Seahawks embrace their future

KIRKLAND — No introductions were needed. Apparently, neither were the visual reminders.

When the Seattle Seahawks officially announced the name of their future head coach Wednesday, not even Mike Holmgren’s eventual successor was in attendance. Jim Mora was nowhere to be found during Wednesday’s announcement, leaving team president Tim Ruskell and CEO Tod Leiweke to run the show.

Ruskell said that Mora did not want to take attention away from the 2008 season. Mora, who will take over when Holmgren retires in February of 2009, left his sentiments to a press release that was distributed by the team.

“I am extremely excited about the future, but completely focused on the opportunity we have in front of us this season,” Mora was quoted as saying. “My job this year, as it was last, is to coach the secondary to the best of my ability and support coach Holmgren and the defensive staff in any way I can.

“In addition to thanking Mr. Allen, Tod and Tim for having faith in me and making this possible, I would like to thank Mike Holmgren, who has helped me immensely this past season, and from whom I have learned a great deal.”

Mora, 46, will continue to serve as secondary coach before taking over as head coach under a four-year contract that begins next February. He was 26-22 in three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons before joining the Seahawks last February. He was fired after the 2006 season, due in large part to comments he made regarding his desire to one day coach at the University of Washington. Mora spent the 2007 season as the Seahawks’ secondary coach, helping mold cornerback Marcus Trufant into a Pro Bowl player.

While it has long been assumed that Mora was hired last year to eventually take over for Holmgren, Ruskell said Wednesday that no assurances were made at the time — or even after the Washington Redskins courted Mora to be their head coach last month.

“He was not promised that,” Ruskell said. “Part of the reason Jim Mora is here is that he really wanted to get back here (to the Seattle area, where Mora attended high school and college). He had other opportunities … but he really wanted to get back here, somewhere where he could plant his family and not keep moving them around.”

Speculation of the expected promotion grew when Holmgren announced last month that 2008 would be his 10th and final season as Seahawks head coach. But the timing of the announcement did leave room for some obvious questions.

One of those involves two openings on an offensive staff that is looking to replace quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn, who took a job as the Washington Redskins’ offensive coordinator, as well as a quality-control coach. Ruskell said that both decisions would be made by Holmgren, not Mora.

“Mike’s the head coach,” Ruskell said. “We’ll all put in our recommendations, but he has to OK it.”

There is also a question about whether Mora’s current job will expand so that he can better familiarize himself with all aspects of the team. But Ruskell said that was unlikely.

“I don’t think anything’s going to change,” Ruskell said. “He’s the secondary coach, and those duties take up all of his time.”

In justifying the timing of the announcement, both Ruskell and Leiweke used the word “stability” on a number of occasions. Rather than go into the 2008 season with uncertainty, the Seahawks wanted to answer any questions about their future by announcing Mora’s eventual promotion Wednesday.

“Stability and unity have been part of our culture since Tod got here, and it’s something I carried over,” Ruskell said. “It’s a good thing. Everybody knows who Jim Mora is. He’s a high-energy guy who grew up in this game.”

Ruskell said that Holmgren fully endorsed the promotion of Mora. Holmgren also was missing from Wednesday’s press conference.

“This makes a lot of sense for the organization,” Holmgren was quoted as saying in the Wednesday press release. “Jim is a talented coach who has already had a measure of success in this league and has all the tools here needed to succeed.”