Seattle Seahawks coach backs QB for all the right reasons

If you watched the Seattle Seahawks in the offseason leading up to their breakout 2012 performance, it would be hard not to feel some of the similarities to the modern day, especially at the all-important quarterback position.

Notes and observations from Seattle Seahawks’ first open OTA practice

You are familiar with the story: team signs Matt Flynn to a contract that makes him seem like the starter until we find out that most of it wasn’t guaranteed; Tarvaris Jackson represents the steady, respected veteran; and Russell Wilson is drafted in the third round with tons of upside and potential.

It isn’t exactly the same this time around, but certainly the three characters involved can represent those same roles. Sam Darnold was given a much more lucrative deal (and has accomplished a whole lot more than Flynn), but it is effectively a mid-level deal with an opportunity for the Seahawks to move on after one season. Drew Lock returns to play the part of Jackson. And Jalen Milroe is the third-round rookie with tons of upside and potential (faster, though admittedly not nearly as polished as Wilson was at the time).

In 2012, the assumption, at first, was that it was Flynn’s job to lose. But when he was asked by Rich Eisen a few days after he signed, he said “no,” he had not been given the job and would compete for it instead. And that was months before Wilson showed up and wowed everyone from the coaching staff to the fanbase. We don’t need Paul Harvey to tell us the rest of the story – we know how it turned out. Wilson won the competition and the rest was history.

Sam Darnold has started 73 games in the NFL. That is 71 more starts than Flynn had when he arrived, though at 35-38, his record is a few percentage points below Flynn’s .500 average. The point is, Darnold isn’t a near unknown.

But he is far from a sure thing. There was so much to like during his last season in Minnesota and a tremendous story to be told about how he has learned from his mistakes, grown into being a starter and found the right system for his skills. But there are fair questions as to whether it completely erases the five rough seasons that cost him starting jobs in New York and Carolina.

Darnold did not have, to my eyes, his best day Monday. It was the first day of OTA practices open to the media (though not the first day of practice for the team) and he looked tentative at times. He threw two interceptions in the red zone and was late and/or behind receivers multiple times. Those were, of course, mixed in with some successful throws as well. While it wasn’t exactly a large body of work to judge, it was the first and only in-person impression we have of his play so far and it was far from perfect.

It led me to wonder if there was any scenario in which, barring injury, Darnold wouldn’t be the starter in Week 1 against the Niners. So I asked Mike Macdonald.

“Sam’s our starting quarterback.”#Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald to @BrockHuard & @TheMikeSalk on @SeattleSports.

FULL VIDEO 📺: https://t.co/2nHH3MqeNL pic.twitter.com/ZSwNxMOpR7

— Seattle Sports (@SeattleSports) June 3, 2025

“No, you guys are crazy. Like, I respect you gotta ask it, but like … it’s just a crazy question. Sam’s our starting quarterback. We love him, he’s doing a tremendous job.

“I think it’s funny that the media is out there for like the first day and all of a sudden they know exactly how good we’re going to be and how good all the players are and all the tempos. We (haven’t) even put on pads yet. Like, we haven’t made one tackle.

(Editor’s note: Macdonald used a playfully sarcastic tone for the next paragraph.)

“And it turns out a practice, it’s a great way to build culture by letting guys know that they can’t make mistakes. That’s exactly what we’re shooting for. So go out to practice, be tight, make sure you don’t make a mistake because then, God forbid, you’re the worst player of all-time because you made one bad throw or one bad decision.

“Like, that is not what we’re trying to build. We want these guys to go prepare the right way, and then we go out on the practice field, go freaking let it rip. And then we’ll go fix it. We’ll go. We’ve got time. It’s June – it’s June 3. We’ll go. OK, they’re going to get plenty of reps. We’ll get those things fixed.

“I mean, Sam made a lot of great throws yesterday. He’s gashing us on third-and-goal to start the day out, too. So yeah, that was kind of a crazy question.”

More: ‘Crazy question,’ Seattle Seahawks coach responds when asked about QB situation

What a great answer! I believe it’s my job to ask about what I saw, and it’s a coach’s job to support his player in the answer. He did that incredibly well.

Now we know. There may be some long-term similarities to 2012, but this will not be an open competition in July and into August. Coaches have two options when they have multiple intriguing options at quarterback: they can back one player and support him with great intent with the hopes of solidifying his position, or they can open the competition to try to get the best out of each player and then go with the option that rises to the top.

In this case, the other two quarterback options may be intriguing, but they aren’t legitimate contenders for the job. Lock has been let go by three organizations (including this one), though if he’s looking for a blueprint on how to create a mid-career resurgence, Geno Smith and Darnold seem like perfect case studies. Milroe is about as fast and fun as it gets, but no one seems to think he is polished enough to take on that kind of responsibility for quite some time.

This is Sam Darnold’s job. And the coach will show him love, trust and support – even, or maybe especially, after a tough sequence in practice. He will give Sam space to learn from his mistakes and improve between now and September. He will, in a word, coach his most important player. There is no quarterback controversy in Seattle right now. Darnold deserves the first shot at this. That job is not guaranteed for life, or even for a full season, but there is no question now that it is his.

Seattle Seahawks coach backs QB for all the right reasons

Tags: