There should be something special in Seattle

Sporting News, The, July 13, 1998 by Dennis Dillon

There was nothing special about the Seahawks' special teams last season. Au contraire, they distinguished themselves by their flagrant foul-ups. Bad snaps ... bad decisions ... blocked punts ... fumbled punt returns ... punts and kicks returned for touchdowns by opponents. It all happened.

The special teams gave up five touchdowns, including two punt returns in one game by the Ravens' Jermaine Lewis. They allowed a safety when the blocked a punt out of the end zone. They were directly responsible for two defeats And contributed heavily to two others.

It was enough to reduce the Seahawks--No. 3 in the NFL in offense and No. 8 in defense--to a .500 team It was enough to cost them a playoff spot It was, team management decided, enough.

After the season, vice president of football operations Randy Mueller and coach Dennis Erickson made it a top priority to hire a new special teams coach to replace Dave Arnold. And Seahawks' ownership authorized them to spend whatever it took.

As Mueller and Erickson talked to general managers and coaches around the NFL, one name kept popping up: Pete Rodriguez. "Everybody said this guy is organized, very detailed, and takes pride in his work" Mueller says.

The Seahawks asked Rodriguez, who had just signed a three-year contract with the Redskins, what it would take to get him to come to the Pacific Northwest. Obviously, some money said Rodriguez, plus a supervisory title. (Assistant coaches under contract cannot make lateral moves to other NFL team) So the Seahawks gave him the dual title of head coach/special teams.

"There's not too many times in your career when you get to ask for things," says Rodriguez, 57, who has forged a reputation for being something of a special team doctor during his 10 seasons in the NFL.

What the Seahawks are asking of Rodriguez is to fix special teams units that ranked 30th (last) in the league in 1997 in punt-return average `and net-punting average; 29th in opponents' field-goal percentage; mid 28th in gross-punting average and opponents' punt-return average.

Rodriguez has come up with the Rx previously He helped improve the special teams of the Raiders (1988-89), Cardinals (1990-93) and Redskins (1994-97). Tim Brown, Johnny Bailey Brian Mitchell and Matt Turk are among the players he has coached who were selected to the Pro Bowl at specialist positions.

The blueprint for improving special teams is a series of commitments. The team must commit to making them a high priority It must commit to getting some young players who can run fast, and to using some of its starters. Most important, A must commit to getting key personnel as the specialists.

"If you don't have a punter, a kicker, a return guy and a long snapper," Rodriguez says, "you're asking for trouble

Here is how Rodriguez casts those roles for the Seahawks in 1998:

* Jeff Feagles, a free-agent addition from the Cardinals. replaces punter Rick Tuten, who sped with the Rams. the Seahawks went through three punters in '97. Tuten handled the Job the first 10 games, then pulled a pelvic muscle. Kyle Richardson, activated from the practice squad to replace Tuten, suffered a concussion in his second game and Tuten was forced to return. He punted once, for minus-6 yards, then was placed on the injured reserve list. Seattle cut Richardson and brought in longtime NFL punter Rohn Stark for the final four games.

Feagles punted 91 times for a 44.3 yard average (36.8 net) in '97--by comparison, the Seahawks' trio punted 78 times for a 40.3 yard average (32.3 net)--and has a career average of 41.5. He has punted 815 times and has not missed a game in 10 seasons with the Patriots, Eagles and Cardinals.

"He's a directional punter," Rodriguez says. "He can do anything you want with the ball"

* Jason Kyle, who spent the '97 season on IR after suffering a rotator-cuff injury in the preseason, and rookie center Jason McEndoo, the team's seventh-round draft pick, will compete for the role of long snapper. After Kyle's injury, that job handled, inconsistently, by center Kevin Mawae, who is now with the Jets. Kyle apparently has recovered from his injury and snapped the ball exceptionally in minicamp.

* Wide receiver Joey Galloway and cornerback Shawn Springs are the leading candidates to return punts. They would replace Ronnie Harris and Tyree Davis, players no longer with the team who combined for an average of 6.7 yards-per return in '97.

Galloway and Springs are two of the team's fastest players, and both have returned punts previously--Galloway in his first two seasons in the NFL (1995 and '96) and Springs as a senior at Ohio State (1996). But both are starters and the Seahawks would be loath to get either player hurt on special teams.

"That's the one area I think Fin a little bit concerned about," Rodriguez says. "We're still looking to see if there's somebody available to be a (punt-return) specialist. But if not, those are the guys who are going to do it. Maybe we'll just alternate them."

* Kicker Todd Peterson is unchallenged, for now. He has made 81 percent of his career field-goal attempts and has scored more than 100 points in each of his three seasons in Seattle. Peterson is not particularly powerful on kickoffs, but Rodriguez dunks he can become better than adequate.