No one knows whether Pete Carroll will lead the Seahawks to greatness, but it’s becoming clearer why a full housecleaning in Seattle made sense.
Via Danny O’Neil of the Seattle Times, radio football analyst Hugh Millen had a fascinating tale that speaks to the dysfunction which marked the end of the Ruskell/Mora regime.
Ruskell, the man who hired Mora, was not pleased with Mora’s stumping for Mike Holmgren to return to Seattle. (Ruskell’s future had already been decided.) According to Millen, a Mora confidant, Ruskell sent an angry text message to Mora about it.
“Real classy,” the text started. Later it said, “I was wrong about you and I paid for it dearly.”
Ouch. The entire succession plan in Seattle seemed flawed from the start. O’Neil captures the essence of the insanity better than we could: “You had the president who resigned two-thirds of the way through the
season texting the coach he hired to criticize the coach’s support of
the man whose staff he served on for two years before becoming head
coach.”
Wait, why weren’t the seahawks contenders again?
“Real classy,” the text started. Later it said, “I was wrong about you and I paid for it dearly.”
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Also, lost in the exchange:
“Oh, by the way, I faked my orgasms.”
I feel for Mora he never even had a chance their…..the seahawks are a MESS…hopefully Mora will get another chance one day
Can someone please explain to me how Ted Thompson is to blame for all this?
Good luck to Pete Carroll. You won’t be able to dazzle 18 yr old kids with USC cheerleaders, luxury cars, a beach house at Malibu, etc. You are inheriting a mess and you will have to correct it with the draft and by relating to professional players.
Did somebody kick Jim Mora Jr in the balls when he was a kid?
Well, in fairness to Ruskell, if Mora wins some games things go very differently there
Seattle’s just lucky they can afford a house cleaning.
Given how much Randy Lerner owes to current and former front office staff ($21 million to Crennel and Savage, $4 million to Kokinis, $50 million to Holmgren) the Browns decided for now they couldn’t afford the additional $20 million to fire Mangini and staff and bring in a new Head coach at a time when NFL Revenues will likely be halted by a 2011 lockout.
But there really was no other choice in Seattle.
The Packers are the biggest joke in all of sports.
Jim maybe you would’ve won a few more games if you didn’t stubbornly stick with Julius Jones’ 2.3 YPC
Stay classy Seattle
Mora to USC? I don’t know who the hell else SC can get at this point.
Maybe Saban’s bored at Alabama. Not that that would happen, but it would be pretty hilarious if it did.
I hope More goes to the college game, as he will probably find greater success.
This is the type of story PFT loves to wallow over, I’m just suprised this was not posted bvy Floiro.
Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Andy Kaufman “I Trusted You.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSYV-nEE300
Who cares? It’s the Seahawks.
This is par for the course when it comes to Mora
Don’t forget he was publicly pining for a college job on the radio (UW, I believe) while he was still employed by the Falcons
All the impulsiveness of his dad, without any of the accompanying coaching skills
That’s what Seattle gets for cutting TJ Duckett.
Adam-Chris Scheftersen says:
Can someone please explain to me how Ted Thompson is to blame for all this?
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Who ever said he was? You Thompson apologists and your persecution complex..
Let’s see, if I had to caome up with something, I’d say if Thompson had been willing to sign an FA or two, bring in proven talent like Holmgren asked rather than relying on some rather terrible draft picks (Koren Robinson, Marcus Tubbs, BOTH in the 1st) then no one would have had to can him and hire Ruskell in the first place. I’ll still admit that is a bit of a stretch.
The mess in Seattle isn’t on Thompson, not anymore at least. The disaster in Wisconsin, however, is completely his fault.
Tim Ruskell is the biggest ass and terrible at GM too. He took over a team in 2005 the year they went to the Super Bowl and managed to turn it into one of the worst in the NFL in 4 years as well as one of the reasons the Mike Holmgren left Seattle.
Why does Mora deserve another chance exactly? Was it because of his stellar performance in Atlanta?
did he put a sad face in the text message too?
I liked Mora, but as I said when he was fired, he needs to learn discretion. First he tells the press he’d jump at a Huskies job when there’s no offer on the table–so Atlanta tells him good-bye and good luck. Then he says he wanted Holmgren–a slap in the face to his GM. Sounds like he has some growing up to do.
Carroll had so-so success in New England. Who knows whether he can have the kind of super success he had at SC. The NFL will expect him to work within the rules. But he does have more savvy than Mora, so it’s probably a good move for Seattle.
How Mora got another head coaching job after Atlanta is amazing. They guy is just a joke. Bye bye Jr.
Beer Cheese Soup says:
January 11, 2010 4:46 PM
Who ever said he was? You Thompson apologists and your persecution complex..
