Miami Ad-vice? Seahawks must consider all options as next head coach

Should Seahawks model the Dolphins with the next head coach hire? Seaside Joe 1778

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might just find…you DO get what you want. It might, however, not be what you need.

If fans ran an NFL team, it would probably look a lot like the Miami Dolphins. These are team building requests I hear (and often have myself) all the time (these are not in chronological order):

1-Hire an offensive-minded guru as head coach

Dolphins: Mike McDaniel is the spitting image of a modern day “dream hire”

2-That guy then hires a defensive coordinator genius

Dolphins: McDaniel hired Vic Fangio last year

3-Draft a first round QB

Dolphins: Tua Tagovailoa was picked 5th overall

4-GET first round picks!

Dolphins: Traded Laremy Tunsil for 2 firsts and a second

5-NOW TRADE those first round picks!

Dolphins: Traded the Texans’ 2021 pick to 49ers for 3 firsts (Trey Lance deal), and then those picks helped them trade for Tyreek Hill

6-Give. Us. Weapons!!!!

Dolphins: Drafted Jaylen Waddle sixth overall, traded for Tyreek, signed Raheem Mostert, drafted De’Von Achane

7-You’re gonna need a left tackle now!

Dolphins: Signed five-time Pro Bowler Terron Armstead

8-What? No defensive stars who cost nothing in trade?

Dolphins: Gave up a third round pick and a third-string TE for Jalen Ramsey

9-He’s not a pass rusher though!

Dolphins: Trade a late first round pick for Bradley Chubb

10-Well, Idk, maybe they’re not drafting the trenches?

Dolphins: Oh, we’re drafting players in the trenches (3 first and 3 second round picks in recent years on OL and DL, including Christian Wilkins)

If there’s a 10-step plan to give the fans of an NFL team almost anything they want that they believe will make the franchise entertaining and good, the book is written, published, and signed by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross.

But despite efforts to improve “the right way”, and even though the Dolphins are undoubtedly entertaining with a top-ranked offense and coming off of their first 11-win season in 15 years, Miami goes back to searching for more answers after a demoralizing 26-7 wild card loss to the Chiefs on Saturday. This gave me two thoughts as it relates to the team we talk about here at Seaside Joe:

A) The Dolphins were NOT significantly better than the Seahawks

B) It doesn’t really matter what we *think* we want the Seahawks to do with their next big decision at head coach

As to point A, it’s not hard to see how Seattle could have gotten luckier two more times this season and finished with the same 11-6 record as the Dolphins. Second, it’s not hard to imagine that the Seahawks could have been blown out in the wild card game. I know that Miami isn’t quite built to succeed in the frigid tempatures they faced in Kansas City, but…does that mean that they’re not built to make it to the Super Bowl?

Because it will be hard for the Dolphins to avoid cold weather in the playoffs unless they get the number one seed.

Miami does have something that the Seahawks don’t, which is an elite offense. That's exciting and I’ve often been envious of what the Dolphins can do offensively, but their last two seasons have ended in disappointment and Miami is just as prone to defensive lapses as Seattle: They lost 56-19 to the Ravens a couple of weeks ago, even worse than the Seahawks’ loss to them.

As to point B, I’m always hesitant to celebrate getting what I want from the team because “the Seahawks got this guy” or “the Seahawks lost that guy” is really just NEWS. It’s not what I actually want, which is SUPER BOWLS.

I wanted the team to trade for Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham and Jamal Adams. Those moves were ones I celebrated, even if costly. As it turns out, it’s not very exciting to look back at “transactions” and celebrate that moment that as a Seahawks fan you got…a big news story. It would have been nicer to win playoff games.

What’s the point, Joe?

Over the coming weeks, Seahawks fans will have many discussions and debates over who the “right” hire will be as the next head coach, qualities (mostly just the ones you can easily find on Wikipedia and not necessarily attributes that paint a true picture of what this person will be like as Seattle’s head coach) that we think we want from the next person to hold that position.

But ultimately, whether the hire is seen as good, bad, or in-between at the time of the news story, we won’t know for months—if not years—if perception meets reality. It could even be a GREAT hire (I’m still a Mike McDaniel fan) and not result in a team that’s better than the one that got Pete Carroll fired because that’s sometimes the nature of a single-elimination playoff tournament.

If the Seahawks modeled themselves after the Dolphins, the offseason might look something like: hiring Ben Johnson as the head coach, tabbing Brandon Staley as the defensive coordinator, trading into the top-5 for a quarterback prospect, and signing their top two or three free agent targets. Those moves could make Seattle better, they could make the Seahawks more exciting, and we might applaud each and every decision as the stories break…and the Seahawks could still finish third in the NFC West.

Conversely, Seattle could hire someone who didn’t make my top-10 candidates list, add coordinators with underwhelming resumes, draft no quarterbacks…and end up going 13-4 with the number one seed.

I’ll keep an open mind no matter who the Seahawks end up hiring as the next head coach and worry less about getting what I want. Because all I want is for the Seahawks to get what they need.

Seahawks top-10 head coach candidates:

(My opinion only, subject to DAILY changes)

1-Ben Johnson, Lions OC

2-Mike Macdonald, Ravens DC (prev: 3)

3-Mike Vrabel (prev: 2)

4-Raheem Morris, Rams DC (prev: 5)

5-Bobby Slowik, Texans OC (prev: N/A)

6-Todd Monken, Ravens OC (prev: 7)

7-Dan Quinn, Cowboys DC (prev: 4)

8-Anthony Weaver, Ravens AHC

9-Frank Smith, Dolphins OC

10-Dave Canales, Bucs OC

OFF: Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (prev: 6)

As always, you can tell me which coaches to move up or down the list in the Seaside Joe comments:

UPDATES/Changes:

-Harbaugh’s first unofficial NFL news is that he’s supposed to meet with the L.A. Chargers this week; L.A.’s been considered the favorite all along

-Dan Quinn’s defense did not look good against the Packers; but the Cowboys playoff failures could end up in Quinn replacing Mike McCarthy in Dallas

-Bobby Slowik was the man of the hour on Saturday, as the Texans blew out the Browns