Seahawks Can Put Perfect Finish on Staff Overhaul Adding Super Bowl Winner

Rapidly approaching the annual NFL combine and the start of free agency, Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks have nearly put a bow on their rebuilt offensive coaching staff following the official hires of offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and multiple incoming assistants just in time for the meat of the offseason.

Among those hired to work with Kubiak on boosting a Seattle offense that underachieved in 2024, the seasoned play caller brought two familiar assistants along for the ride in offensive line coach John Benton and quarterback coach Andrew Janocko. He will also be reunited with running back coach Kennedy Polamalu, who worked with him in Minnesota from 2019 to 2021 and was retained by the Seahawks as a holdover from last year’s staff.

But while the Seahawks have most of their revamped staff under contract with a new league year less than a month away, Macdonald and Kubiak wisely have their sights set on courting three-time Super Bowl winner Rick Dennison, who would be a nice cherry on top of the sundae if hired in coming days.

Boasting 28 years of experience as an NFL assistant, including three prior stints as an offensive coordinator with the Broncos, Texans, and Bills, Dennison cut his teeth as one of iconic coach Mike Shanahan’s most trusted assistants in Denver, climbing the ladder from offensive assistant to special teams coordinator to offensive line coach before making the jump to play caller. One of the architects behind Shanahan’s renowned wide zone scheme, he continued to build upon that system working with Gary Kubiak in Houston as an offensive coordinator for five seasons, helping lead the team to three postseason appearances.

Aside from working for Kubiak’s father with the Texans and Broncos, who won the Super Bowl in February 2016 with him as offensive coordinator, Dennison teamed up with Benton during those five seasons as Houston’s play caller, building one of the NFL’s best rushing attacks. From 2010 to 2012, the Texans ranked in the top 10 in rushing yards each season, twice advancing to the Divisional Round of the playoffs in large part due to their prolific ground game.

Dennison also coached alongside Klint Kubiak from 2019 to 2021, serving as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for two seasons before transitioning into a senior offensive advisor role as Kubiak took the reins as a coordinator for the first time in 2021. Most recently, the two worked in tandem with the Saints as Dennison filled the role of senior offensive assistant and Kubiak called plays once again.

At this stage of his career, the 66-year old Dennison looks to be past the days of calling plays or coaching up offensive linemen. However, much as Leslie Frazier offered Macdonald an invaluable mentor on staff last season in his first year as a head coach, the grizzled veteran could have the same type of impact on Kubiak in his third coordinator role, particularly when it comes to advising how to fix Seattle’s dreadful run game.

Despite finishing with 10 wins and narrowly missing out on the playoffs, the Seahawks had one of the league’s most punch-less ground games in 2024, in part due to former coordinator Ryan Grubb’s unwillingness to stick with it. Even with former second-round picks Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet headlining a talented stable of backs, the team finished 28th in rushing yards and 29th in attempts while falling short of 100 rushing yards in eight out of 17 regular season games, failing to develop a complementary run game to support quarterback Geno Smith.

If there’s a coach who knows what it takes to quickly reinvigorate a dormant ground game overnight, whether as a coordinator, line coach, or decorated senior advisor, Dennison has a lengthy track record of providing such a spark and Kubiak himself has seen this magic firsthand.

In his 10 previous seasons as an offensive coordinator, Dennison engineered six teams that finished inside the top 10 in rushing yards, including most recently achieving such success with Buffalo back in 2017. Continuing to leave an imprint as an offensive line coach/run game coordinator in Minnesota in 2019 and 2020, the Vikings ranked in the top six in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns both seasons.

Earlier in his coaching career, Dennison ironically replaced Gary Kubiak as Denver’s offensive coordinator after he bolted to become Houston’s new head coach. In three seasons holding that role on Shanahan’s staff, the Broncos ranked no worse than 12th in rushing each year, finishing in the top 10 in 2006 and 2007 without a true bell cow in the backfield while using a by-committee approach with Tatum Bell, Selvin Young, and Travis Henry.

From a familiarity standpoint, Dennison’s links to the Seahawks go beyond his past relationship with Kubiak and Benton, who he has coached with for six seasons in the league. He spent one year in Baltimore as the Ravens quarterback coach while Macdonald served as an intern on John Harbaugh’s staff in 2014, worked in tandem with Janocko - who was an assistant offensive line coach in Minnesota in 2019 before transitioning to receiver and quarterback coach - for three seasons, and developed a strong rapport with Polamalu as the run game coordinator for the Vikings.

Given those extensive connections and the fact the franchise seems to be prioritizing continuity to speed up the transition process installing a new offense, Seattle would seem like an ideal landing spot for Dennison, who won’t be retained in New Orleans by new coach Kellen Moore, and the interest understandably appears to be a mutual one considering the team’s ineptitude running the football over the past couple of seasons.

As things currently stand, hiring Kubiak and Benton already should have a positive impact on the Seahawks ability to run the football more proficiently in 2025. Bringing a proven winner in Dennison on board would only sweeten the pot as the perfect finishing touch for Macdonald’s offensive retool as the organization aims to climb back to the top of the NFC West and compete for championships moving forward.