Add another coach with Tampa Bay on his resumé to the list of people the Seahawks are talking to.

However, Bucs linebackers coach Casey Bradley’s tenure with the Bucs came after Tim Ruskell left the organization.

The Seahawks are expected to talk to Bradley, according to this report from the Tampa Tribune:

The Seattle Seahawks appear to have some interest in possibly making Bucs linebackers coach Casey “Gus’’ Bradley their new defensive coordinator, a source with knowledge of the Seahawks plan said.
   – Tampa Tribune, Jan. 5, 2009

That would be quite a climb for Bradley, who has spent the last three years on the Bucs staff. The first came as a defensive quality control coach after he was hired out of North Dakota State. Bradley has coached the Bucs linebackers the past two seasons.

Just what roles the Seahawks would consider Bradley and former Detroit coach Rod Marinelli remain unclear. It’s evident, however, Seattle is interested.

John Marshall has officially been the Seahawks defensive coordinator for the past three seasons, but he also spent the 2005 as the acting defensive coordinator after Ray Rhodes suffered a stroke before the regular season began.

The Seahawks allowed the most passing yardage in the league in 2008 as a defense that included four players chosen as Pro Bowl starters in 2007 was one of the biggest disappointments of Seattle’s 4-12 season.

Former Lions coach Rod Marinelli is in town to meet with the Seahawks, news first reported by KCPQ, FOX13. Marinelli was fired after this last season, his third in Detroit.

Seattle’s potential interest in Marinelli is not a surprise. He was a well-respected assistant coach in Tampa Bay when Tim Ruskell, Ruston Webster and John Idzik were there. Marinelli coached the defensive line for the Bucs, a group that included players like Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice. Marinelli was also well known for taking undersized players and making them part of the bedrock of a successful defense. Guys like Chuck Darby, who came to Seattle in 2005 after playing for the Bucs. Darby rejoined Marinelli in Detroit this past season.

It’s too soon to talk about what role Marinelli could potentially fill, but this is the first sign toward offseason changes on the coaching staff.

Seattle isn’t going to be the only team interested in Marinelli. Chicago has already talked to him, and he’s one of the most respected defensive assistants in the league. Mike Holmgren said at the time Marinelli was hired in Detroit that he previously tried to hire Marinelli to his staff, but Marinelli was under contract to the Bucs at the time, which prevented any addition.

The biggest thing the Seattle Seahawks have to guard against when they are formulating their offseason plan is fooling themselves into thinking that their problems this season are strictly related to injuries.

Certainly that is where the problems started in their worst season since 1992. They lost their first six wide receivers. They lost every one of their starting offensive linemen. They lost their leading pass rusher. It’s a good reason for their 4-12 finish.

But they also have other issues that were masked in the past by the fact that they could dominate the NFC West and usually get a home playoff game, where they were so strong because of the energy provided by the home crowd.

Offensive coordinator Gil Haskell always said the Seahawks were going to be good…

Seattle’s 2009 schedule will include four opponents who will be coming off of playoff appearances. The Seahawks will play at home against the team with the best record in the AFC (that would be the Titans) and they’ll also have a game against the worst team in the NFL, the Detroit L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-L-ions (one L for all 16 losses).

The opponent’s winning percentage for next season’s schedule is .457 (117-139). That is the exact same opponent’s winning percentage heading into the 2005 and 2006 seasons. In both instances, Seattle’s schedule turned out to be easier than expected.

Here’s a look at the opponent’s winning percentage heading into the past four seasons contrasted against the actual opponent’s winning percentage after the season:

So what does all that mean? Well, it means the Seahawks play in recently poor division because their opponent’s winning percentage is always below .500. It also means that next season’s schedule doesn’t line up to be significantly more difficult than any of the previous four seasons and in fact could be easier given the fact the only game that will be played in the Eastern time zone is at Indianapolis.

Maybe Mike Holmgren’s biggest accomplishment through 17 years, 12 postseasons, three Super Bowls and more wins than any other active coach: He’s leaving on his terms. With huge smiles, a waiting family and a new Harley, to boot. “It’s allowed me to have closure,” a composed, jovial Holmgren said Tuesday in his final public goodbye after 10 years as the coach of the Seattle Seahawks, a day after…

RENTON — The Seahawks’ emphasis in free agency always has been to take care of their players first.

