Mike Macdonald Details Brian Fleury’s Impact on Seahawks Offense

The Seattle Seahawks hired Brian Fleury to preserve the foundation of a championship offense, but that does not mean the new coordinator is simply repeating what worked last season.

Head coach Mike Macdonald said Fleury has already introduced different teaching methods and details throughout Seattle’s run and passing games. Macdonald has also encouraged Fleury to make his vision part of an offense that finished third in NFL scoring under former coordinator Klint Kubiak.

“He’s been tremendous,” Macdonald said after the Seahawks’ July 27 training-camp practice. “It’s not an easy task to come into a staff that’s mostly been here and a lot of players that have been here that are used to doing it a certain way.”

Seattle did not hire Fleury to conduct a complete offensive rebuild. Fleury and Kubiak both worked within Kyle Shanahan’s system, giving the Seahawks a chance to maintain terminology and foundational concepts after Kubiak became the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach.

Macdonald’s latest comments, however, show that continuity is only part of the plan.

Brian Fleury Is Changing How the Seahawks Teach Offense

Macdonald said he has learned from the way Fleury explains several parts of offensive football, including what players should do after the catch.

“There’s a lot of things that we’re doing post-snap and how we’re teaching detail in terms of the run game and the pass game,” Macdonald said. “After we catch it, what we do with the ball — things that I necessarily haven’t heard explained that way.”

Macdonald believes those adjustments will be a “huge benefit” for Seattle.

The post-catch emphasis fits the identity Fleury described when Seattle introduced him in February. Fleury said he wanted the offense to play fast and aggressively while maintaining the successful elements already in place.

That combination is important. The Seahawks are not trying to repair a broken offense. They are attempting to improve a unit that helped them win Super Bowl LX while avoiding unnecessary disruption for quarterback Sam Darnold and the rest of the roster.

Darnold has already praised Fleury’s command of the offense during offseason practices. The quarterback is also experiencing his seventh coordinator in seven seasons, increasing the value of any carryover from Kubiak’s system.

Mike Macdonald Wants Fleury to Make the Offense His Own

Fleury joined a staff containing coaches and players who had just completed a championship season together. Macdonald acknowledged that entering such an established operation can create a difficult balancing act.

“How do you make your vision come to life within the framework of all the things that have been here?” Macdonald said. “It’s probably easier said than done.”

Macdonald said the Seahawks have repeatedly encouraged Fleury to contribute his own ideas rather than limiting himself to maintaining Kubiak’s offense.

“We brought you in for a reason,” Macdonald said. “Contribute the way that you see fit and be a part of this thing.”

Fleury previously served as the San Francisco 49ers’ run-game coordinator and tight ends coach. His background offers Seattle some schematic familiarity, but he has never called plays throughout a full NFL season.

That makes his relationship with Macdonald and the offensive staff particularly important. Macdonald praised Fleury as a three-dimensional thinker, an effective communicator and a problem solver.

Those traits have helped during offseason installation and the opening days of training camp. The most important evaluation has not begun yet.

Game Planning Will Be Brian Fleury’s Next Test

Macdonald identified weekly game planning as the stage where Fleury and the Seahawks will encounter a genuinely new process.

“We’ve done some simulations, but there’s nothing like until you get into the fight,” Macdonald said.

During the regular season, Fleury will have to determine how much of Seattle’s established offense to retain while designing answers for a specific opponent. He will also be responsible for calling plays for the first time and adapting when the initial plan stops working.

That challenge carries unusual pressure. Fleury is not taking over a rebuilding team with modest expectations. He is inheriting a Super Bowl champion featuring Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and a group of young offensive players the Seahawks expect to develop further.

Training camp can reveal whether players understand Fleury’s terminology and teaching methods. The preseason can provide the first public glimpse of his preferred personnel groupings and sequencing.

Only the regular season will show whether Fleury can translate his vision into the decisions that determine games.

For now, Macdonald sees a coordinator who is preserving what Seattle built without being afraid to change how the offense operates.

That was the balance the Seahawks wanted when they hired Fleury. His first real game plan will begin showing whether they found it.

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