‘Without Him, I Wouldn’t Be Here': How Dan Quinn Continues to Leave Indirect Imprint on Seahawks’ Defense
Exactly a decade before Mike Macdonald arrived as the franchise’s ninth head coach and quickly started assembling his own defensive juggernaut, the Seattle Seahawks built one of the most dominant defenses in NFL history, reaching back-to-back Super Bowls behind the vaunted “Legion of Boom” unit in 2013 and 2014.
Sporting the title of head coach, Pete Carroll deservedly received much of the credit for rapidly rebuilding a once-porous defense into one that likely will have multiple Hall of Famers in Canton down the road. General manager John Schneider also received deserved acclaim for reeling in outstanding draft classes from 2010 to 2012 to secure the foundation of a future Lombardi Trophy winner.
But behind the scenes, after replacing Gus Bradley in 2013, Dan Quinn emerged as the schematic architect of Seattle’s No. 1 ranked scoring defense, calling the plays on the sideline and maximizing on the team’s immense talent. Under his guidance, the Seahawks allowed under 16 points per game in his two seasons as defensive coordinator, carrying the team to consecutive Super Bowl appearances and using that success as the catapult into his first head coaching gig in Atlanta.
Now the head man for the Commanders and entering his third season with the franchise, Quinn hasn’t been employed by the Seahawks for a dozen seasons, far removed from his brief tenure as Carroll’s defensive play caller. Still, in an indirect, roundabout way, his presence has had a lingering impact on the team’s coaching staff, including current defensive coordinator Aden Durde getting his start working for Quinn with the Falcons and eventually teaming back up with him in Dallas, as well as the roster.
Instant Takeaways: Hiedeman’s Career Night Not Enough, Storm Fail Comeback Attempt
Natisha Hiedeman’s second career night in a span of about two weeks still wasn’t enough to break the Seattle Storm’s losing streak in a 105-95 loss to the Indiana Fever on Tuesday, July 28, at Climate Pledge Arena.
Hiedeman scored a game-high 33 points and helped lead multiple Storm comeback attempts, but it still wasn’t enough without Dominique Malonga (injured) on the floor. Seattle (6-24) dropped its seventh straight game and ninth of its last 10.
Indiana (18-10) was led by a combined 60 points from Caitlin Clark (32) and Kelsey Mitchell (28) in a game where they were short-handed in the second half. The Fever have now won four in a row and are 8-2 in their last 10 games.
Camp Takeaways: Rookie DBs Dazzle as Seahawks’ 2026 Draft Class Continues to Shine
The pads won’t start popping until later this week, providing a major caveat that encompasses any evaluations from four non-contact July practices. But heading into the first day off at training camp, the Seattle Seahawks continue to receive encouraging initial returns from their latest draft class.
The center of attention as Seattle’s top selection, Jadarian Price caught his second touchdown in as many days, this time hauling in a 30-yard wheel route from Jalen Milroe for six points and drawing an avalanche of cheers from the sellout crowd on the berm at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. As has been the case throughout camp thus far, the first round running back has seemingly been force fed in the passing game by new coordinator Brian Fleury, catching passes everywhere from the flats to down the sideline on deep patterns coming out of the backfield.
But while all eyes remained fixated on Price, and understandably so as a top-32 selection tabbed to succeed Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker III, it was two of the four defensive backs drafted by John Schneider in April who stole the show in Tuesday’s session with splashy plays on the back end of Mike Macdonald’s defense.
Seahawks’ Rylie Mills Looking to ‘Catapult’ Off Super Bowl Heroics With Clean Bill of Health
Drafted just four months after tearing his ACL during the College Football Playoff, Rylie Mills knew the start of his NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks would be the ultimate test of patience.
In the midst of a lengthy rehabilitation from reconstructive knee surgery, as the offseason program gave way to training camp, Mills could do little more than watch from the sidelines and hold up blocking dummies. Still far from returning to action, he stayed on the Physically Unable to Perform list into the start of the season, remaining inactive through November as speculation began to mount on whether or not the Seahawks would opt to shut him down with eyes on 2026 rather than bring him back late in his rookie season.