Let’s see, if I had to caome up with something, I’d say if Thompson had been willing to sign an FA or two, bring in proven talent like Holmgren asked rather than relying on some rather terrible draft picks (Koren Robinson, Marcus Tubbs, BOTH in the 1st) then no one would have had to can him and hire Ruskell in the first place. I’ll still admit that is a bit of a stretch.
The mess in Seattle isn’t on Thompson, not anymore at least. The disaster in Wisconsin, however, is completely his fault.
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I’m no Thompson apologist, but I did get a kick out of people giving all the credit for the Seahawks Super Bowl run to Ruskell and none to Thompson. So this story helps bring it full circle.
However, I’ll take issue with “the disaster in Wisconsin”. I know where you stand on Thompson, but are you actually going to call the Packers a “disaster”? You said you’d personally apologize to Thompson if they made a deep playoff run. Where did you have them picked to finish before this year started? Given the way you rail on Thompson, I’d guess it was 8-8 or worse. The season didn’t end all roses (Super Bowl win, crushing victory in the Humpty Dump, 5+ Favre turnovers, etc, etc), but going 11-5, finishing the season strong and making the playoffs are a start.
And Thompson’s definitely put them in position to compete for a long time. They certainly need O-line work, better play and more depth in the secondary and more consistency on special teams. They’re far from perfect. And Thompson has had some big, big misses in the draft. You don’t need to list them. I agree. But I think it’s fairly ridiculous to say you’d apologize to Thompson if their defensive execution against Arizona was better.
Rail on Thompson for his failures–that’s your right.. But don’t base it on how they perform in a few games, even if they are playoff games. Talent and execution are not the same thing. Yesterday’s loss falls to Capers and the defense. His unit’s performance was as bad yesterday as it was brilliant all season.
pftandcft1 says:
January 11, 2010 4:59 PM
How Mora got another head coaching job after Atlanta is amazing. They guy is just a joke. Bye bye Jr.
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Yeah, Michael Vick had all the tools to be a great passer, right?
I could really care less what the Seahawks do. Jim Mora failed in Atlanta, and things would not have improved in Seattle under Mora. Why these teams even hire these retreds is beyond me. Pete Carroll is another example. He will be gone in three years.
Then again, if you hire a retred, why not go after a proven winner at the pro level like Bill Cowar. Well, then again Cowar wouldn’t go to Seattle. Yes, and Mike Ditka flaimed out in New Orleans, so I guess that doen’t always work either.
Should have taken Leslie Frazier.
Citizen Strange says:
Ladies and gentlemen, the legendary Andy Kaufman “I Trusted You.”
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Epic.
Guy was truly one of a kind. Who the hell knew what to make of him on that stage? lol.
There’s a great passage about Kaufman from his pal at the time, Jay Leno, in Leno’s book “Leading With My Chin”. Has to do with Kaufman’s bizarre fixation with I believe the Tony Clifton character.
By the way, Ruskell has successfully tarred Mora as a backstabbing, ungrateful weasel.
The Packers should be a college team,they don’t belong in the pros.
Does anyone really put “dearly” in their texts? What a dork.
@ Deb
“First he tells the press he’d jump at a Huskies job when there’s no offer on the table–so Atlanta tells him good-bye and good luck. Then he says he wanted Holmgren–a slap in the face to his GM.”
1st… anyone who heard the broadcast knows full well that Mora was joking when he stated that, listen to the replay if you need to, he was talking w/ broadcasters that he knows in the Pacific NW and was joking around; should he have said it, NO, but he was joking around.
2nd… Ruskell was already out as GM when Mora stated that he’d like to have Holmgren as the new GM; and why wouldn’t he, more than 75% of Seattle fans wanted Holmgren to return as the new GM.
Some of you people really need to know a bit more about what you comment on prior to actually commenting.
I’m not a Seahawks fan, but I do live in Seattle. As a Jets fan, I could care less about Mora Jr. or the Seahawks, but the guy got screwed after only 1 year with nothing but aged and injured talent leftover from the Holmgren era. Hopefully it works out for the Seahawks, but the odds are stacked against Pete turning that debacle of a franchise around.
That whole seahawks organization is in denial. Soon they’ll see that they are just that bad and that it wasn’t just Mora
Ruskell’s a douche. The stadium’s pretty nice, though.
But that Cowgirls bar across the street?! You know what I’m talking about?!!
Mora: “Oh yeah? Well I faked mine too.”
As someone that watched Mora Jr in Atlanta for 3 years I can tell you the guy is a complete boob. Between his famous comments about the UW job and smelling salts on the sidelines, I’m not sure how any of his players take him seriously. And the kill shot is that he keeps teaming up with Greg Knapp, perhaps the worst OC in NFL history.
Adam-Chris Scheftersen says:
I’m no Thompson apologist, but I did get a kick out of people giving all the credit for the Seahawks Super Bowl run to Ruskell and none to Thompson. So this story helps bring it full circle.
