RENTON — Jim Mora closed his eyes tight, playfully pausing when the name Matt Hasselbeck was mentioned.
The Seattle coach was asked if he envisions his embattled, 34-year-old quarterback returning to the Seahawks in 2010.
“Yes,” a shut-eyed Mora said Wednesday after a reflective few seconds.
That was about all for assessments, expectations or revelations from Mora on Wednesday, three days after Seattle (5-11) finished another woeful season.
“We’ll look at everything — everything — to try to get better, because it wasn’t good enough. Wasn’t even close to good enough,” Mora said.
The 48-year-old coach, who grew up and attended high school and college in the Seattle area, said he considers it a civic duty of his to bring the Seahawks a Super Bowl championship.
“This is where I plan on living the rest of my life, and I want to be able to walk around this city and feel proud of the work I did for the Seattle Seahawks,” Mora said.
“We’re committed to bringing a championship to this city. It could take a little while, but we’re not going to accept that. It could — but we’re going to attack it.”
He also said, “You know, we have a lot of work to do.”
The coach deferred specifics until after the team hires a general manager, and perhaps a president. Tim Ruskell was forced out of both jobs on Dec. 3, and former coach Mike Holmgren subsequently turned down Seattle’s offer to return as an executive before taking on more authority to run the Cleveland Browns.
That’s left Mora as the only man being asked the big-picture questions — including those concerning his own future.
Mora says he’s not worried about that, even though the coach still has no idea who his new personnel boss will be or when he will arrive. Whether the franchise will retain its previous structure of one person serving as both president and GM remains to be seen as well.
Ruskell took the fall for the Seahawks going from NFC West champions (2004-07) to 9-23 over the last two seasons, but Mora has largely been given a pass by Seahawks chief executive Tod Leiweke. Mora was steward of a rocky transition in 2009 from Holmgren’s regime to one with a new offense, new defense and almost entirely new coaching staff.
Leiweke said last month he expects Mora to return for a second season.
“I’m just proceeding forward with our evaluation process,” Mora said. “I’m not too worried about it.
“I’m just going to go work until I’m told not to work.”
Seattle was one of eight teams to have a new head coach and largely new staffs this season. Half of those teams improved their win totals: the Browns and Seahawks gained one win each over 2008; the Chiefs and Lions were plus-2.
Mora said “maybe I oversold” optimism before the season.
“It was harder than we thought,” he said.
Mora’s first season following Holmgren’s winning decade in Seattle was in sharp contrast to his rookie season as a head coach in Atlanta in 2004. That year, Mora took what had been the 5-11 Falcons to the NFC championship game.
This time, the Seahawks’ injured and ineffective offensive line wrecked new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp’s running game — and Hasselbeck’s health. The three-time Pro Bowl passer missed 2½ games then played through broken ribs, a sore passing shoulder and thumb injury, while setting a career high with 17 interceptions.
The defense, under rookie coordinator Gus Bradley, failed to generate a consistent pass rush and often looked overmatched in a small secondary for the second consecutive season. Mora, a defensive coach by pedigree, said he will explore going from a 4-3 to a 3-4 scheme and calling more defensive plays himself in 2010.
Mora said he expects to know by March whether Walter Jones will play again. The six-time All-Pro left tackle turns 36 this month and has missed Seattle’s last 20 games following major knee surgery.
As for solace from another lost season, Mora said he recently reviewed the careers of Super Bowl-winning coaches Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Belichick — all of whom lost at least 11 games during their debut seasons with their eventual championship teams.
“Maybe to prop myself up,” Mora said of his research. “You are always looking for someone to share your misery with.”
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