New Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury eager for opportunity

RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Brian Fleury was quick to admit Thursday he wasn’t a very good college quarterback.

Long before Fleury was hired as the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks, he was a walk-on quarterback for Maryland, and then played four years at Towson. But with two seasons of college eligibility remaining, Fleury was injured while competing for Towson’s starting job, and was asked to help coach the next quarterback in line as he recovered.

“I never really got a chance to compete for it again,” Fleury said. “Immediately, I was asked to go out there and coach him, stand in the huddle with him and mentor him."

While Fleury’s stepfather was a longtime high school football coach, that experience is what pushed him into coaching.

Since 2003, Fleury has coached in some capacity, and began his trek as a longtime NFL assistant in 2013.

Despite his quarterback background, Fleury has never called plays on offense at any level. He will take over those responsibilities held by former Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, who left to be the Las Vegas Raiders head coach.

Fleury mentioned NFL head coaches such as DeMeco Ryans, Robert Saleh, Jeff Hafley as mentors who have helped prepare him for this opportunity.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald isn’t worried that Fleury, who has called plays on defense at the collegiate level, hasn’t done so in the NFL.

“I do think it’s a bit overrated,” Macdonald said. “All play callers have to be first-time play callers at some point.”

What stood out most to Macdonald in the hiring process was Fleury’s vision for the roster. Getting the approval from veteran tight end Eric Saubert, who played under Fleury when he was a tight ends coach for the San Francisco 49ers, didn’t hurt either.

What Fleury hopes to do is keep Seattle’s offense “very similar” to the one that just won the Super Bowl. He’ll have plenty of key contributors from that unit returning, too, including quarterback Sam Darnold — who overlapped with Fleury for a season in San Francisco — and the AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year in wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

“There is a lot of talent,” Fleury said. “There’s not many things to fix, quite honestly. They already play a way that is visible on the silent tape. You can see the culture on the film, so I’m excited to work with that and continue to build it.”

Fleury stressed that he would also love to work with offensive standouts wide receiver/return specialist Rashid Shaheed and running back Kenneth Walker III, who are set to be unrestricted free agents in March. There are plenty of logistics for Fleury and Seattle to sort out, too, going into next season.

Looking ahead to the preseason, Fleury wants to experiment with calling plays both on the field and in the press box, though it would be his preference to call plays from the field. It is also unclear yet who will be Seattle’s quarterback coach, since Andrew Janocko followed Kubiak to become the Raiders offensive coordinator.

And the Seahawks may be sold and operating under new ownership by the time they next host a game at Lumen Field.

What has been sorted out, though, is that former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr will take over as Seattle’s inside linebackers coach.

Macdonald and Orr have known each another since 2014, and when the former was coaching for Baltimore and the latter a linebacker for the Ravens.

Fleury is eager to get started as a first-year NFL offensive coordinator. He’s already studying how Kubiak ran Seattle’s offense last season, and hopes to supplement that plan with what he learned under San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.

Macdonald, meanwhile, is just a week removed from shaking confetti off his shoulders after the Seahawks’ championship parade, and already seeking out ways to make that a reality in the Emerald City again next season.

“It’s humbling to be back at your desk the day after the parade, working on our team,” Macdonald said. “That’s where we’re at right now. It’s been a great process and at some point there’ll be a time to get away, but that time is not now.”

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