On Monday, the Seattle Seahawks made official what had been known for more than a week. Andrew Janocko and John Benton are joining the coaching staff as quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach, respectively. The club also announced the hiring of Michael Byrne as an offensive assistant.
Janocko and Benton both coached with new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak last season in New Orleans. Janocko also had experience with Kubiak when the two were on the Vikings staff. Janocko was promoted into the quarterbacks coaching role in Minnesota in 2021 when Kubiak was elevated to offensive coordinator.
Led by Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, and Justin Jefferson, the Vikings had a slightly above-average offense that season. The team was also fairly average, which resulted in the ownership's decision to clean house. The GM and head coach were both fired, while Kubiak and Janocko got caught in the crossfire.
Seattle Seahawks announce a few official coaching hires
Janocko is just 36 but has extensive experience coaching at the NFL level. He got his first taste of the pros when he was 24, serving as an offensive quality control coach in Tampa Bay. Before coming to Seattle, Janocko made stops with three other NFL franchises and coached virtually every position on offense. That experience, along with his specific knowledge of Kubiak’s system, should serve him well in Seattle.
On the downside, he has yet to show success in developing young QBs. When he worked with veterans like Cousins and Derek Carr, they performed well. But he spent two seasons with Justin Fields in Chicago and the young QB did not seem to grow.
When Carr got hurt in Seattle last season, New Orleans chose to start second-year QB Jake Haener against the Washington Commanders and Haener looked entirely unprepared to play. He was benched at halftime in favor of rookie Spencer Rattler, who fared somewhat better.
There’s not much certainty about who will be under center for Seattle in 2025, but it seems likely at some point in the near future, the Hawks will have to develop a young signal caller. Hopefully, Janocko will be up to the task.
Benton takes over an offensive line in dire need of a reboot. Left tackle Charles Cross is the only sure thing returning in 2025. Perhaps a few of the other ’24 starters will stick around but in general, the line needs a major upgrade in personnel, performance, or both. Benton is succeeding Scott Huff, who arrived alongside 2024 offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb from the University of Washington. After one season, it seemed apparent that neither was ready for the NFL.
Unlike Huff, who had extensive college experience but no significant time in the pros, Benton has been coaching offensive lines at the professional level for more than 20 years. He had a long tenure with Houston and was later hired by Kyle Shanahan to handle the offensive line in San Francisco. He spent last season with Kubiak and Janocko in New Orleans.
The third new member of the offensive staff announced Monday is Michael Byrne, who was named as an offensive assistant. Byrne also spent 2024 as an assistant in New Orleans and though his specific role with Seattle is undefined, he was a college quarterback who also has coached quarterbacks at several levels in the college ranks. In addition, Byrne has coached running backs and wide receivers and has worked in analytics both in college and at Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
As such, he combines two skill sets that NFL teams are finding more and more useful. In today’s NFL, you can never have enough people helping to develop quarterbacks, and an understanding of analytics is more crucial every year.
Byrne may be stepping into the role that Zak Hill had in 2024. Hill returned to Boise State this year to assume the role of quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator after serving as an offensive assistant for the Hawks last year.
Neiko Thorpe, who stepped away from his defensive assistant role last year to work in football operations, will return to coaching in 2025, taking the place of Nick Perry, who took a job at the University of Arkansas coaching defensive backs.
This flurry of moves may complete the 2025 staff, though Benton does not currently have an assistant line coach on the roster. Brendan Nugent served in that capacity under Huff last year, and it is typical for NFL teams to carry one, so perhaps a bit more tinkering remains. In all, of the 23 new assistants brought in by Mike Macdonald in February of ’24, 17 remain with the club while six have either been released or have chosen to leave.