But all along, Seattle had a plan in place to ensure that if Mills checked off all the boxes in his recovery, he would receive the opportunity to earn his way onto the field, even if it didn’t happen until the final month of the season.
By the time the calendar flipped into December, Mills’ hard work and patience finally was rewarded with the Seahawks designating him to return to practice, opening his window to play in games after the long road back to health. Without the benefit of a training camp or any padded practices to help get back up to speed, the transition returning to game action proved to be what he called the “craziest experience” of his football career and then some, as the team threw him into the fire in a Week 15 win against the Colts after just two weeks of practice time.
Reign Legend Lauren Barnes Rejoins Team as Interim Assistant Coach
TUKWILA, Wash. — When Seattle Reign defender Lauren "Lu" Barnes announced that last season would be her final as a player, she made sure to tell media that she wanted to remain a part of the franchise. After all, she had been one of the first players head coach Laura Harvey called when the team was formed in 2013 — Seattle is all she had known as a professional.
On Tuesday, Barnes rejoined the team officially, as the Reign announced she had signed on as an interim assistant coach through the 2026 season. The decision came about a week after Reign assistant Lee Nguyen departed to become the head coach of USL Super League side Dallas Trinity at the beginning of July — league approval processes cleared on Tuesday, opening the door for Barnes to join the team.
With Nguyen gone and the Reign needing to fill the position in time for the second half of the season, Barnes, 37, was at the top of Harvey's mind. It helped that Barnes also had already earned her U.S. Soccer Federation B Coaching License in 2022 — a certification specializing in player development typically at levels below the NWSL.
"(Barnes') knowledge that (she's) gained from playing at the level for as long as she has, being coached in this environment for as long as she has, is the reason I think this would be seamless," Harvey said.
Washington State, Rebuilt Pac-12 Welcome New Opponent in San Diego State
A familiar foe for many of its new rivals, including the Washington State Cougars, the San Diego State Aztecs enter the rebuilt Pac-12 as one of the conference's top additions.
While the Aztecs are best known for their basketball success, they have consistently fielded competitive programs in both football and men's basketball, immediately raising the profile of the new-look conference.
For Washington State fans, San Diego State is hardly an unfamiliar opponent. The Cougars and Aztecs have faced each other several times in football over the years, including as recently as last season when Washington State emerged victorious, but those matchups will now carry much more significance as conference games.
Examining Seahawks Rookie Jadarian Price's Fantasy Football Value
It’s almost that time of year again. People meet at someone’s house after pouring over notes and rankings for weeks on end. They reminisce on last season’s good fortunes or bad breaks. They point and laugh one more time at their league’s biggest loser, who undoubtedly had to suffer public shame of some kind due to finishing last in the group.
Yes, fantasy football is nearly upon us. Not every football fan does fantasy football, but it can still give us a snapshot into how valuable a player is to their team. Last season, Seattle had a few fantasy darlings. Jaxon Smith-Njigba ranked seventh in the entire league in fantasy points and second among all receivers. Sam Darnold ranked as the 14th-best quarterback as well.
Kenneth Walker III certainly racked up fantasy points last year as Seattle’s main back. He ranked 21st among running backs for points, which is good enough for “RB2” status with 12-team leagues. Certainly, worth a starting spot in most fantasy leagues. Now, he’s gone to Kansas City. Zach Charbonnet is still working back from a torn ACL late in the season last year, which likely will see him return around Halloween.
Camp Takeaways: Ernest Jones, Seahawks’ Defense Dominates One-Sided Red Zone Session
Steadily drawing closer to the return of pads later this week, the Seattle Seahawks turned in an energized third training camp practice amid rising temperatures on Monday, culminating with an emphatic win for Mike Macdonald’s defense to close out the afternoon.
While Macdonald felt the Seahawks turned in another strong practice even without the crowd cheering them on from the berm, as expected from a Super Bowl-winning head coach, he also provided a bit of a challenge for his players with one more practice remaining on Tuesday before a deserved day off.
