10 Candidates Emerge as Ruskell's Replacement

[Hawk096]

List of the Candidates

I will break the list down fully tonight and post it on the blog, but the three names that stick out most to me are Randy Mueller (from his previous days in Seattle), Ruston Webster (currently the interm GM) and Floyd Reese.

 

[SeaHawksHuddle]

Re: 10 Candidated Emerge as Ruskell's Replacement

Webster will not get it only because of his association with Ruskell. Mueller was the one who drafted Walter Jones. He's a tough call - lot's of mixed success/failure just by reading his Wikipedia page. Floyd Reese would be a good candidate. I am a Steve Keim fan. Taking him from a division rival would be nice. He's responsible for a lot of the best Cardinals' players. It should also be noted that he objected to them taking Levi Brown. Who did he want instead? Adrian Peterson.

 

[Hawk096]

Re: 10 Candidated Emerge as Ruskell's Replacement

Yeah I think it would be nice to add a rival employee to the team. I do think Reese would be a nice pick up and Mueller too, but I agree 18 he did have the mix of success and failure. It'll be interesting I hope though we get someone young.

 

[Fenom]

Re: 10 Candidated Emerge as Ruskell's Replacement

Webster will not get it only because of his association with Ruskell. Mueller was the one who drafted Walter Jones. He's a tough call - lot's of mixed success/failure just by reading his Wikipedia page. Floyd Reese would be a good candidate. I am a Steve Keim fan. Taking him from a division rival would be nice. He's responsible for a lot of the best Cardinals' players. It should also be noted that he objected to them taking Levi Brown. Who did he want instead? Adrian Peterson.

If Adrian Peterson was drafted by the Cards they would be a scary team with Pop Warner at QB.

 

[Seahawk Freak]

I say they should really be going after Tom Heckert or Kevin Colbert. The problem with Heckert is they wont be able to talk to him untill after the Super Bowl in my estimation. Colbert should be available for interview much earlier, and may be on his way out of Pittsburg anyway.

 

[Seahawk Freak]

The more I think about this.......Who would take this job and not be allowed to bring in his own staff? I read that last week Mora sent an email to Leiwiki that endorssed Holmgren to come back. My guess is that he was thinking Holmgren would let him stay on as head coach.

SO my fingers are crossed.............GOOD BY MORA!

 

[seahawkscott19]

There's some quality guys on that list. Keim, Licht, Heckert. I like it.

 

[SeahawkWag]

If they say no to Holmgren then they should go autside the franchise. No current or past association with the Hawks. How old is the Eagle's GM? I thought the asst GM for the Colts was a top canidate?

 

[Fenom]

The more I think about this.......Who would take this job and not be allowed to bring in his own staff? I read that last week Mora sent an email to Leiwiki that endorssed Holmgren to come back. My guess is that he was thinking Holmgren would let him stay on as head coach.

SO my fingers are crossed.............GOOD BY MORA!

He will get one more year no matter what. Holmgren went 4-12 with pretty much the same team so you can't jump out and say it's the coaches fault when he doesn't call the plays on offense or defense. He also didn't sign/draft these pussies.

 

[Seahawk Freak]

I dont know phaze, we had a worse record last year, but played better. We were in alot of the game we lost. This year we seem to be out of the game by half time. Its not about the losses in my opinion. Its about the lack of intensity and the way we have lost. Damn, how many games did were we down 10 or more points in the first 10 minutes? I have a really bad feeling that Webster is gonna get the job because he will do what Lewicky wants......Keep mora. :harvey: :harvey: :harvey: :harvey:

 

[Pottsie]

Just as long as the ENTIRE coaching staff is fired, those names look good to me! (Except Mueller.)

 

[Fenom]

Mora is the only one that I think will still be around next season. Bradley and a few others may stick around, but the rest are on thin ice. Knapp has had success running the ball, but only because he had guys like Vick and Russell at QB. They don't have that great of throwing talent so you have to run the ball a lot more than most teams. Therefore you tend to get more yardage.

 

[Hawk096]

Here's the blog breakdown of the 10:

Here’s the list of the 10 Candidates that the Seahawks have expressed interest in. Here’s a little background on them with teams they’ve worked for and anything else needed to know:

Ruston Webster- Webster has been the Seahawks Vice President of Player Personnel for the past three-years. He worked directly with ex-President of Football Operations Tim Ruskell. His responsibilities were to oversee the day-to-day management of the pro personnel and college scouting departments.
Prior to his days with the Seahawks he spent 18-years with the Buccaneers. He served four years as the college scouting director and was a key component in putting the pieces together for the Buccaneers Super Bowl win in Super Bowl XXXVII.
His first job with the Buccaneers was the team’s scout for the northeastern United States for two-years. After that he served as the clubs director of pro personnel. He then returned to the field as Tampa Bay’s scout for the Southern states and shifted to the Midwest region in 1993. For the next five-years he was the Southwest region scout.

