Rex Ryan: Seahawks’ rumored OC Brian Schottenheimer a ‘loyal, team-first’ guy
Jan 15, 2018, 12:51 PM | Updated: 1:06 pm
Brian Schottenheimer spent time with Rex Ryan while on the Jets' coaching staff. (AP)
(AP)
For a little more insight on Brian Schottenheimer, the Seahawks’ rumored choice as offensive coordinator, 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock Huard and Mike Salk turned to former Jets and Bills head coach and current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan.
Ryan worked with Schottenheimer while the latter was his offensive coordinator for the Jets.
Stelton: Schottenheimer doesn’t seem like what the Seahawks need
“When I think about Brian, he’s a football junkie,” Ryan told Brock and Salk Monday. “His team will be prepared. I think he can adapt to his personnel really well.”
Ryan said it didn’t necessarily come as a surprise that Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll would have taken a liking to Schottenheimer. He described the two as professionals who embrace an “old school” coaching style.
“Pete is so passionate about football, and (Schottenheimer) is an old school guy. In other words, when he comes in there, you probably are going to go on the board for hours with him. Pete’s looking for a real football coach; a guy who can communicate, can get up on the board, tell you what his plan is, write up everything, he doesn’t have to have it on a PowerPoint. I believe that’s the way Pete is; I know Pete’s the real deal. And you can rest assured that he got the best coach in his opinion that he can get.”
Ryan said two of Schottenheimer’s best qualities are loyalty and selflessness, and used a story to highlight them:
“One day, we were playing the Detroit Lions and I told these guys, ‘Look, we are going to run the ball 40 times tomorrow,’ because I thought in my heart that was the best way to beat them. We’re just going to pound them. So, sure enough, we’re doing it, they got (Ndamukong) Suh, they got all these other guys, and we’re running the ball. Well, all of the sudden, they’re putting eight, nine guys down there and we can’t run it. Yet, Brian is so loyal to the head coach, that by God, we’re getting beat 20 to nothing and we keep running it. I finally went over and said, ‘Guys,’ I’m looking at Schotty, I said, ‘Schotty, we’re down 20,’ and he said, ‘Yeah but Rex, we’ve got to get those 40 carries.’ I go alright, forget it. I call the offense over and Brian said, ‘I think we can throw it on them,’ and I said, ‘Well, you guys want to win the game, I know I told you we were going to run it 40 times. Would you rather win the game or run it 40 times?’ I said alright, let’s just light them up. And that’s exactly what Brian did, he flipped the switch, we went no-huddle, ended up forcing overtime and winning.
“But either way, that’s how loyal he is. He’s there to advance the head coach’s plan. And so many times there’s play callers that want to advance their plan. Well that’s B.S. You ought to be advancing the head coach’s plan and the vision that the head coach has. He’s not about self-promoting … he’s about winning and doing the job. He’s a team-first guy, and that’s probably the best quality you can say about any coach out there.”
The Seahawks are expected to hire Schottenheimer as their new offensive coordinator to replace Darrell Bevell, who was fired last Wednesday. The team has not made an official announcement on the hire.
Schottenheimer, 44, was most recently quarterbacks coach with the Indianapolis Colts, and has also acted as offensive coordinator for the Rams (2012-14) and Jets (2006-11). He is the son of Marty Schottenheimer, former head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Washington Redskins, and San Diego Chargers.
