new OC, they kept about 70% of their playbook and let Schottenheimer add the rest. Might this be the same for Waldron?
Let’s say that it is. When viewing McVay’s offense, it’s based on running the ball. Then going play-action off bootlegs. Jared Goff is nowhere near the same runner that Wilson is. This style of offense can very easily play to both Carroll and Wilson’s strengths. For example, imagine Russ running the Rams offense with D.K. Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and either Chris Carson (if he comes back) or Rashaad Penny filling the skill positions.
Add in a more than competent running back, and this offense is humming. This offense can be doing the same as this past year’s first five games offense but with no drop-off. From what I’ve read by most 12’s posts, this is the perfect compromise of Pete and Russ.
What do you think about Shane Waldron as the new Seattle Seahawks OC? Let us know in the comments section below or on social media.