As little turnover that the Seahawks have had since the end of their 2025 season, one of the biggest places that there has been change has been at offensive coordinator. The Seahawks enter the 2026 season with Brian Fleury at the helm of all things offense. As was the hope and plan when head coach Mike Macdonald and company began interviewing candidates for the offensive coordinator vacancy, Fleury brings a sense a familiarity to the offense, in both scheme and personality.
Fleury comes from a similar coaching background that former offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak did. They both had ties to the Kyle Shanahan style offense, both having coached under Shanahan at some point in their career.
While former Seahawks run game coordinator Rick Dennsion and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko both took jobs with Kubiak at the Las Vegas Raiders, outside of Fleury, and the additions of running backs coach Thomas Hammock, offensive assistant Johnathan Williams and pass-game strategist Daniel Stern, the offensive staff is the same as last year. Additionally, every offensive player who started in the Super Bowl, except Kenneth Walker III, has returned for this season.
Macdonald said, "It's not an easy task to come into a staff that's mostly been here, and a lot of players that have been here. They're used to doing it a certain way. How do you make your vision come to life within the framework of all the things that have been here is easier said than done. We want to encourage [Brian Fleury] to keep bringing his vision to life and being himself."
For players, when they get a new offensive coordinator, they usually are learning an entirely new offense, but this group is mostly tweaking some things, while the foundation of it stays relatively similar to last season.
"There is enough of a challenge of new things that are added in," Cooper Kupp said. "The guys have to stay on top of stuff. I think the danger you fall into is when you have guys come in that just feel like you are running the same exact thing, and you get complacent. You think you know the details and you think you know the stuff. There's enough new things that it's keeping people on their toes and forcing you to get in your book, forcing you to ask questions, and forcing you to understand and master what we are doing. I have enjoyed that. I've enjoyed the challenge of that."
That newness of the offense has even challenged the defense, which was one of the best defenses in the league last season, to work a little bit harder. Leonard Williams says the offense is "a lot faster."
"The way they're attacking the ball, the way they're having pre-snap communication is on another level," he said. "I feel like oftentimes when I've been a part of great defenses, especially here, where the defense is like the more loud, rowdy ones, we're getting to the ball really fast. Our offense is really challenging us this camp, because they're getting on the ball fast, catching us out of a stance. It's been a great battle so far in camp."
Fleury has been described by players as stoic, even-keeled and "all about ball."
"He runs his meetings the right way," tight end AJ Barner said. "He expects great things out of his players. He comes to work each day with the same kind of attitude, that's just straight business. I think as a player, you can really respect a guy that has those values, so it's a great fit here."
Quarterback Sam Darnold said, "I think with Fleury, just his mentality, whether it's a good play or bad play, his mentality never really changes out there on the field, which I already kind of knew about him being in San Francisco with him, but he was always very even keeled. But now getting to spend a little bit more time or a lot more time with him as the offensive coordinator, it's really fun to be able to watch him work every single day and just see his mentality out there."
Seattle's offense is overflowing with a wealth of talent that includes the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year in Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a 10-year veteran in Kupp and a playmaker in Rashid Shaheed. Then you add in Tory Horton who was having an incredible rookie season before a shin injury cut his season short, along with the tight end group including Barner and Elijah Arroyo, as well as the addition of rookie Jadarian Price, and the Seahawks have options when it comes to established playmakers.
Smith-Njigba says Fleury understands what each player brings, and that is important.
"The excitement that (Brian) Fleury brings to the offense and him understanding the players – understanding what we're good at," he said.
Fleury's coaching background on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball give him a unique perspective and its given Macdonald a new perspective of things too.
"I've learned a lot from him," Macdonald said. "There's a lot of things that we're doing post-snap and how we're teaching detail in terms of the run game and the pass game. After we catch what we do with the ball, things that I necessarily haven't heard the way explained like that. It's going to be a huge benefit for us. When we get into game planning and stuff, it's going to be a new process for all of us. We've done some simulations, but there's nothing like until you get into the fight, and he's been great to work with. He's a problem solver. He thinks three dimensionally, he communicates well."
The players can tell that Fleury is very detail-focused as well.
"We're putting in a lot of basic stuff and we want to be good at the basics," Smith-Njigba said. "We want to be good at the fundamentals, want to be good after the catch. We want to be great, actually. Take those short gains and turn them into long runs. Smash mouth football, that's how we love to play and the defense is going to have to react to us and we're going to keep punching it down their throats."
Darnold added, "He's just very consistent. And I think the guys, the players, can really appreciate that when a coach is very consistent and you know what to expect day in and day out."