“Those days when the 12s are all out here. It's really special. But today was still great. Weather's awesome. Guys are in good spirits. A lot of stuff we need to work on. A long way to go,” Macdonald told reporters moments after practice concluded. “But let's focus on what we got to do next. So I'd like to finish practice a little bit better tomorrow to finish out this ramp period and then get a day off and be back at pads on Thursday.”
Who and what stood out from Seattle’s third camp session?
Dickey Stars in Return as Reign Hold Off Wave for Quality Road Win
Emerald City Spectrum reporter Qasim Ali details a 2-0 win for the Seattle Reign (6-7-2, 10th in NWSL) over the 4th-place San Diego Wave (9-6-2) on Sunday afternoon. Keeper Claudia Dickey managed a career-high nine saves to earn the clean sheet while midfielder Ainsley McCammon became the youngest player in NWSL history to net multiple assists in a single game.
The result put a 3-2 loss in which Seattle blew a 2-0 lead to Gotham last week behind the Reign as leading scorer Maddie Mercado (17’) scored for a third straight game while center back Jordyn Bugg (20’) netted her first goal of the season. Head coach Laura Harvey also became the first coach in league history to reach 100 regular-season wins with the same club.
The Reign head to Bay FC next on August 1 before returning to Lumen Field on August 9 for a bout with Angel City FC. Seattle is two points out of a playoff spot at the midway point of the season.
Canzone Clinches Comeback in Texas, Keeps Mariners Season Alive
When Julio Rodríguez popped a two-on, one-out, right-down-Broadway cutter haplessly into center field, it looked like the moment when the downfall was obvious. This downfall, like many, was perhaps better conceptualized as a calque of the word’s German equivalent: going under - a slow process that takes a while to materialize after it is set into motion, but which becomes ever clearer until there is a point when it is undeniable.
On the flip side, the decision seemed easy for the brass. A Mariners loss would put the team three and a half games underneath the division lead right before the deadline, at a time when many teams would be looking for the likes of Randy Arozarena or even George Kirby or Logan Gilbert.
If Dominic Canzone failed to reach base, it would be the culmination of multiple wasted opportunities; the M’s had two men on with one out in the fourth and the same amount of baserunners with no outs in the sixth, all with nothing to show for it. The Texas Rangers’ two-run lead was a number not insurmountable but that seemed hard to overcome for an offense whose approach could scarcely have been called Fabian over the course of the year, because the Fabian Strategy actually worked.
Rangers reliever Cole Winn fell behind Canzone 2-0 and hung a splitter right down the pipe, a little below the middle of the zone. For the first time in more than two weeks, Canzone walloped a homer, putting the Mariners in the lead.
“I got him 2-0 pretty quickly, and with first and second there, he’s gotta come in the zone with something, and they’d been throwing me soft pretty much the whole series,” Canzone told Mariners TV’s Brad Adam. “Not that I was necessarily sitting on it, but just trying to get something elevated and get it in the air.”
Seattle, who had been looking for the game to latch onto as a starting point, clung to their lead for the rest of the game, winning 6-4 and preventing - for now - calamity.
Storm All-Star Weekend Recap: Malonga Shines in First Appearance
Three Seattle Storm players participated in the WNBA’s All-Star weekend on Friday and Saturday, even though only one was in the main event.
Dominique Malonga was the Storm’s lone All-Star this season. However, Natisha Hiedeman was selected to participate in the 3-point contest, and Flau’jae Johnson played in the inaugural Shooting Stars event with Team Seattle.
None of them emerged as winners. But Malonga set a few records and continued to build what is becoming a historic resume at just 20 years old.
4 End-of-Season Goals For Storm After All-Star Break
The Seattle Storm are 6-23 overall and in last place in the WNBA standings at the All-Star break. With 15 games remaining in the season, it’s clear that the Storm are no longer vying for a postseason berth and are instead trying to maximize the development of their young stars.
Dominique Malonga, the 2025 No. 2 overall pick, has taken a huge step from her rookie season and is the Storm’s lone representative in Saturday’s All-Star Game. Rookie top-8 picks Awa Fam and Flau’jae Johnson have shown glimpses of greatness, but haven’t found enough consistency to regularly fuel Seattle to victories.
