Seahawks to unveil new-look special teams during minicamp practices

KIRKLAND -- The offseason had not been kind to Bruce DeHaven.

The Seahawks' special teams coach had seen his clutch kicker, Josh Brown, sign with the St. Louis Rams. Free agency also claimed linebackers Niko Koutouvides, last year's special teams captain and leading coverage tackler, and Kevin Bentley, one of five Seahawks with double-digit special teams tackles last season.

Then, Jeff Robinson, the 37-year-old snapper DeHaven coaxed out of retirement at midseason to stabilize what had become a schizophrenic situation, returned to retirement.

But things have been looking up for DeHaven the past few weeks.

The Seahawks signed veteran kicker Olindo Mare, and then selected rookie Brandon Coutu in the seventh round of the NFL draft over the weekend. Also added were veteran linebacker D.D. Lewis, a core special teams player during his first stint with the club, and snapper Tyler Schmitt, the team's sixth-round draft choice.

The draft delivered fullback Owen Schmitt, as well, and the fifth-round pick definitely seems to possess all the prerequisites -- mentally and physically -- to become a force on special teams.

These replacement parts will be on display Friday morning, when the Seahawks open a three-day, five-practice minicamp.

Despite how desperate things might have appeared, DeHaven never came close to reaching for the panic button. That comes with having coached special teams in the NFL for 21 seasons.

"This has really been business as usual," said DeHaven, who joined the Seahawks last year after stints with the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.

"Since free agency started, coaching special teams is almost more like coaching junior college ball than it is even four-year college ball. It seems like you have a tremendous amount of turnover every year."

This roster-in-flux situation is rooted in the physical, but also the fiscal.

While backups who are core special teams players sign with other teams hoping to become starters, teams can carry three rookies for the price of one eight-year veteran.

"It's not unusual now to have only one or two guys on your coverage teams with more than two or three years experience," DeHaven said.

There are several subplots in this latest edition of "As the Roster Turns."

The battle to watch is Mare versus Coutu. One will win the kicking job during training camp and the preseason games.

Mare's advantage, of course, is his experience. He'll be 35 in June and has been kicking in the league for 12 seasons -- first with the New York Giants (1996), mostly with the Miami Dolphins (1997-2006) and most recently with the New Orleans Saints (2007).

Mare was a Pro Bowl kicker in 1999, when he scored 144 points and converted 84.8 percent of his field goals. He was hampered by injuries last season, including a strained groin at midseason and a dislocated hip that forced him to go on injured reserve in December.

Coutu is younger, hit 80 percent of his field goals at Georgia and also has a big leg -- several teams rated it the strongest in this year's draft class.

"We'll let them fight it out and see what happens," DeHaven said.

The biggest question remains why the Seahawks used a sixth-round draft choice on a snapper. At least among the "experts" who have ridiculed club president Tim Ruskell for the move.

"I don't understand why you wouldn't draft a snapper, if you don't have one and there's a guy out there you like," DeHaven said.

For the Seahawks, and especially DeHaven, that was Schmitt.

"My guess is, there probably aren't 50 percent of the sixth-round draft choices that ever make the 53-man roster," he said. "Now, we just drafted a guy in the sixth round that's a starter, and will be for the next 10 or 12 years."

The biggest mystery is who steps up to replace Koutouvides, and even Bentley.

It could be Lewis, who had double-digit tackles on special teams in 2002 and 2003. It could be one of the returning core players -- backup linebackers Will Herring and Lance Laury; backup defensive backs Jordan Babineaux, Mike Green and Josh Wilson; backup receivers Ben Obomanu, Courtney Taylor and Will Heller.

"There will be guys to replace them, I just don't know who it will be yet," DeHaven said.

It just needs to be somebody. For the good of the team, as well as DeHaven's peace of mind.

"It's a challenge," he said. "But it's also interesting and fun."

HAWK TALK: Defensive tackle Marcus Tubbs had arthroscopic surgery recently on his right knee, a clean-out follow-up procedure to the reconstructive surgery he had last September. ... Former University of Washington defensive tackle Larry Tripplett was signed Wednesday, as was former University of Oregon linebacker Wesly Mallard. The club also claimed quarterback Dalton Bell off waivers from the Green Bay Packers.