Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson said he's already spoken with head coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider about the search for a new offensive coordinator following the firing of Brian Schottenheimer on Tuesday.
Wilson said that he wasn't necessarily in favor of making a change at coordinator given the close relationship he had with the team's former play-caller. However, he said he's excited about being a part of the conversations to determine who the next coordinator will be.
"I think that's super important," Wilson said of having involvement in the process. "I think that coach Carroll and I, we have to be on the same wavelength. We've been able to talk obviously over the past three days, coach Carroll and I, about a lot of different things and everything else and really trying to figure out 'OK, you know how far can we go? Where are we going? What's the plan?' and all that stuff. And so I think a lot of it is for me and coach to hopefully be able to partner on the thought process of the next person and really that person really to be able to help impact this football team, this organization, really be a great coach for us and help be a part of leading us to the promised land, obviously."
Carroll elected to make a change on Tuesday after speaking with Schottenheimer about the vision for the offense moving forward. The team announced the change by citing philosophical differences between the two sides cause them to part ways,
Carroll had said after the season that he felt like the offense didn't do a good enough job of adapting to the schemes they were seeing from their opponents in the second half of the season. The offense went from scoring over 34 points per game through the first eight games for the season to just 22 points per game over their final nine contests. Carroll expressed a desire to run the ball more, and do so more effectively, to help them dictate the types of defenses they will see thrown at them.
"I want to see if we can run the ball more effectively to focus the play of the opponents and see if we can force them to do things like we'd like them to do more, like we have been able to do that in the past," Carroll said on Monday. "That doesn't mean we're going to run the ball 50 times a game. It means we need to run the ball with direction and focus and style that allows us to dictate the game. I mean I just, frankly, I'd like to not play against two-deep looks all season long next year. And so we have to be able to get that done. It's not just the running game. It is the style of passes that will help us some, but we have to get after it a little bit differently. As it unfolded in the end of the season, it became really obvious. In the last four or five games, it became really obvious."
Wilson said Thursday that the reality is they have to do everything well.
"If it's one-high two-high, it don't matter. We've got to do it all," Wilson said. "We've got to throw it, run it, mix it up, challenge the defense in every way and really put cause havoc in every way and I think that's what I'm really fired up about and interested in about (and) looking for in terms of whoever we bring in is that, you know, let's cause havoc in every form and fashion of the game. I think that we have the players to do that and that's what I'm excited about."
Wilson said he feels it's critical for him to be a part of the offensive coordinator discussion because it will have such an impact on the team and on the next stage of his career.
"I think it's vital, it's critical, you know, super significant that we're part of that process and Coach and I have definitely been talking about, John too as well, and we've had some super long conversations, great dialogue about the thought process of who we want and kind of idea, kind of leader, the thought process, innovator, all that kind of different stuff that you want," Wilson said.
"The next person, whoever that is, it's really critical that we're on the same page at all times and always talking and vibing and just really, really on the same page. So I think that it's a really critical point to not just the wins but also the championships that we want. ... So yeah, I'm super excited about being in the mix of the conversation and hopefully we can find the right person and be a part of that.
"I think coach wanted a change. And so that was really his decision. But for me, I know that's really important to me is this next step of making sure that coach and I really on the same page of who can help us along this journey and also making sure that we're trying to talk about as much as we can. At the end of the day, coach is gonna make that final decision. Just making sure that I'm trying to be involved as much as I possibly can and we definitely have talked about that quite a bit the last 48 hours or whatever it's been."
Wilson spoke fondly of his relationship with Schottenheimer and credited him with helping to make him a better player over the last few years.
"I think that he's going to be an amazing coach for somebody else, for some other team here soon, hopefully," Wilson said. "I think he's going to be a head coach. I think he's got that kind of leadership ability. I think that unfortunately for us I think that in coach's eyes it was kind of time to see if we could make a change and everything else.
"Anytime you go different directions, it's always tough."
Photo Credit: SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 09: Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks looks to pass against the Los Angeles Rams during the first quarter in an NFC Wild Card game at Lumen Field on January 09, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)