Why I'm excited for the future.

[acctingman]

This team isn't making the playoffs.

They for sure aren't winning the division. It's the Rams division, for now. Hawks won't make it as a WC team, not as they are currently and it doesn't look like this team now won't be the same team come September.

As long as Russ doesn't get killed they're a 6-7 win team.

 

[toffee]

This team isn't making the playoffs.

They for sure aren't winning the division. It's the Rams division, for now. Hawks won't make it as a WC team, not as they are currently and it doesn't look like this team now won't be the same team come September.

As long as Russ doesn't get killed they're a 6-7 win team.

3 teams race, Hawks, Rams, and 9ers ....

 

[adeltaY]

Barring an injury to Russ I am certain this team will make the playoffs next season, absolutely certain of it.

This!!

I expect guys to be hungrier, more on edge, more to gain/lose, less complaining, less entitled ..... all that should translate into more coachable. We also have cornerstone in place on the offense - Russ, defense - Wagner. We need players that look to the future, not players that live in the past, and we are heading in that direction.

What we need to do is trade Earl .... source of our future draft picks, Kam/Avril/Earl ..... source of our future cap space.

Eh, I'd be shocked if we won the division. The Rams' talent level on D and coaching on offense blows ours out of the water right now. I can see a wildcard berth, but it'll be tough. The three NFCS teams are very strong and the NFCN has the Vikings and Packers. Could easily see some combination of those teams taking the WC spots. In our own division, we'd be competing with the niners for a WC spot.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Too late generally rarely works out well.

This team had a chance to make changes, it chose not to.

The horse left the barn long ago.

This was a wild card team shortly thereafter and then it got worse through age, injury and incompetent FO moves.

The guy who filled this team with talent is now gone. But the GM that oversaw if not created the slide (certainly exacerbated it) remains.

Most of our division got better this year, we got worse.

The future starts when JS and Carroll leave their tired stale concept of how to build a winning team behind or...

Leave period.

 

[toffee]

Too late generally rarely works out well.

This team had a chance to make changes, it chose not to.

The horse left the barn long ago.

This was a wild card team shortly thereafter and then it got worse through age, injury and incompetent FO moves.

The guy who filled this team with talent is now gone. But the GM that oversaw if not created the slide (certainly exacerbated it) remains.

Most of our division got better this year, we got worse.

The future starts when JS and Carroll leave their tired stale concept of how to build a winning team behind or...

Leave period.

I heard the same cry twice before, 1986-88 for the head of one Bill Walsh. Again in 2013-14 this time for Jim Harbaugh. Both times, fans got their wishes, most amazing was 2014, folks were celebrating the firing of Harbaugh and hiring of Tomsula.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Not saying Carroll has to go at all. Or JS (Though I would not tear up on that news).

But the same ideas don't work and that brand of football won't help.

IF they are going to try to do the same thing as before with different guys? Please go.

IF they go all in with Wilson and build around him, to focus this team to win with offense? Sure. But then they should have brought in someone from a great offense, like an ex-Steeler OC (who was available) or another rising staff member of a fantastic offense.

I don't know that building around a defense with worse players will work. Especially because our scouting/development has been piss poor for the past few years.

But more of the same crap we saw last year? No thank you.


I don't watch football just to wait for the 4th quarter to see anything of note. And you don't need 4th quarter heroics if you bother to do things right in the first 3 quarters.

But to me I see an old, tired philosophy that no longer works with the players he has or has had for a while. Not sure if there is much future if that same process gets implemented w less stars on the team.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Seems like you've been wanting Pete and John gone for a long while now.

 

[Hawkscanner]

Honestly? I think the Sun in our sky burst on that final play in XLIX. That team never, ever recovered emotionally, spiritually, and it couldn't be more obvious than what we have seen unfold in recent months. Giving credit to John and Pete, they are doing everything they possibly can to reboot and see if lightning can strike twice in the Pacific Northwest.

