Seahawks OL coach John Benton, career history

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This is a rundown of John Benton’s career as an NFL offensive line coach. Prior to the NFL, Benton spent almost two decades at the college ranks, mostly at Colorado State. Benton is going to be one of the most important and scrutinized members of Klint Kubiak’s first offensive staff with the Seahawks, so we should probably spend a day getting to know him better.

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St. Louis Rams 2004-2005

Benton’s first opportunity in the NFL came as the offensive line coach under offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild for the Rams, which comes as little surprise since Fairchild and Benton spent almost a decade together at Colorado State. Benton’s first OL was an exceptionally experienced group with star tackle Orlando Pace being the youngest starter at 29:

(First column is age, second column is years of experience, third column is games started that season)

The Rams upset the Seahawks in the wild card round that year 27-20 prior to then getting blown out by the Falcons 47-17.

In Benton’s second season, Pace returned alongside Andy McCollum and Adam Timmerman, but the Rams had to start two rookies: guard Claude Terrell and first round tackle Alex Barron. The offense wasn’t so bad, but head coach Mike Martz was fired five weeks into the season and that meant Fairchild and Benton would soon be out too.

Overview: Is it possible to make a judgment based on this tenure? Pace was a surefire Hall of Famer already and Benton barely got any time with players he could develop such as Barron.

Houston Texans, 2006-2013

And the Kubiak connection begins.

The Texans hired Gary Kubiak to be the franchise’s second ever head coach in 2006 after 11 years as the Broncos offensive coordinator. The coach who replaced him as Denver’s OC and eventually joined him in Houston, Rick Dennison, is now Seattle’s run game coordinator and senior offensive advisor.

Kubiak hired Benton — perhaps there was some Colorado homerism at play there — but also former Packers head coach Mike Sherman to help develop and improve the Texans offensive line, according to this 2006 article about the decision:

The hiring of Benton, who has only two years of NFL experience one as the offensive line coach — will not affect any decision regarding Mike Sherman, the former Green Bay head coach. Sherman has been offered a position as assistant head coach/offensive line. Kubiak still is waiting to hear from him. If Sherman accepts the position, he'll coach the line with Benton's help.

(Sherman did accept, although he was gone by 2008.)

Among Kubiak’s other hires in 2006 were future Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, future 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, and future Jets head coach Robert Saleh.

Benton’s first OL in 2006 didn’t feature much top-end talent, but a lot of experience:

One of the best players there, Chester Pitts, would start 5 games for Pete Carroll in 2010. The team invested back-to-back third round picks on offensive linemen that year and though tackle Charles Spencer broke his leg two games into the season and never returned to the NFL after that, right tackle Eric Winston started 87 games for Houston over the next six seasons.

Houston was 6-10 and 28th in scoring that year, but they had gone 2-14 the season before so it was still an improvement.

2008: Duane Brown, Chris Myers

Because of Spencer’s broken leg, the Texans were still looking for offensive line help in the 2008 draft and they used a first round pick on Duane Brown out of Virginia Tech. With Sherman now totally out of the picture, Benton had full control of the offensive line and helped develop Brown into a player who made five Pro Bowls, including two with the Seahawks.

Benton spoke on why Brown’s development worked so well back in 2012:

"He's really become technical in his pass protection," Benton said. "He's had a chance to go through the league and knows what to study and how to study it, how to respond to different types of players he's going against."

In addition to the mental work Brown puts in, rigorous conditioning work has helped chisel his 6-4, 320-pound frame into one of the NFL's most dynamic.

"Even back into the preseason, there's been times where we're done for the day and everyone's out of here, and I'll go down (to the locker room) to get my things, and Duane's still the last person here," Benton said. "Whether it's from the standpoint of training in the weight room, taking care of his body in the training room or his mental preparation, I know he's become a big student of the game. His athleticism was always exceptional, and putting the whole package together for him has really paid off."

Brown even reunited with Benton on the 2022 Jets:

“I played in this system for the first seven years of my career,” Brown said. “I loved it as I think it really fits my traits perfectly.”

Among other new faces on the 2008 Texans were center Chris Myers, a player familiar to the coaching staff because he was drafted by the Broncos in 2005, and right guard Mike Brisiel. Myers would end up making the Pro Bowl in 2011 and 2012, and he started every single game at center for Benton until the coach departed, a span of 100 games.

Not bad for a sixth round pick.

2010: Wade Smith, Arian Foster’s emergence

In 2010, the Texans acquired guard Wade Smith, a 29-year-old journeyman and former third round pick. Smith ended up solidifying the left guard spot and started all 64 games over the next four seasons, also making the Pro Bowl in 2012.

In fact, it was in Smith’s first season when the Texans established themselves as one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, helping Arian Foster rush for 1,616 yards and 16 touchdowns as a former undrafted free agent. Every starter on the OL was under 30:

The Texans were a consistent playoff team and top-10 offense for a few years, until the bottom dropped out in 2013 and everyone was fired by the end of the season. However, before his time was up, Benton had helped oversee the drafting of fourth round center Ben Jones (151 career starts, one Pro Bowl), seventh round tackle Derek Newton (68 career starts), and third round guard Brandon Brooks (108 starts, three Pro Bowls).

Overview: Brown, Smith, Myers, and Winston could all be described as “John Benton developed offensive linemen who helped solidify Houston as one of the top offensive lines in the NFL.” Others emerged towards the end of the career and if he had any help in drafting players like Jones and Brooks, then Benton has a really good eye for talent.