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This is a Seahawk article. The fact that you are trying to twist it into yet ANOTHER means of vindicating your hero in the wake of the latest of his long string of failures, which you yourself concede I don’t need to list, makes you by definition a Thompson apologist.
tacious says:
I’m not a Seahawks fan, but I do live in Seattle. As a Jets fan, I could care less about Mora Jr. or the Seahawks, but the guy got screwed after only 1 year with nothing but aged and injured talent leftover from the Holmgren era. Hopefully it works out for the Seahawks, but the odds are stacked against Pete turning that debacle of a franchise around.
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As a Packers fan, also living in the Seattle area, who also couldn’t care less about the Seahawks, I have to say you’re absolutely right.
Mora’s not anything special, but they will learn very quickly that they would have been better off keeping him instead of replacing him with an NFL failure like Carroll. Get set for a Petrino redux.
Nevisyakker says:
January 11, 2010 4:24 PM
Good luck to Pete Carroll. You won’t be able to dazzle 18 yr old kids with USC cheerleaders, luxury cars, a beach house at Malibu, etc. You are inheriting a mess and you will have to correct it with the draft and by relating to professional players.
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All of those things are legal to give in the NFL. Didn’t Carroll take on a crappy USC program and make them legitimate again?
Growing up a Seahawks fan through the sad 80′s and 90′s helps deal with this. The Super Bowl run shows that there is hope. The last time the Hawks had 2 1st round picks that turned out alright. Mora was a terrible speaker when fans wanted answers. “I don’t know what to tell ya.”
Playoffs? You want to talk about playoffs?
@tacious …
I did know what I was talking about when I commented …
The incident about the Huskies has been well reported, and as you said, he SHOULD NOT have made his little joke. Clearly, the Falcons were not amused. So my comment that he needs to grow up and be more discrete was appropriate.
Yes, as a PFT reader I’m aware of the Ruskell situation. But Mr. Ruskell obviously felt Mora was pushing for Holmgren even before those remarks were made public. Again, my comment was appropriate.
Some of you people really need to take the trouble to read the article so you’ll know a bit more about what you comment prior to actually commenting. Then maybe your comment will have some validity. (She rolls her eyes.)
get these 2 to a room…
Mora and Ruskell are BOTH losers!
This team will take MANY years to rebuild and then some.
Mora, Jr. is very disappointing. Not only has he been a recidivist failure as a head coach, he’s also shown how disloyal and utterly devoid of character he is.
Mora, Jr. hosed Ruskell in shameful fashion – stabbing Ruskell in the back after Ruskell was a key figure to go to bat for Mora, Jr.
It’s alway widely acknowledged that Mora, Jr. also angled for a job while he was then the head coach in Atlanta. If recollection serves, he denied it for a time before later conceding it was true.
And Mora, Jr. even went into a highly public lambasting of his kicker – attempting to shift 100% of the blame on a loss for a kicker that made 4 of 6 field goal attempts. How many times do you EVER see a Head Coach repeatedly pin a loss on one player? Mora, Jr. couldn’t even get off the topic either – he had to keep slamming his kicker, as if there were no other contributing factors to Seattle’s loss that day. Pretty pitiful to see.
Dude has no class and it appears he never deserved a gig in the first place … let alone multiple cracks where he’s no due $12,000,000.00.
Ruskell is a fricken idiot who thought he was more important to the franchise than Mike Holmgren. He tore this franchise apart and the results are what we see today and to send that text to Mora was inexcusable. I heard the comment from Hugh Millen this morning and couldn’t believe what he had said. Ruskell is an ass who thinks he’s pretty damn special. Yeah, he’s special alright….. so special that he belongs on the special bus – going straight to hell!!!!
I wish someone would have asked Jim Mora Jr if he thinks Pete Carroll can take his former team to the playoffs, see if his reaction is similar to dads…
Boo frickety hoo Tim Ruskell. If you’re so disgusted about Jim Mora Jr. dicking you over, then you only need look in the mirror. I love it when these coaches suck or turn out to be a-holes and the guys that HIRED them (or were on board in a leadership position in doing so) bitch about them. The accountability is as much on Ruskell as anyone, based on his previous leadership position within the organization.
Ruskell is from the massively overrated Jerry Angelo (another total fraud, finger pointer, and media kiss-butt) tree, and I guess he didn’t turn out to be as great as he was hyped to be either. One final thing…Ruskell vented his frustrations to Mora in a TEXT MESSAGE? Now if that doesn’t say spineless chicken (fill in the expletive), I don’t know what does. Although he might not be able to speak to Mora face to face over the issue, a phone call would certainly have been a more manly way to handle things. I’m no Jim Mora Jr. fan either, but Ruskell gets zero sympathy from me here.