Seattle, WA

Seattle Seahawks’ offseason needs to be backed up in 2 ways

Published

3 months ago

September 10, 2025

Seattle Seahawks’ offseason needs to be backed up in 2 ways

The Seattle Seahawks did not blow up their team this past offseason. It may look to the world outside Seattle like they did, but they did not. They see themselves as a competitive team right now and believe they are better than they were a year ago.

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This offseason saw a lot of change at the top of the roster. The trades and departures of Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett were significant and can’t be minimized. Those three players had veteran experience, years of productivity and a major role in everything the offense did last year.

But that offense was not what this coach wanted.

That offense was too pass-dependent, not physical enough and unreliable in the biggest moments. It simply did not complement that rapidly improving defense that Mike Macdonald wants to be the hallmark of his franchise.

I fully supported those changes. And I stand by that 100%. Yes, those are good players, and two of them (Smith with the Raiders and Metcalf with the Steelers) had excellent debuts in their new uniforms. The Seahawks can be a better team without them. But to do so isn’t automatic. It takes a smart plan and success on two fronts.

1. Leadership.

One of the major issues with Geno, DK and Lockett is that they were truly ingrained in the language, style and philosophy of Pete Carroll. He was the only NFL coach the two receivers had ever known, and he saved the quarterback’s career. Carroll was loyal to them (maybe to a fault), and they appreciated the way he ran the franchise – so much so that Geno would often communicate with Pete when things felt off last season.

To truly build his own team with its own culture, Mike Macdonald needed to remove the three veterans most indoctrinated into someone else’s way of doing business. To do so was a win. But it leaves a vacuum that must be filled.

Sam Darnold, Cooper Kupp, DeMarcus Lawrence and others need to help fill that gap coming from the outside. Returning players like Ernest Jones, Jarran Reed and Julian Love need to rise to the occasion. And Macdonald needs to present a clear vision for what that culture needs to be.

2. Resources.

The strongest argument for making the offseason changes at wide receiver – and to some extent quarterback – is to rearrange the distribution of resources on the roster. A salary cap system forces each franchise to choose where to spend its money, and the best teams do that by spending according to the needs of their chosen identity.

Macdonald has said repeatedly that he wants his offense to play complementary ball. I take that to mean they need to run it a whole lot better than last season when they finished 28th in the league with just 95.7 rushing yards per game. That required a new coordinator with a new scheme, but also an investment into the offensive line.

The first one got done, with Klint Kubiak bringing his Shanahan-style offense and a legion of offensive line coaches to Seattle. But the investment in the offensive line was limited to the drafting of Grey Zabel in the first round and some other small moves late in the draft or on the fringes of free agency. They replaced only one position on the line with a player who was not on the roster last season.

In fact, after saving money at wide receiver and quarterback, the Seahawks still rank 31st in the league in spending along the offensive line. At $23 million, they are spending less than 25% of what the top team spends on its line ($95.3 million). The teams in the middle are spending nearly double what the Seahawks have allotted.

Spending, of course, is not necessarily equivalent to succeeding. But part of my support for spending less on skill positions was based on reallocating that cap space to the line of scrimmage. That has not happened, at least not yet.

Unfortunately, we also have yet to see the success on the field. The team ran 26 times for 84 yards in the opening game. None of those numbers are going to be enough for a team that wants to balance its offense and complement its defense.

In fact, the 3.2 yards per carry was actually below last season’s 4.2. The 49ers may very well have an excellent run defense, and accounting for Fred Warner is a nightmare for any offense. But the Seahawks need to be able to run it more effectively to succeed this season and to justify the moves they made this spring. The lack of a running game was, for me, the biggest cause for concern after the first game.

We are only one game into what will be a key season for Mike Macdonald, John Schneider and the Seahawks. They made some significant changes that could lead to even more significant improvements. But we are a long way from determining how it all plays out.

More on the Seattle Seahawks

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• What Brock Huard saw on Seattle Seahawks’ last-minute fumble
• ‘Not the start that we wanted’ for Seattle Seahawks’ offense

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Seattle, WA

High winds cause power outage affecting over 8K Seattle City Light customers

Published

2 hours ago

December 6, 2025

Press Room

High winds cause power outage affecting over 8K Seattle City Light customers

SEATTLE — Over 8,000 Seattle City Light (SCL) customers have reportedly been affected by outages on Friday evening due to high winds, SCL said.

As of 8:24 p.m., SCL reported 13 active events with 8,318 customers without power.

Seattle City Light is investigating the cause.

The outage can be tracked on this map.

As of 8:24 p.m., Puget Sound Energy reported 39 active outages with 3,355 customers impacted.

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This is a developing story, and KOMO News will update the information as it becomes available.

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Seattle, WA

Seattle Mariners announce 3 new hires to 2026 coaching staff

Published

14 hours ago

December 5, 2025

Press Room

Seattle Mariners announce 3 new hires to 2026 coaching staff

The Seattle Mariners announced their 2026 major league coaching staff on Friday morning, which includes a trio of new hires.

The Mariners hired Carlos Cardoza as their third base coach, former M’s catcher Austin Nola as their bullpen coach and Jake McKinley as their major league field coordinator.

