Steve Sarkisian drawing early attention as potential Seahawks offensive coordinator

Steve Sarkisian has presided over a Falcons offense that took a gigantic step backward in 2017, but it was perhaps inevitable that they would do so after their historic 2016. While he’s made plenty of mistakes as a rookie offensive coordinator, Sark appears to have the confidence of Dan Quinn, and he’s widely expected to be back for the 2018 season.

That’s if he doesn’t get hired away by another team, however. That possibility seems pretty remote, but it became more likely (and certainly will be talked about) now that the Seattle Seahawks have fired longtime offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.

Bevell was far from a perfect offensive coordinator, but during his seven seasons in Seattle, he did fine work with Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, and a stable of running backs that ranged from great (Marshawn Lynch) to completely anonymous (basically everyone on the roster in 2017). He’s the fall guy for the team’s disappointing season, which saw them miss the playoffs by virtue of a rash of injuries, horrendous offensive line talent and play, and the aforementioned inability to put quality running backs on the field. I don’t expect him to be out of work for very long this offseason.

But for our purposes, the relevant question is whether Carroll really will try to steal Sarkisian away. The connection between the two is obvious and dates back to their USC days, and if Carroll personally vouched for Sark, it’s not difficult to imagine that he’ll have some interest. Whether Sark would go to a less talented offense (albeit one with an amazing quarterback) is an open question, as is Carroll’s confidence level that Sark would be an improvement for Seattle. Don’t expect this rumor to go away any time soon, though.

I’m generally a fan of continuity, and think a second year for Sark in Atlanta would probably be much more productive than the first. If the Falcons have to make yet another switch, even with some quality candidates available, it would make me worry a bit about the adjustment in 2018. Obviously we have no control over that, many of you would probably prefer a Sarkless future, and we’ll just have to see what comes next in this particular saga.