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Brady Henderson, ESPN 6y

Seahawks expected to hire Brian Schottenheimer as OC

NFL, Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks are expected to hire Brian Schottenheimer as their next offensive coordinator, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Schottenheimer, 44, has spent the past two seasons as the Indianapolis Colts' quarterbacks coach and has twice been an offensive coordinator in the NFL. He served that role for the Jets from 2006 to 2011 and for the Rams from 2012 to 2014. Schottenheimer was the offensive coordinator at Georgia in 2015.

The hiring of Schottenheimer continues the reshuffling of Seattle's offensive coaching staff. The team fired offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and offensive line coach Tom Cable this week. Each had been with the team in those roles since 2011.

Schottenheimer is the son of longtime NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer. Seahawks general manager John Schneider worked in the front offices of the Kansas City Chiefs and Washington Redskins while the elder Schottenheimer was coaching those teams.

Under Brian Schottenheimer, the Jets never finished better than 11th in total offense and were 20th or worse four times. Two of those Jets teams advanced to the AFC Championship Game with Mark Sanchez at quarterback, though. The Rams finished 23rd, 30th and 28th under Schottenheimer, but quarterback Sam Bradford missed 25 games during that stretch because of two ACL injuries.

The Seahawks hope Schottenheimer can help revamp an offense that fell off in 2017, especially toward the end of the season. Seattle failed to produce 150 total yards in consecutive December games -- a loss to the Rams in Week 15 and a win over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16 -- and finished 15th in that category.

Particularly problematic with Seattle's offense has been the deterioration of the running game, which had been coordinated by Cable. The Seahawks ranked no worse than fourth in rushing from 2012 to 2015 but have been 25th and 23rd the past two seasons. Quarterback Russell Wilson led the team in rushing this season with 586 yards while no tailback produced more than 250. Wilson also scored three of the Seahawks' four rushing touchdowns.

Seattle's offense also had trouble at the start of games in 2017. They were 30th in yards per game (133.9) and 31st in offensive points per game (6.25) in the first half, according to ESPN Stats & Information. Seattle was No. 1 in both second-half yards per game (196.5) and second-half points per game (14.19).

Schottenheimer would be Seattle's third offensive coordinator since coach Pete Carroll arrived in 2010. Jeremy Bates was fired after one season in that role, leading to Bevell's hiring in 2011.

Schottenheimer got his NFL start as an offensive assistant with the Rams in 1997. His other NFL stops have been with the Chiefs (1998), Redskins (2001) and Chargers (2002-05).

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