Thursday, September 4, 2003

Everybody Loves Raymond
No one enters the season with more pressure than Mr. Fix-It

By CLARE FARNSWORTH
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

In this twisted twist on a popular sitcom, our not-so-mild-mannered coach next door loves football. Always has. Seemingly always will.

		STARRING
	RAY RHODES Defensive coordinator, 23rd NFL season Rhodes has produced quick fixes in Green Bay, San Francisco, Washington and Denver. Doing it a fifth time, with this team, will qualify him for a lifetime achievement award. DWAINE BOARD Defensive line coach, 14th NFL season He has played the position -- for 10 seasons with the 49ers. He has coached the position -- for 13 seasons with the 49ers. Now, the man they call "Pee Wee" faces perhaps his biggest challenge. JOHN MARSHALL Linebackers coach, 24th NFL season Talk about a "character actor," this guy really has done it all -- special teams, defensive line, linebackers and coordinator. His experience will help players and coaches alike. TERYL AUSTIN Defensive backs, first NFL season He might be new to the NFL, but coaching NFL-caliber players is nothing new. Austin mentored Donovin Darius, Tebucky Jones, Will Allen and Keith Bulluck at Syracuse. ALSO STARRING NORMAN HAND 6-3, 325, ninth season The best way to clog the running lanes that were exploited so effectively by opponents last year is with wide bodies. That's why Hand was acquired in a draft-day trade with the New Orleans Saints. RANDALL GODFREY 6-2, 245, eighth season The next-best way to roadblock the interstate that was the middle of the defense last year is with a proven middle linebacker. That's why Godfrey was signed in June after being released by the Tennessee Titans. KEN HAMLIN 6-2, 209, rookie The last line of any defense is the safeties, where a combination of speed, strength and savvy are invaluable. That's why the former Arkansas Razorback was selected in the second round of the draft in April.

Coaching it. Teaching it. Explaining it. Deciphering it.

Talking about it, especially to reporters, that's another story.

Camera shy? Not exactly. Tape recorder intolerant? That's not it either. Intensely focused? Now you've got it.

Football has loomed large in Ray Rhodes' life since he was a kid growing up in Mexia, Texas -- where he always was, and still is, referred to as Raymond.

And yes, everyone seems to love the man who was hired in February to slap some respectability into a Seahawks defense that ranked 28th in the NFL, was last against the run and collected just 28 sacks in 2002.

Bob Ferguson, hired to be the team's general manager five days after Rhodes became the defensive coordinator, loves Raymond so much he immediately proclaimed the acquisition the equivalent of first-round draft choice.

Mike Holmgren, the team's fifth-year head coach, loves Raymond because for the first time since Fritz Shurmur died the week before the season opener in 1999, he has someone he knows and trusts to handle the other side of the ball.

Shawn Springs, one of only two cornerbacks in franchise history to be voted to Pro Bowl, loves Raymond because Rhodes played in the league and understands what it takes to be an NFL player.

Chad Brown, one of only two linebackers in franchise history to be voted to the Pro Bowl, loves Raymond because the coach keeps things simple in an attempt to allow his players to make plays.

Anthony Simmons, the team's next linebacker who will play in the Pro Bowl, loves Raymond because Rhodes is a no-nonsense guy who tells it exactly like it is.

For this love-fest to spread to the team's victory-starved fans, however, Raymond will have to show them the love.

Everybody will love Raymond if this season's subplots include:

Finding a way to plug the middle of the defense, which was gouged for 152.6 rushing yards per game last season -- a worst-in-the-league average by 15.2 yards.

		Guillermo Munro / Special to the Post-Intelligencer

Forcing more three-and-outs. Last year, in 180 defensive series, opponents were forced to punt after three downs only 32 times. The Seahawks produced three-and-outs on back-to-back series only three times, and just once in the first 11 games.

Do that by the season finale, and everybody will love Raymond.

SEASON PREVIEW

Ray Rhodes was hired in February to not just coordinate the Seahawks defense, but invigorate it and reinvent how Mike Holmgren's team plays on "the other side of the ball." To help him, Rhodes has new coaches -- Dwaine Board, John Marshall and Teryl Austin; and new players -- Norman Hand, Chike Okeafor, Randall Godfrey, Ken Hamlin and Marcus Trufant.

CRITICS SAY

Can an intense defensive coordinator who would rather let the actions of his players do his talking for him become the talk of the town? Can the one-time huge fish from a little pond of a town in Texas hook the football fans in this City by the Sound?

TOUGH ASSIGNMENT

Ray Barone is a successful sportswriter, but he is about to tackle his toughest assignment yet: covering the Seahawks. His meddling parents want to know why their son keeps calling his demotion a "promotion." His brother, a divorced policeman and huge fan, vows to remain mum on any news involving Jerramy Stevens.

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