Randy Mueller- Mueller has worked in Seattle before as the Assistant in Pro Personnel, Player Personnel Director and Vice President of Football Operations in Seattle from 1983-1999. There he was able to pull a trade off that sent Rick Mirer to the Bears to acquire their first-round pick in the 1997 NFL Draft. With that selection the Seahawks took Walter Jones. When Mike Holmgren took over he took Mueller’s position forcing him to take over General Manager duties with the New Orleans Saints. His first season in charge the Saints won their division and their first playoff game in league history. He was named Sporting News NFL Executive of the Year. In 2002 he traded Ricky Williams to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a first and fourth round picks in the 2002 draft along with a conditional pick in the 2003 draft.
After his time in New Orleans he went to work for ESPN as an NFL analyst until the Dolphins hired him as GM in 2005. Mueller’s authority didn’t kick in until 2007 in which Nick Saban left the Dolphins for the college ranks with the University of Alabama. He was fired in 2007 when Bill Parcells joined the Dolphins.
From there he went to San Diego and has been there as a senior executive with the Chargers.

Steve Keim- For the past 11-years Keim has worked in the Cardinals organization as their Director of Player Personnel. He started off as a regional scout of the east and was promoted in 2006 to their Director of College Scouting. In 2008 he was promoted to his current position and his been a key factor in building of their success over the past two-years that has brought them two NFC West Division Titles and an NFC Conference Championship. His main responsibilities with the Cardinals are both pro and college scouting under the supervision of General Manager Rod Graves.
He also played in the NFL in 1996 with the Dolphins.

Jimmy Raye- Raye is the current Director of Player Personnel for the Chargers the past two-years. He joined their organization in 1996 and spent four years as a scout and then eight as the team’s Director of College Scouting. He was a key factor in the selecting of Ladian Tomlinson.
He has played for the Los Angeles Rams in 1991 and then the Chargers (1992) and then with the Houston Oilers.
His father is the current offensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers.

Tom Heckert- Considered one of the league’s top executives he enters his eighth-season with the Philadelphia Eagles as their General Manager. His job consists of him working closely with Andy Reid on player personnel matters, while working with the college and pro scouting.
His first draft brought the Eagles starters in Brian Westbrook, Lito Sheppard, Michael Lewis and Sheldon Brown. He has also added Shawn Andrews, Trent Cole, Brodrick Bunkley, Chris Gocong, Stewart Bradley and DeSean Jackson over the years. It was his engineering that traded AJ Feeley to the Dolphins for ha second-round pick.
His biggest contributions also have come in the rookie free agent department.
He spent 10-years as a member of the Miami Dolphins player personnel department until being signed by the Eagles in 2001. In 2003 he was promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel.
In 2003 he was rewarded for his scouting talents by the NFL as he was selected to a 12-person College Advisory Committee. In 2008 they named him the General Manger of the committee which advises to Roger Goodell and the NFL football operation departments on key issues involving player development, scouting and technology.
In 17-years in the NFL only one season has Heckert suffered a losing season, while winning eight divisions and making the playoffs 13 times- six with the Eagles.
He was guided in Miami by Don Shula and Jimmy Johnson. They both recommended him to the Eagles.

Eric DeCosta- For the past 13-years DeCosta has worked with the Baltimore Ravens. He’s currently their Director of Player Personnel and the past six-seasons has been the team’s head in their college scouting department. He oversees both their college and pro scouting department along with current GM Ozzie Newsome.
In 2005 he was honored by the Sporting News as he was selected as one of the top young stars in sports. He was one of eight members that made up the board to hire John Harbaugh.
Part of his draft selections has been Terrell Suggs, Le’Ron McClain, Jarret Johnson, Mark Clayton, Jason Brown, Haloti Ngata, Ben Grubbs, Jared Gaither and Joe Flacco.
The Raves won one Super Bowl with DeCosta a member of the organization.
Newsome also has stated so far he has yet to hear a phone call from the Seahawks about interviewing DeCosta.