So, entering the final stretch of the 2026 season, what are some primary goals for the Storm as they begin to look to 2027?
Tory Horton Returns as Seahawks Begin Training Camp With Mostly Encouraging Health Updates
Approaching the midway point of the 2025 season, a wide open Offensive Rookie of the Year race had a surprise contender emerge from the Seattle Seahawks’ potent top-five scoring offense in the form of Tory Horton.
Falling into the fifth round after missing a significant chunk of his senior season at Colorado State with a knee/hamstring injury, Horton bounced back from the setback to quickly become one of Sam Darnold’s favorite targets on his new team. Though he only had caught 13 passes in nine games, five of those receptions put points on the scoreboard, including a pair of touchdowns in a 38-14 blowout win over the Commanders on Sunday Night Football in Week 9, tying him with superstar Jaxon Smith-Njigba for the team lead in receiving touchdowns.
Despite playing the entirety of the blowout win in Landover, Horton unexpectedly dealt with shin soreness in the days that followed the victory, first missing a handful of practices with hopes the injury wouldn’t sideline him for long. However, after missing a Week 10 win over Arizona, the shin showed no signs of improvement, leading to a stint on injured reserve that transitioned from being a projected four-week absence initially into the season-ending variety, keeping him out all the way through Seattle’s Super Bowl run and even into the offseason program this spring as he recovered from an injury far worse than anyone expected.
Sounders Enter Unprecedented Territory with Fifth Straight Loss
The Seattle Sounders continued their tailspin on Saturday night, losing 1-0 to the last-place Philadelphia Union (3-10-4) on the road. The result extended Seattle's losing streak to five, the worst in MLS play under coach Brian Schmetzer.
The Sounders, who started the campaign at 6-1-1, now sit at 7-6-3 and in sixth place in the Western Conference with one more game before their Leagues Cup title defense begins on Aug. 5.
It was only the seventh meeting all-time between Philadelphia and Seattle, and the Sounders gave up a rare kind of goal in the 31st minute of Saturday's game. Union striker Milan Iloski scored his ninth of the season by running past a makeshift Seattle backline, which defended well all night, and floated a ball over keeper Andrew Thomas in an awkward moment for the first-year starter.
It's the first time since 2015 that the Sounders have lost five straight MLS games. Schmetzer started coaching the squad in 2016.
The 63-year-old skipper said he “isn’t killing” the players over this streak, as Seattle continues to try and survive missing at least five usual starters at once.
Mariners Drop First Game of Critical Rangers Series
Every contest is an opportunity for a team to advance one game in the standings. The Mariners entered Friday night’s game having won 51 of those opportunities and lost 52 of them. They hadn’t given much indication at all that they could transform themselves into a competent, consistent squad during those 103 games, with every speck of momentum mired in a following slump, and with the team seemingly unwilling to impose themselves on the game.
At times, it appears that the team really wishes to turn things around. At others, they seem convinced that they can’t really control or influence what happens during a game. Skipper Dan Wilson didn’t touch upon the divisional implications of the loss, instead focusing on an offense that he saw as indicative of an upswing and a level of fight he admired.
“The score didn’t go our way tonight, but I thought we did a lot of good things offensively. We particularly really put a lot of pressure on it, a lot of pitches on. I thought they took their walks when we needed them, and able to get some hits and create a lot of traffic,” Wilson said. “I like the way they continue to fight back as they always do. Got behind after the solo shot, came back in it, got behind after the two-run shot, and were able to jump right back in it again. And they kept fighting ‘til the end.”
There is a difference between finding silver linings and blinding oneself to one’s own flaws. If that was the Mariners fighting, it goes a good ways to explain their season-long lethargy. It may have been one of the least close one-run games ever played, with the score only reaching 5-4 in the ninth because they lucked into a two-out wild pitch. Once they fell behind 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth, they had two total baserunners for the final three innings of the game.
