Klint Kubiak accepted the job as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator for several reasons, chief among them being the opportunity to coach veteran quarterback Geno Smith.
“I have a lot of respect for Geno,” Kubiak said during an introductory news conference Tuesday afternoon. “It was a huge draw to come here and be able to get to coach him, alongside (QB coach) Andrew Janocko. We have high expectations for him. [We’ll] push Geno and get the best out of him, and we’ll do that by pushing his teammates as well. It’s not just his show; it’s a team thing, and he’s got to be the head of that.”
Kubiak talked up Smith two days after head coach Mike Macdonald did the same in a television interview with FOX-13. In that interview, Macdonald was asked whether he expects Smith to be Seattle’s starting quarterback next season.
“Heck yeah,” Macdonald says. “Geno’s our quarterback. … It’s pretty obvious this guy is a heck of a quarterback. He’s our quarterback. We love him. Can’t wait to go work with him. We’ve had a lot of non-football conversations, to keep it legal, over the last month or so. I know he’s really excited about Klint taking over.
“He’s a great player, man. We can win a championship with Geno Smith. We really believe that.”
Being of the same mind on the quarterback is one of the first boxes Macdonald and Kubiak needed to check as they build upon what will ideally be a shared vision for the future of their offense. A lack of harmony in that regard is what Macdonald cited as his reasoning for firing former offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb after one season.
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On Tuesday, Macdonald said Kubiak’s passion for the game, scheme expertise and “track record with the quarterback” were among the reasons he felt the former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator was the best fit to lead Seattle’s offense.
“(Quarterbacks) have played at a really high level every stop that he’s been,” Macdonald said, referring to a list that includes Kirk Cousins, Brock Purdy and Derek Carr. “The evolution of the scheme, too, being able to fit it to your personnel, Klint has a really great vision for where he wants our offense to go. He was very clear with that with the personnel we have on our roster. We’ll talk about it as we go here, but I definitely believe that aligns with how we want to rock.”
Smith is entering the final year of the three-year, $75 million contract he signed in March 2023. His 2024 cap hit of $44.5 million is scheduled to be the ninth-highest among quarterbacks, according to Spotrac. Smith has indicated he wants a new contract, and an extension is one way Seattle could lower his cap number.
With quarterback presumably not in question, the next step for Macdonald and Kubiak is finding a way to maximize Smith’s supporting cast, most notably the offensive line. Kubiak said he’s currently watching film to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Seahawks’ current linemen. He said they want to “get to know our guys better before we can start getting them better and putting a plan of action” together.
Macdonald said finding a coordinator capable of maximizing the offensive line was a “massive” part of the process.
“You’ve got to look at it through the lens of their plan for development,” Macdonald said. “Offensive line is a critical part of our football team, and we’re on record saying this, but we believe in our guys. We have an opportunity to become a great offensive unit, and in order to do that, we’ve got to have a great offensive line working together. Their track record speaks for itself.”
Seattle’s offensive line was one of the worst in the league last season, and there wasn’t consistently competent play from any position outside of left tackle Charles Cross. A fully healthy offseason should benefit right tackle Abe Lucas, but as offensive line analyst Brandon Thorn discussed with me last week, this free-agent class isn’t loaded with high-quality, long-term solutions on the interior. There are several intriguing options at the top of the draft, though acquiring any of those prospects would require general manager John Schneider to pivot from his philosophy that interior linemen are overpaid and overdrafted.
This is perhaps why Macdonald has, on multiple occasions now, expressed the importance of developing their returning players such as Christian Haynes, Anthony Bradford, Olu Oluwatimi and Sataoa Laumea. Their development now rests primarily in the hands of new offensive line coach John Benton, who worked with Kubiak last year in New Orleans and has a long history with his father, Gary Kubiak.
“If our identity is going to be a running football team, it starts with Coach Benton and his approach,” Klint Kubiak said. “He’s an excellent teacher, the way he runs the room, holds his guys accountable. The way he leads men and he schemes is excellent.”
Implementing a run-first identity will be essential to fixing most of what ailed Seattle last season. The Seahawks struggled to convert in the red zone and in short-yardage situations. They also faced the longest average distance to gain on third down, according to TruMedia, and ranked 21st in third-down conversion rate. The team can improve in these areas by running the ball more effectively — not simply more often — which will require a much better effort from the guys up front.
Kubiak said Seattle’s run game foundation will be outside zone, a staple of the scheme that has given defenses all over the league trouble, including Seattle’s post-Legion of Boom defense under Pete Carroll. Kubiak also said they will incorporate pin-pull, inside zone and gap schemes based on what the players do best.
“We have a philosophy that we believe in, a style that we believe in,” Kubiak said. “But you’ve got to be able to win more than one way. We’ll start with the fundamentals, running off the ball, then we’ll get to know our guys and we better do what they do best. Otherwise, we’re not going to like the results.”
The Seahawks have been more of an 11-personnel team — with one running back, one tight end and three receivers on the field — since acquiring Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the first round of the 2023 draft. Kubiak likes playing with a fullback and deploying 21 (two backs, one tight end) and 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends), but he said that’ll be flexible based on player strengths. He does plan to have a fullback on the roster, though, and he’s in discussions with Schneider and Macdonald about their options there, whether that means acquiring a traditional fullback, using converted tight ends or both.
Putting the ball in DK Metcalf’s hands is another critical item on the shared vision checklist for Macdonald and Kubiak. Last year’s offense was too content allowing Metcalf to be a decoy and draw attention that created opportunities for others. Macdonald said every candidate he interviewed had a Metcalf usage plan atop their list of ideas. Kubiak provided the best vision, Macdonald said, citing ways in which the scheme has accentuated premier wideouts such as Justin Jefferson and Chris Olave.
“We have to go through the process of how you do it,” Macdonald said. “It’s how you can move him around, how you can take care of matchups, the route tree that’s available on how we want to build it.”
All this ties back to getting the most out of Smith, the most important player on the field and the guy whom Kubiak described as “tough as nails” while touting his ability to close games. Smith’s 12 game-winning drives since becoming the starter in 2022 are second only to Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes (13). Smith and Mahomes are tied with 10 fourth-quarter comebacks in that span, second to Kirk Cousins (11).
“You look at (Smith) in the fourth quarter, and he goes and wins football games,” Kubiak said. “That excites me, that fires me up.”
Macdonald said Kubiak’s scheme will benefit Smith by providing “a lot of detail” and “clarity” in how they want to operate.
“They’ve lived through all the things that can happen to a quarterback, so it’s very clean in terms of progressions,” Macdonald said. “And I think there’s an accountability factor for the whole football team. We’ve all got to play on the same accord. We have to be in the right spot when we need to be there. The ball needs to be out on time. Protection all works. It’s going to take everybody, but it’s a very clear vision and detailed in how we need to get there.”