Mike Holmgren’s final press conference as Seahawks coach was entertaining and it was enlightening, but not particularly revealing. Partly, that’s because the past two weeks have been spent examining Holmgren’s legacy with the Seahawks and asking about his future.

Holmgren certainly alluded to coming back to football, and at one point said he would be surprised if he never coached again, but he also stated that’s because he just doesn’t know how he’s going to react to not being a coach and whether he can find anything that will fill that void.

All possibilities are open. Even sensitive subjects, such as the personnel of the football team, he steered clear of offering opinions on future decisions.

Hugh Millen asked Holmgren what personnel changes he would push for if he were returning as the head coach.

Holmgren: “Well, Hugh, that’s the biggest hypothetical questions I’ve ever heard. Yes, I would. There would be areas, absolutely there would be areas, but I’ve done that every season that I’ve been coaching here. Now what those areas are, I’m not going to tell you. But you can ask Jim that question in a couple weeks.”

OK. Well, how about the five seasons since Holmgren lost the general manager’s responsibilities after the 2002 season?

Holmgren: “Once you’ve had a little taste of the fine wine, it’s hard to get the ones where you screw off the cap, you know? But I don’t think I’m the Lone Ranger in that thing.”

Holmgren stiff-armed the question about which decisions about the team’s makeup that he disagreed with.

Holmgren: “I’m not going to even go there. I think I’m right all the time. At least that’s what Kathy tells me. This is a great place with great people who care, working here, so I wish them well next year.”

In the week before the Seahawks played at St. Louis, Holmgren told Rams reporters there was a 99 percent chance he would hop back into coaching. ESPN.com’s Mike Sando asked Holmgren if he had a sense of how that percentage might stand now moving forward?

Holmgren: “You know what, I don’t know. That’s part of the adventure of this thing. I think I may have said that, you know, when you’re going through a season like we just went through, it attacks your competitive juices. I wasn’t used to it. I didn’t like it. Didn’t like the feeling. So you want to just go, ‘Give me another crack at it.’ As soon as I calm down a little bit and kind of settle down a little bit, I am looking forward to this time. I need this time, and in fairness to Kathy and my family, certainly they deserve this time. So that’s what we’re doing.”

Former Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin hinted that was the case. Kiffin is leaving the Bucs this week to take a job at Tennessee where he’ll work for his son, Lane, who was hired to coach the Vols. Monte’s looming departure was an ongoing story for the month of December, initially reported by CBS Sports and the NFL Network and subsequently announced by the team.

In a story on the Pewter Report, Kiffin addressed how his departure was announced in advance and he referenced another well-regarded coach whose exit had evven more advance notice: Mike Holmgren in Seattle.

Kiffin addressed the question of whether he would handle his announcement differently if he had another opportunity.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kiffin said. “I did think back to Mike Holmgren in Seattle. I said to myself when Mike announced this was his last year, because Mike is a heck of a football coach and I’ve got a lot of respect for him. You think back and maybe he shouldn’t have announced that at the time. I didn’t know. Like I said, I would have liked to have had my choice, but there was so much speculation I tried to put it to rest. In the same sense, I don’t know if it was the right thing to do or not. I really don’t. That’s hard to look back at that.”

Walter Jones lamented how tough it was to finally miss the postseason. Matt Hasselbeck kept repeating one word: “Disappointing.” Leonard Weaver had two boxes loaded onto a blue hand truck. For the first time in six years, the Seattle Seahawks were packing for the offseason before the playoffs even began.

Seattle will hold the No. 4 pick in the April draft. The Seahawks and Browns each finished with a 4-12 record. Seattle will choose fourth — ahead of Cleveland — by virtue of having a lower collective opponent’s winning percentage, which is the tiebreaker in determining draft order.

Rob Staton has a Seahawks draft blog that’s worth a look and he lists the players chosen with the fourth selection in recent drafts: 2008: Oakland chose RB Darren McFadden, Arkansas; 2007: Tampa Bay chose DE Gaines Adams, Clemson; 2006: OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia; 2005: RB Cedric Benson from Texas; 2004: Chargers acquire QB Philip Rivers in draft-day trade with New York Giants. Rivers was from North Carolina State.

It is the highest pick Seattle has held since it chose Shawn Springs with the third choice in 1997. This will be the first time Seattle held a pick in the first half of the first round since 2003 when the Seahawks chose Marcus Trufant with the 11th overall pick. Seattle has not chosen a player in the top 10 since choosing Koren Robinson with the No. 9 pick in 2001.