Sam Darnold's Chaotic Past Makes Him Perfect For Seahawks New Offense

The Seattle Seahawks are going through some changes ahead of the 2026 season, especially when it comes to their offense.

Out goes Klint Kubiak, who accepted the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders. In comes Brian Fleury, who spent time with the San Francisco 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. It isn't the first time quarterback Sam Darnold has had to adjust to a new play-caller. In fact, he's averaging more than one per season throughout his career.

"Sam Darnold will be working with his 10th different play-caller in his ninth NFL season: Jeremy Bates, Adam Gase, Dowell Loggains, Joe Brady, Jeff Nixon, Ben McAdoo, Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O’Connell, Klint Kubiak and now Brian Fleury. Losing Kubiak after his ultra-efficient 2025 is likely to take a toll, and much of Seattle’s success will be determined by how well Darnold adapts to having yet another new voice in his helmet," NFL.com analyst Matt Okada wrote.

Sam Darnold Has to Adjust Offense — Again

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold during minicamp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Essentially having a new play caller every year throughout your career isn't a bad sign. Often times, coaches get hired elsewhere, which is what happened to the Seahawks this past offseason. While it can be a challenge to learn an entirely new coach's likes and dislikes, this can also be viewed as an advantage for the Seahawks.

Darnold's experience going from coordinator to coordinator throughout his career will have him prepared to face the music this summer. He knows what is needed to have success when working with someone new, so that should have him ready for everything that's coming his way.

This year's transition for Darnold should also be slightly easier than some of his swaps in the past. Seattle's offense will have a different coordinator, but the team is going to try and keep things similar from their Super Bowl run.

"To use the term new, I would say, kinda. It's this year's version of last year's offense. It's the Seahawks offense, and Brian has brought some great ideas and some things we can move and shift," Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said via team reporter John Boyle.

There won't be as much new information for Darnold to comprehend, but the team needs him to lead the charge to get back on the same page in order to elevate the offense to even greater heights than they reached this past season.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Super Bowl champions from Seattle Seahawks On SI —

Sign Up For the Seahawks Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Seattle Seahawks Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google