Miami Dolphins, 2014-2015

Joining a staff that included future head coaches Dan Campbell, Ben Johnson, and Zac Taylor, Benton was added as an “assistant offensive line coach” by head coach Joe Philbin after reports that players were dissatisfied with OL coach Jim Turner. A month later, the team fired Turner and promoted Benton following the Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin bullying scandal.

The Dolphins improved from 17th in yards per carry in 2013 to second in YPC in Benton’s first year on the job.

Among the starters were established star Mike Pouncey (who started at right guard for the first and only time in his career in 2014 and still made the Pro Bowl), left tackle Branden Albert, and first round rookie tackle Ja’Wuan James.

Overview: Philbin and everyone else were fired by the conclusion of the 2015 season. Despite this, Benton still had two Pro Bowlers that season.

Jacksonville Jaguars, 2016

Benton was hired under former Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and was only there for one season (Bradley was fired midseason), but still pulled out a mini-miracle that year:

Left tackle Kelvin Beachum, a former seventh rounder of the Steelers, signed with the Jaguars and established his career as a reliable left tackle under Benton.

Left guard Patrick Omameh, a former UDFA, filled a role at left guard.

Center Brandon Linder had been moved by Benton from guard to center in 2016, which is where he played the rest of his career over the next six years.

Right guard A.J. Cann, a third round pick in 2015, solidified his position there as a starter until 2022.

Right tackle Jermey Parnell, a former UDFA journeyman, started all 16 games.

Overview: Without much to work with, Benton made it work. These players seemed to become far more valuable starters in 2016.

San Francisco 49ers, 2017-2020

Putting together his first staff as a head coach, Kyle Shanahan obviously called on a lot of his former colleagues, including Benton. That first season wasn’t bad (Joe Staley made his final Pro Bowl in 2017) but three of five starters would be replaced by 2018.

The 49ers signed former first round guard Laken Tomlinson and Benton got a lot more out of him than Detroit managed to during his two seasons there. Tomlinson started 80 games in San Francisco and made one Pro Bowl.

The Niners drafted Mike McGlinchey in the first round in 2018 and he started his career at guard before kicking outside to tackle. McGlinchey is not as good as your typical top-10 pick, but he’s been good enough when healthy.

Needing an overhaul in 2020, the 49ers traded for Trent Williams, which is obviously going to make any OL coach’s job very easy. Other than that, San Francisco didn’t invest that much into the offensive line (center Ben Garland had to be converted from defensive tackle by Benton) and Benton was still part of a staff that went 13-3 and finished second in scoring in 2019 without Trent Williams.

Overview: A mixed bag, but maybe could have been better if not for injuries.

This article at The Jets Way is a GREAT breakdown of the outside zone scheme that is so important to the “Shanahan offenses” of the 90s and 2020s.

John Benton joined the 49’ers coaching staff at the same time as Mike LaFleur, and so both have significant experience working together, Benton also worked with Robert Saleh in San Francisco, Jacksonville and Houston too. When Benton was hired by the Jets his offensive line had blocked for top 10 rushing offenses seven times in the last 11 seasons, including the league’s best rushing attack in 2019 as the San Francisco 49’ers marched to the Super Bowl.

In the simplest form, the outside zone run sees offensive lineman block zones instead of defenders. Lineman will often caravan to the sideline stressing the defense horizontally, the running back is then trained to look for specific options. They can bounce it outside, cut upfield through an open lane, or cut back across the formation. It’s often said that running the outside zone is a war of attrition, because of the stress it places on defenses you are betting your lineman will execute and stay disciplined more than the defense. It’s often said that there is no play that gets stuffed more, or that creates bigger gains than the outside zone.

New York Jets, 2021-2022

Saleh hired Benton as OL coach and run game coordinator when he landed the Jets job in 2021. He had a tall order to fill, as 2020 first round pick Mekhi Becton was a huge disappointment who could not stay healthy and the team was trying to make a starting tackle out of George Fant, something that Seattle could tell you is basically impossible.

The Jets did draft Alijah Vera-Tucker in Benton’s first year and he was really good as the team’s left guard, but missed 10 games in 2022.

Needing to shove the blame around, Benton was fired at the end of the year along with most other offensive coaches. Benton didn’t coach for anyone in 2023.

Overview: As Sam Darnold can attest to…good luck making it work on the Jets. Benton’s team page bio highlights what he was able to accomplish despite a rash of injuries and lack of talent.

New Orleans Saints, 2024

Reunited with a Kubiak (this time Gary’s son Klint) and Dennison, Benton had three first round picks (rookie Taliese Fuaga, Trevor Penning, and Cesar Ruiz) to work with this time, plus second round center Erik McCoy. It’s the most draft-value talent of his career and the tackles Fuaga and Penning played all 17 games.

The interior suffered a rash of injuries, however, and after scoring almost 100 points in their first two games, the Saints offense fell apart. They did finish 14th in rushing and Alvin Kamara had a career-high 950 yards on the ground in only 14 games.

Overview: It’s tough to say this is “Benton’s offensive line” in the way we could say it about his long tenure in Houston. Given all the problems the team had on the interior of the line, for issues outside of Benton’s control, it seems that his short stint in New Orleans was as successful as it could be.

John Benton, en total

If you didn’t know whether John Benton was a good hire or not prior to this rundown, maybe you’ll have a better idea by now. The answer to “good hire” can’t totally be answered at this early stage, but with Grey Zabel being the team’s first round pick and then two day three fliers on Bryce Cabeldue and Mason Richman, Benton has an opportunity with Seattle to re-establish himself as one of the best developers of young OL talent in the NFL.

Therefore if he is a good hire, the Seahawks could be a dramatically improved offense, especially on the ground, in a short amount of time.

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