John Schneider- In his eight-years with the Packers he has worked closely with current GM Ted Thompson. Before being named Director of Football Operations he was a personnel analyst to the GM for six-years.
Schneider’s main job in 2002 until 2-08 was addressing and evaluating the needs of the team through the draft and free agency. He has processed a system for the Packers that evaluates their needs on their roster as well as the other teams in the NFL, while taking in effect injuries, salary cap issues and the possibilities of trades.
He spent three-years with the Kansas City Chiefs and has worked with the Seahawks in 2000. In 2001 he was the Redskins Vice President of Player Personnel.

Floyd Reese- Reese might be the most experienced of the 10 Candidates the Seahawks are planning on interviewing for the General Managing position. Having been in the NFL for 33-years and spending the past season as senior football adviser. For 13-years he was the Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Houston Oilers and Tennessee Titans, while serving four years prior to that as assistant GM. He’s also been an assistant coach for the Lions, 49ers, Vikings and Oilers.
In his 13-years with the Oilers/Titans they won a combined 111 games setting a franchise record for wins by a GM. Four season they won 11 or more games and eight times they recorded a season of .500 or better. He helped establish the team that went to the Super Bowl in 1999 and lost to the St. Louis Rams.
His impact is still being felt by the Titans after their 2008 AFC’s top playoff seed, while 16 of their 22 starters were acquired by Reese.
He spent a few years on ESPN as an NFL analyst before joining the Patriots front office.

Jason Licht- Licht has spent 14-seasons in the NFL and was hired as their Director of Pro Personnel after being their personnel executive of the Cardinals during their NFC Championship year. Prior to that he worked with the Eagles.
He first joined the Patriots in 1999 as a college scout and became a national scout for the team in 2001. He was then promoted to their assistant director of player personnel.

Trent Baalke- For the past five seasons Baalke has worked in the 49ers front office- the past two as director of player personnel. He has 12-years of NFL experience in both the college and pro personnel departments.

After reading about all 10 of the candidates the Seahawks could interview I cut a list down to three guys I would like to see us get. Here’s those three and why:
Heckert- He’s young and experienced having worked in the NFL for 17-years. He knows what it takes to build a strong successful NFL team and has been consistent in doing so. It appears that the Seahawks will have the candidate reporting to Tod Leiweke rather than Paul Allen and he’s done that with the Eagles in reporting to Andy Reid. The main thing the Seahawks need to do is work on its depth and line on both sides. That’s something the Eagles have been successful in and would be needed to get us back on the right track.
DeCosta- He’s done it all… working in the college side, professional and even hiring a head coach in the NFL. The Raves have one of the best defenses year in and year out in large part due to the selection of players he has drafted. His scouting has also landed the Ravens players that contribute in all aspects of the game. He’s young too and has worked from a great mentor in Ozzie Newsome.
Reese- Has the experience and knowledge of the game to get the Seahawks back to where we want them to be. He also has the patient as evidence through his commitment to Jeff Fisher for so many years in the Titans organization. Despite the age Reese has worked as a coach and also in both the college and NFL scouting ranks.

 

[Striker]

Just like to say thank you for all your work and research, this was very insightful.

 

[Hawk096]

No problem Striker. Thanks for the appreciation. I enjoy doing the research and work for this site. Wanted to get that don before Christmas and the holidays so I can now relax and enjoy the time with the family.

 

[SeaHawksHuddle]

I sure hope we pick the right guy. Otherwise this will be like Steve Hutchinson all over again and everyone will use it as a crutch and an excuse, which is absurd because you can never prove that Holmgren would have done any better.

 

[#ONE]

Nor can you prove that he wouldn't have...

If the guy they hire to replace Ruskell completely sucks, then we as fans have every right to wonder if Holmgren would've done better and to be pissed at the individual(s) responsible.

 

[SeaHawksHuddle]

Nor can you prove that he wouldn't have...

If the guy they hire to replace Ruskell completely sucks, then we as fans have every right to wonder if Holmgren would've done better and to be pissed at the individual(s) responsible.

That is fine. And totally reasonable. But dwelling on it is pointless. And you cannot ever know one way or another. Even if he has amazing success in Cleveland, it is 50/50 that he would have had the same success here. I am just sick of people always whining about the past.

 

[Fenom]

Holmgren will bring in Shaun Alexander, Jerramy Stevens, and Koren Robinson in the off-season.

...Holmy has an eye for talent. :lol:

 

[#ONE]

Holmgren will bring in Shaun Alexander, Jerramy Stevens, and Koren Robinson in the off-season.

...Holmy has an eye for talent. :lol:

Was Shaun not talented? He was a good back in his prime. And Koren wasn't a bad player, he was just a drunk.