I meant it. I like our chances.

I agree with you 100%. If there were any lingering doubt about the impact of that final play of SB XLIX, I'd say Luke Willson's recent interview pretty much confirmed everything we'd concluded and have been saying for years. That team never did recover. It really and truly was a broken team from that point on. I'm very much in favor of what Schneider has done this offseason. If anything, I'd say this reboot should really have begun a couple of years ago. It's become crystal clear this is what was necessary.

I like our chances as well. I don't know that we're necessarily as far away as many might think. I'll have a better handle on things after the draft and minicamp, but I would not be shocked whatsoever to see this team back in the playoffs again this year.

I definitely agree they are about two years too late for the reboot but better late than never. I just hope both JS and PC are around in five or so years to see this reboot to the very end of its shelf life like they've been for the first.

With fresh, hungry and young blood happily and eagerly absorbing Pete's message and culture I really do think this team will be back in the mix and in the playoffs sooner than some think. Could very well be as soon as this season.

Absolutely. And I said that with great certainty and confidence because I've learned over time that there are certain essential elements to NFL teams that win consistently. If you have these bottom line elements (at a bare minimum) you will be a successful winning NFL team. Those are:

1) Great Owner -- CHECK. I mean, come on, are there really and truly many better owners out there?
2) Great GM -- CHECK. John Schneider has consistently shown that he is among the elite GM's in the game today.
3) Great Head Coach -- CHECK. Pete Carroll -- not just good coach, legendary coach in so many ways.
4) Great QB -- CHECK. Russell Wilson is without question among the NFL's truly elite QB's.

Those are really the 4 consistent elements that a team needs. All the rest people ... is window dressing. All of the rest ... are parts (admittedly extremely necessary parts, mind you) which will change over time. The names and faces of those other elements will change over the years, but as long as you have those 4 things that remain consistent and in place, more times than not your NFL franchise will be a consistently winning/successful team.

 

[toffee]

The future starts when JS and Carroll leave their tired stale concept of how to build a winning team behind or...

Leave period.

Not saying Carroll has to go at all. Or JS (Though I would not tear up on that news).

You are twisted , love pretzels?

 

[A.D.I.D.A.S.]

This team isn't making the playoffs.

They for sure aren't winning the division. It's the Rams division, for now. Hawks won't make it as a WC team, not as they are currently and it doesn't look like this team now won't be the same team come September.

As long as Russ doesn't get killed they're a 6-7 win team.

3 teams race, Hawks, Rams, and 9ers ....

.......and the Saints, Vikings, and Eagles, etc, They better win the division. Those WC spots are gonna be tough to get in the NFC.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

When the stars got older and started getting hurt it did feel stale and hanging on
to past glory.The attitudes became more about me instead of we and that got old fast.
I'm excited too to see who rises and if they play as a team that is hungry.

A lot of people could be about to be pretty disappointed on this front.

"Young, cheap, and hungry" is getting thrown around a lot these days as if it will guarantee a return to quality, but it's a logical fallacy to assume that pure motivation will make these guys stars - or that they made Carroll's previous generation stars. Earl, Kam, and Sherman didn't win a Super Bowl until their fourth, redshirt fourth, and third years, respectively, and they succeeded because they were well-scouted, well-coached All-Pro talents. They didn't shine because they were Mad At Having Been Passed Over™ or whatever it is people are assuming. Had Carroll's DB paradigm existed in the league at the time Kam and Sherman were drafted, they might have been day two, maybe day one draft picks. And Earl wasn't passed over at all.

A lot of people haven't considered the very real possibility that these guys may get set loose on the field, young, cheap and hungry, and then just...suck. It's not enough to be young, cheap, and hungry. They also have to be good.

And if Pete does return to a Super Bowl, he's going to do it largely with players that were drafted from 2015-2017. So the draft class of our next Super Bowl, if it happens, is already on the roster. What are we thinking about them?