Bumpus: One Seahawks coach stood out at rookie minicamp

You would think that a player jumped out the most to Michael Bumpus at the Seattle Seahawks’ rookie minicamp over the weekend, but there was more on his mind come Monday’s edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

Why Pete Carroll seemed to praise one Seattle Seahawks rookie the most

While Bump, a former Seahawks wide receiver and current Pac-12 Network analyst, did take notice of several players, it was a member of the coaching staff who really caught his attention.

“Man, I was impressed with Coach Dickerson,” Bumpus said, referring to Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson.

The 2023 season will be the third in Seattle for Dickerson, who came to the Seahawks along with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron from the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. Dickerson initially was Seattle’s run game coordinator, then took over as the O-line coach last year.

Bumpus learned some valuable information simply by watching Dickerson coach young offensive linemen like fourth-round guard Anthony Bradford out of LSU and fifth-round center Olu Oluwatimi from Michigan.

“The reason why I was impressed with him is because he controlled the environment with those offensive linemen, and his attention to detail was great,” Bumpus said. “I mean, he’s like, ‘Look, I need your thumb right here under that armpit, I need this other arm to drive them that way.’ And I’m sitting there listening to him coach and I go, ‘I just became a better offensive lineman.’ I’ve never had my hand in the dirt, but I became better at evaluating offensive linemen, especially for the Seahawks, and now I understand a bit more what they’re trying to do with certain things.”

With players like Bradford and Oluwatimi possibly fighting for playing time as rookies, Bumpus explained why Dickerson could be an important figure in 2023.

“You look at that group, he’s gonna have to make them go. You’ve got a lot of (young) talent over there that might play. Anthony Bradford might play, Olu might play, you might depend on these young guys, and they seem receptive. And the way he communicated with these guys, it all makes sense. … He can connect with these guys, so the language he was using, the technique that he was teaching, it all made sense.

“It seemed like from the best guy down to the guy no one knows about, everybody caught on to the technique and doing things the way that he wanted to do it. So he’s a great teacher. I learned by listening and watching him coach his offensive linemen. I know it’s all about the players, but if they aren’t being groomed correctly, they’ll never reach their full potential. I trust in Coach Dickerson.”

Listen to Bumpus’ full thoughts in Four-Down Territory, the second segment in the podcast below. He also shares his full Seattle Seahawks rookie minicamp takeaways at the start of the podcast.

Four-Down Territory, where Bumpus answers four football questions from co-host Stacy Rost, airs live at 11:15 a.m. during each edition of Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

• Salk’s Seahawks rookie minicamp observations
• DC Clint Hurtt: Seahawks’ defense will be ‘significantly better’ in ’23
• Bumpus: How Seahawks are prepared for ‘worst-case scenario’ on D
• Huard: How new DL Mario Edwards fits the Seahawks’ defense
• Seattle Seahawks full 2023 regular season schedule released

Follow @BrentStecker