Catlin remembered as brilliant coach, great guy

Published 11:26 pm Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Upon hearing the news of Tom Catlin’s weekend passing, former Seattle Seahawks great Kenny Easley remembered the ex-defensive coordinator for his serious nature and his long hours of silence.

But above all, Easley remembered Catlin for one thing.

“Tom was the most brilliant defensive coordinator in the National Football League,” Easley said Tuesday, shortly after learning that Catlin died Saturday in Seattle at the age of 76. “We never went into a game in the ’80s not knowing what the offense was going to do against us.”

Catlin helped engineer some of the greatest defenses in Seahawks history while working on Seattle’s staff from 1983 through 1995. He did most of his work behind the scenes, where the quiet, serious man preferred to spend his life.

In fact, Easley only remembers two occasions when he and Catlin ever had a conversation that did not involve football.

The first was shortly after Easley arrived as a hotshot rookie from UCLA. The first-round pick met his new defensive coordinator and responded to Catlin’s first question by calling him “sir.”

Catlin quickly corrected him.

“You don’t have to make this old body of mine feel any older by calling me ‘sir,’” Easley remembers Catlin responding. “Call me Tomcat. Or just Tom.”

Said Easley: “That’s the only time he ever joked with me.”

The last time Easley saw Catlin was even more memorable.

Both men were in town to play in a golf tournament earlier this decade, and afterward they sat down to have a bite to eat.

“It was the first time I had a chance to shoot the breeze with him, and I was surprised at how much he laughed and thought things were funny,” Easley said. “That was a different side of him. He was always so serious.

“He was one of the true serious guys, serious about his craft.”

During that same meeting, Easley was able to tell Catlin how he felt about him. Easley, who played with the Seahawks from 1981 to 1987, thanked Catlin for bringing out the best in him as a player.

“I could tell he was touched by that,” Easley said. “I don’t know if many people ever told him that. And I’m happy today that I got the chance to.”

Catlin died over the weekend after undergoing surgery. Catlin’s brother, Charles, told The Associated Press that the former defensive coordinator had been suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

In addition to his time with the Seahawks, Catlin worked as an assistant coach for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League, and the Los Angeles Rams and Buffalo Bills in the NFL. He retired from the NFL in 1996.

In college, Catlin played center and linebacker at Oklahoma from 1950-1952. He was a member of the Sooners’ 1950 squad that won the national championship under head coach Bud Wilkinson,

Easley was one of several ex-Seahawks who were saddened by the news of his death.

“Tom was a great guy, and a great coach,” former defensive end Jacob Green said. “He was sharp as a tack. He’s probably the best defensive coordinator they’ve ever had — the smartest I’ve been around. He could stop any offense.”

Former Seahawk lineman Cortez Kennedy won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 1992 while playing for Catlin.

“I have so much respect for him,” Kennedy said. “I’ve never been around a coach who was so focused. He never wanted the attention, he just wanted to do his job and for you to do your job.

“He was very special.”

Items from The Associated Press were included in this report.