Aug 15, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Cooper Kupp (10) returns to the locker room following early pregame warmups against the Kansas City Chiefs at Lumen Field. Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Cooper Kupp breaks down NFL's dominant coaching trees with Richard Sherman

Originally posted on Seattle Seahawks on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Aug 17, 2025 7:00 PM ET

More than anything what got former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll fired is he had fallen behind the times schematically. Over time his defenses went from all-time great, to elite, to good, to average, and finally to bad. Meanwhile, Carroll's offenses were never very good outside of what Russell Wilson created on his own running no huddle.

It was unspeakably frustrating to watch the rest of the league surpass the Seahawks in these areas, while what little progress was made came far too late to Seattle. However, it looks like that dynamic is finally coming to an end. Mike Macdonald has proven to be the defensive genius they thought they were getting when they hired him - and now Klint Kubiak seems to be taking the Seahawks offense into the modern era.

Watch Cooper Kupp breaking down the dominant coaching trees around the league with Seahawks legend Richard Sherman and you'll feel his excitement getting to be a part of one of them.

Cooper Kupp, Richard Sherman on coaching trees

“It’s awesome to see how these offenses have grown and changed… and I get to be part of it.” - Cooper Kupp

Which coaching tree runs the NFL right now? #NFL pic.twitter.com/TUVsBSanVJ
— Richard Sherman Podcast (@RShermanPodcast) August 16, 2025

As Jake Bobo spoke about after Friday night's convincing win over the Chiefs, what sets this offense apart from previous versions is that it's a complete system rather than just a collection of plays.

To an opposing defense, the way the Seahawks line up when they're doing an outside zone run looks exactly the same as a play action might, or a bootleg, or a variety of other plays - so it's much more difficult to guess what's coming than it has been in previous seasons.

That unpedictability is ultimately the one thing that Seattle's offense was missing under Ryan Grubb, Shane Waldron, and everyone else who came before.

This article first appeared on Seattle Seahawks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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