This is flatly not how a contending team plays against a divisional opponent, let alone one that the world fancied as runaway division champions before the season. Their autopsy for Friday’s game has long since started to resemble an autopsy for the whole season, though as has held true the entire year, the other American League teams have been too busy immuring their own chances to take advantage of Seattle walling itself off.
Recapping the Summer League Play of Five Former Gonzaga Bulldogs
With hopes of earning solidified spots on NBA rosters later this fall, five former Gonzaga Bulldogs competed in the NBA Summer League that wrapped up this past week. Three of them were Zags as recently as this past season, while the other two are now more than a year removed from the last time they suited up in Spokane.
Because of the lack of draft pedigree in this group – all but one of them went undrafted – playing time fluctuated between them. Although some yearned for better showings in what they could bring to the floor, others left notable impressions during the two-week slate, including two that played big roles in their respective teams stacking victories.
How did each of these ex-Bulldogs fare during the offseason circuit?
Kraken the Ice: Is Seattle Thinking Playoffs After Roster Overhaul This Offseason?
Coming up short of a playoff berth last season, the Kraken hope that a handful of moves to shake up their roster this offseason will take them back to the postseason, including trading for Mackie Samoskevich. But did they do enough to get back into the fight for Lord Stanley's cup?
Emerald City Spectrum writers Nick Lee and Josh Frojelin discuss Seattle's potential playoff prospects as the offseason continues in the NHL and if the team has done enough to be a threat in the Pacific Division, check in on the moves made by the rest of the division over the past few months, and examine possible sale candidates at the next year's deadline if Seattle fails to contend.
A Static Trade Deadline Would Doom Mariners in Crowded AL West
The Major League Baseball season is the most unique of any pro sports season. It’s not a 17-game sprint where every game feels like a massive chapter in the story. It’s not even 82 games, with breaks in between games sprinkled throughout the week. It’s a constant onslaught. It’s a marathon, if a marathon was a constant barrage of guys trying to throw a 100 miles per hour past you before you can hit it, day-in, and day-out.
Right now, the Seattle Mariners are in the middle of the pack in this long race towards October. They have yet to separate themselves from their fellow racers. On the flip side, their competitors have yet to hit the accelerator either. The big question is: how long will that last?
The Mariners can’t afford to wait around and find out. If this is truly who they are, that is a .500 club, that’s not going to be good enough when the regular season reaches the finish line. One of the Houston Astros or Texas Rangers will likely make a run to surpass them if they keep this mediocre pace.
How Significant is Departure of Gonzaga Assistant Jorge Sanz?
Although it can be easy to initially brush off a member of Gonzaga head coach Mark Few’s staff moving on to a different program, you would be hard-pressed to find an assistant as impactful as Jorge Sanz was to the Zags.
Sanz, who has been in Spokane for the last eight years, announced that he is leaving GU on social media. First reported by House of Krause, Sanz will join head coach Michael Malone’s staff at North Carolina. Serving as both an assistant coach and director of basketball operations, Sanz played an imperative role in Gonzaga’s international recruiting, nonconference scheduling, player development, and analytical advancement.
The Bulldogs have experienced several significant departures this offseason, notably losing commitments from their intended starting backcourt, Jack Kayil and Mario Saint-Supéry. But Sanz’s exit hurts both the program in its current timeline and in the future, and his role will be hard to replace.
Training Camp Preview: Who Will Win Seahawks Looming Positional Battles?
Opening up training camp as the defending Super Bowl champion, the Seattle Seahawks will have the vast majority of their roster back for their title defense in 2026 after losing only five players in free agency, leaving few question marks in the starting lineup on offense, defense, and special teams rolling into a new year.
But while their roster didn’t undergo near as much turnover as most Super Bowl champs do and most of the starters from last year’s squad remain under contract, with a new eight-player draft class in tow and a handful of veteran additions brought onboard to bolster depth in free agency, the Seahawks still have plenty of positional battles set to play out over the next six weeks and change. This includes the search for a new starting running back along with the need for a new gunner to emerge on punt coverage to replace long-time special teams standout Dareke Young.
With camp set to kick off on July 25, which roster battles stand out as Seattle’s most intriguing? And how will each of them play out over the course of training camp and the preseason?
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