In the NFL, coaching staff are frequently turned over. Some teams can’t get things right, forcing them to replace their head coach every two or three seasons. The Seattle Seahawks were not one of them. But after 14 seasons under Pete Carroll — even as the franchise’s most successful head coach — it was time for a change.
As the longest-tenured player on the Seahawks roster, Tyler Lockett is experiencing an entirely new coaching staff for the first time. Lockett had two keywords to describe his feelings on his first new head coach since entering the league nearly a decade ago: “Culture shock.”
Tyler Lockett Speaks on Learning ‘New Habit’
In a May 26, 2024, interview on the Bump & Stacy Show on Seattle Sports 710 AM, Tyler Lockett didn’t mince words about head coach Mike Macdonald and the new staff of coordinators and assistants.
“It’s definitely a culture shock,” Lockett said. “People say you can learn a new habit in like 21 days…Imagine learning the habit for 365 days times nine years.”
“It’s one of those things where you really have to change a lot of different stuff, but there’s a lot of good stuff that comes with change as well. I think the biggest thing that’s different is just the relationships and understanding the different types of coaching and the way that every coach decides to go about it with their approach is different.”
Since Lockett came into the NFL in 2015 via Seattle’s third-round pick, an astonishing 71 teams have hired new head coaches. Just imagine what the coaching carousel was like over the 14 years of Carroll’s career with the Hawks.
OTAs Are a Time to Get to Know Seahawks’ New Coaches
Tyler Lockett has found Organized Team Activities (OTAs) to be a resourceful way to learn the intricacies of Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.
“I think the biggest thing that’s different is just the relationships and understanding the different types of coaching and the way that every coach decides to go about it with their approach is different,” Lockett said.
“You just got to be able to learn that and adapt to it and learn how to find that comfort and all that different type of stuff. So obviously, it’s different, but when you have spring football like this during OTAs, that’s when you kind of work through those kinks.”
Mike Macdonald’s Coaching Style vs. Pete Carroll
As a first-year head coach, Mike Macdonald’s coaching style and philosophies won’t fully emerge until the regular season gets underway. What Tyler Lockett was accustomed to with Carroll was fun and positivity. He could build culture and make the Seahawks a team players wanted to come and stick around.
Sometimes that can breed complacency, as Mike Salk, a veteran voice of the Seattle sports scene, explained.
“Pete empowers his young players,” Salk wrote on September 13, 2023. “He builds them up and helps them grow. He makes them feel like the most important people in the world. And while that seems to help maximize their ability for a while, it can lead to a dangerous combination of declining skills and entitled behavior later in careers.”
It won’t be long before we see what Macdonald has in store for his players.
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