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Cardoza replaces Kristopher Negron, who was hired as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bench coach. Nola replaces Tony Arnerich, who was hired as the Cleveland Guardians’ bench coach. McKinley replaces Louis Boyd, who is transitioning to Seattle’s assistant director of player development.

The rest of manager Dan Wilson’s staff remains the same following the club’s deepest playoff run in franchise history.

Senior director of hitting strategy Edgar Martinez, hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes are back in the same roles for their second season together.

Seattle’s highly successful pitching brain trust also remains intact, with director of pitching strategy Trent Blank, pitching coach Pete Woodworth and assistant pitching coach Danny Farquhar all returning to their same roles.

Bench coach Manny Acta, first base coach Eric Young Jr. and longtime infield coach Perry Hill are back as well.

Cardoza spent the previous nine seasons as a manager in the Texas Rangers’ farm system, including the past three seasons as Double-A Frisco’s skipper. He managed Frisco to an 84-54 record in 2024, which was the best regular-season win percentage in club history. Following that season, he was named the organization’s 2024 Bobby Jones Player Development Man of the Year.

Nola is joining the coaching ranks after a six-year career as an MLB catcher with the Mariners (2019-20), the San Diego Padres (2020-23) and the Colorado Rockies (2025).

Nola made his MLB debut with Seattle in 2019 and then batted .306 over the first 29 games of the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He was then dealt to the Padres as part of a seven-player trade that sent two-time All-Star closer Andrés Muñoz, first baseman Ty France, catcher Luis Torrens and outfielder Taylor Trammel to the Mariners.

McKinley spent the past three seasons as the University of Nevada’s head coach. This past season, he guided the Wolf Pack to the Mountain West Conference regular-season title and was named the league’s coach of the year.

Prior to that, McKinley spent three years working in player development for the Milwaukee Brewers, including 2021 as their vice president of player development. In addition, he was the head coach at Menlo College (2014-17) and William Jessup (2018).

Seattle Mariners offseason coverage

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• Notebook: M’s awarded extra draft pick, Naylor wins Canadian award
• Seattle Mariners announce FanFest will return in 2026
• How M’s will approach adding their young talent to contending team

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Seattle, WA

Capitol Hill businesses on edge with 11 break-ins reported in just one week

Published

1 day ago

December 5, 2025

Press Room

Capitol Hill businesses on edge with 11 break-ins reported in just one week

SEATTLE — A rash of destructive burglaries in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood has several businesses fed up.

The Seattle Police Department’s Crime Dashboard, as of Dec. 4, shows 11 reports of break-ins and burglaries on Capitol Hill over a seven-day period, and 30 reports for the entire East Precinct that also includes Central Area, First Hill, Judkins Park, Madison Park, Montlake, and the upper Pike/Pine neighborhood.

Some of the crimes happened earlier, but they are only now being reported. Many workers in the neighborhood did not want to talk on camera but told KOMO News they feel frustrated and, at times, helpless.

Security footage captures a burglar making a beeline for the Ox Burger restaurant’s cash drawer, getting in and out of the busted front door in seconds. The popular restaurant off Madison and 16th Avenue is using insurance to pay for a new entrance. A worker told KOMO News they do plan to use a city grant to upgrade security, and what happened is not surprising to some neighbors.

“It’s obviously frustrating to them. They have to clean it up, and it creates a situation on their hands,” Noah Boggess said.

It’s one example in a string of reported incidents. Taped to the front door of Cone and Steiner General Store off 19th and Mercer is a plea to ward off potential burglars. The sign reads “ATM has been emptied, cameras have been updated, pretty please don’t rob us.”

“When I first went in there, it made me chuckle, but even more, obviously, it just made me feel bad that something happened,” Boggess added.

Customer Eric Miyake said the same message led him to support the business.

“Are you concerned about property crime in the area?” KOMO’s Jackie Kent asked.

“I am,” Miyake responded. “This is a great area, and I don’t want to see it vandalized like that.”

A half mile away in the 500 block of Broadway East, La Cocina has boarded up a window and set up chicken wire for added security. The general manager, off camera, said two people broke in on Nov. 23 using rocks and restaurant tables, and got away with arms full of liquor bottles. He’s getting $800 from the city through the Storefront Repair Fund, he said, with hopes to avoid becoming a repeat target.

For Seattle businesses to qualify for the grants, the damage had to have happened after July 2024, and the grants do not cover graffiti or lost or stolen property. The Storefront Repair Fund covers costs for up to three incidents per business for things like doors, locks, and broken or etched windows.

KOMO News asked the Office of Economic Development how many businesses have taken advantage of those grants in 2025 and which neighborhoods needed them the most. The office said it expects to have those answers in the coming days. SPD’s general investigation unit is looking into these reported burglaries and break-ins.

The Greater Seattle Business Association in an email to KOMO News wrote these crimes the past few weeks are concerning, but the group reports the overall number of break-ins and burglaries on Capitol Hill have decreased when compared to the last two years. They’re working with the city to get business repair grants and assess crime prevention through environmental design to help mitigate burglaries.

“We are continuing to build and maintain our partnerships with various city departments and the new East Precinct leadership to serve our community.,” GSBA Spokesperson Jen Carl wrote. “We look forward to working with the new mayor Katie Wilson and her staff, along with the new Position 9 councilmember Dionne Foster, to continue our public safety efforts.”

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