Remember the Seattle Seahawks’ Legion of the Boom era? The Seahawks amassed six consecutive winning seasons, three division titles, two NFC championships, and a Super Bowl victory in the 2013 season. The years that are considered the most standout of that era are from 2012 to 2015 seasons when the Seahawks led the league in scoring defense, allowing the fewest points scored each year. Part of that legacy was the current Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, who was the defensive coordinator of the Seahawks in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Overlapping with Quinn’s stint was the years of a special teams coordinator who led the squad from 2010 to 2020.

Strong special teams have been a legacy of the Seahawks dating back to the days of local Washington favorite Rusty Tillman, who had been their coordinator in the 1980s. That fell into good hands when this coach arrived from USC in 2010 to take charge of the special teams, along with Pete Carroll when the latter became Seattle’s head coach in that season. For this entire period, the franchise’s special teams would be defined by remarkable aggression and reliability. A couple of tricks were the trademarks of this coach.

Jon Ryan, the veteran punter during most of the coach’s tenure in Seattle, averaged one fake each year — either from his punter position or as a holder on field goal attempts. The most memorable fake came in the NFC Championship game in the 2014 season against the Green Bay Packers. The Seahawks were attempting a Super Bowl return after winning it the previous year. They trailed 16-0 at half-time. In the third quarter, they began a comeback with a bold fake field goal call. Ryan threw to rookie offensive tackle Garry Gilliam for a 19-yard touchdown to make the score 16-7. Seattle would go on to win in overtime.

Earlier that season, this coach’s aggressiveness paid off in a Monday Night Football game against Washington, who was trailing 17-0 but was attempting a comeback. A Kirk Cousins-to-Desean Jackson touchdown and a Kai Forbath field goal closed the gap to seven. The defense forced three straight three-and-outs to begin the second half. Seattle then began to move the ball. They advanced to Washington’s 32-yard line, but Marshawn Lynch was stopped short on a 3rd-and-1. Stephen Hauschka came on to attempt a 50-yard field goal. But this special teams coordinator called for the fake. Ryan took the snap, running left for five yards and a first down. Seattle scored a touchdown a few plays later, and the game was essentially over.

With all that under his belt, the coach joined the San Francisco 49ers in the 2022 season after a short stint with the Jaguars. But as luck would have it, his 49ers outing was disastrous, to say the least. The special teams’ lapses contributed to several close losses and kicker Jake Moody struggled down the stretch, eventually leading to the firing of this special teams coordinator last month. However, looks like Quinn, who has seen this coach working firsthand, never lost his faith in him. So days after his departure from the Niners, he was hired as the assistant special teams coach by him under coordinator Larry Izzo.

On February 18, Washington officially brought in Brian Schneider as their new assistant special teams coordinator. He takes over for John Glenn, who held the role last season. But was Schneider’s difficult season with the Niners entirely his fault?

The Commanders announced Brian Schneider has been named as assistant special teams coordinator. The 49ers fired Schneider as ST coordinator after the season.

Shanahan has never really cared about special teams, and at his exit presser, Kyle Shanahan basically admitted Schneider was a scapegoat. The 49ers had issues in every possible way on special teams this season with turnovers, penalties, coverage breakdowns, surrendering first downs on fake punts, and whatnot. The first step in tightening up special teams is to at least give the appearance that special teams matter. That’s an area in which Shanahan certainly can improve.

“My No. 1 goal is to not lose on special teams,” Shanahan has stated in the past. It is time that he and the entire organization set a higher bar than that. The 49ers should set out to win games on special teams. The 49ers hired former Jets coach Brant Boyer to fix their special teams, but unless Shanahan actually starts giving it importance, swapping coordinators probably won’t change much. Meanwhile, with Quinn’s trust, Schneider is likely to get more support and a real chance to build something meaningful. This gig with the Commanders is a chance for him to regain his lost reputation. In the meantime, Quinn is on a run to strengthen his squad.

Commanders’ offseason: New faces & big moves

The Commanders aren’t sitting still this offseason—they’re stacking their roster and revamping the coaching staff to shake things up. They recently signed tight end Lawrence Cager, offensive lineman Anim Dankwah, and running back Demetric Felton to Reserve/Future contracts. These moves might not be flashy, but they add depth and competition to key positions.

On the coaching side, Dan Quinn is putting together a solid squad. The biggest splash? Bringing in Kliff Kingsbury as offensive coordinator. Bobby Engram is now in charge of the wide receivers, while Bobby Johnson will oversee the offensive line. With these hires, the Commanders are banking on fresh ideas to get their offense rolling.

They’re also tweaking their roster in bigger ways. The team signed running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. to the active roster, giving them another weapon in the backfield. Meanwhile, they cut ties with former first-round pick Jamin Davis, signaling a shift in their defensive game plan. All these changes show one thing—Washington is serious about building a stronger squad. Will these moves pay off?