Seahawks Could Hire Their New Offensive Coordinator from Within

The Seattle Seahawks enter Super Bowl LX week with rough news that Sunday might be the last game for Klint Kubiak as the offensive coordinator. The bad news is that the Seahawks will likely be on their fourth offensive coordinator in four seasons. The good news, however, is that it won’t because Seattle wasn’t efficient enough to help lead the team into the playoffs.

Kubiak is set to become the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after the Seahawks take on the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LV. This will be a huge blow for the Seahawks if Kubiak takes the job. Seattle finished the regular season with the third-ranked scoring offense, the eighth-ranked passing offense, and the tenth-ranked rushing offense.

Kubiak helped create one of the most explosive offenses in the league, turned wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba into one of the top offensive players in the league and revitalized the career of quarterback Sam Darnold.

The Seahawks have plenty of options they could turn to, especially some in-house. The Seahawks have great candidates if they decide to remain in Seattle rather than relocate to Las Vegas.

One of the first options the Seahawks should look at inside their coaching staff is passing game coordinator Jake Peetz. He has been instrumental in creating one of the most dynamic and explosive passing offenses in the league. He had a huge success building gameplans around Darnold, JSN and a reliable set of short-to-mid range pass-catchers. Adding Rashid Shaheed made things a lot easier.

Jake Peetz when he was an assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. — Jul 31, 2022; Irvine, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams offensive assistant coach Jake Peetz during training camp at UC Irvine. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Peetz has been all over the NFL and college football, learning from coaches Nick Saban and Sean McVay. In 2021, Peetz was LSU’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has been the passing game coordinator this season and last year.

Another hire the Seahawks could make internally is run-game specialist and assistant offensive line coach Justin Outten. Like Peetz, Outten has held many different NFL positions, including the first two seasons under Matt LeFluer as the tight end for the Green Bay Packers.

In 2022, he was hired to be the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. This was the season when head coach Nathaniel Hackett failed to get Aaron Rodgers at quarterback and ended up making the franchise-changing trade for Russell Wilson. The Broncos finished the season with the worst scoring offense in the league.

Outten has learned much since that move following Hackett, who was clearly not ready to be a head coach. Kubiak was also the passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the Broncos during that time.

Outten has stabilized the rushing offense under Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet this season, especially as the playoffs got closer. He also helped the offensive line play more consistently in outside runs and in the interior. Outten should be considered for the offensive coordinator position of the Seahawks because the team knows a thing or two about second chances.

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