By Matt Pitman from VMAC

The Seahawks have rounded out their remade front office with the hiring 38 year old John Schneider as general manager. It is clear there is a dynamic relationship already in place between Schneider and Pete Carroll. They're on the same page as the process of rebuilding the team.

"that we're going to be all about as an organization moving forward is improvement every day. Competition in all areas of what we do. Striving to be the best and striving to set a standard in the league," Schneider says are the goals for Seahawks he shares with Carroll.

Listen to the John Schneider introductory press conference

Pete Carroll also confirmed the assistant coaches who have been hired by the team. He says there are a few more who's details haven't been finalized.

Jeremy Bates(offensive coordinator), Jedd Fisch (quarterbacks), Patrick McPherson (tight ends), Ken Norton Jr. (linebackers), Gus Bradley (defensive coordinator), Brian Schneider (special teams), Dan Quinn (defensive line).

Bradley and Quinn are the only holdovers from the previous staff. Bates, Norton Jr, and Schneider join Carroll in coming up from his staff at USC.

By Matt Pitman

ESPN's John Clayton broke the news this morning on 710 ESPN Seattle: John Schneider is the Seahawks new General Manager.

The 38-year-old Schneider has served as the Packers Director of Football Operation.

Reports late last week indicated Schneider was not one of the two finalists. But it turns out that wasn't the case.

So who is John Schneinder? Last week this piece written by Brian McIntyre of NorthwestFootball.net really caught my eye.

The Packers have "been successful on early-round picks like Nick Barnett (2003), Aaron Rodgers and Nick Collins (2005), Clay Matthews (2009), while unearthing hidden gems like Aaron Kampman (5th round, 2002), Johnny Jolly (6th round, 2006), and tight end Jermichael Finley and guard Josh Sitton (3rd and 4th rounds, 2008) in later rounds."

Drafting, check. Free agents?

"The Packers had just three unrestricted free agents playing key roles for them in 2009: Nose tackle Ryan Pickett, cornerback Charles Woodson (the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2009), and Brandon Chillar, an under-the-radar FA signing in 2008 who has outplayed former #1 pick A.J. Hawk and quietly signed a long-term extension in December."

As the Seahawks enter a period of necessary and intense rebuilding, they will have very little wiggle room for draft busts, and even less with free agent busts. They need a guy to work alongside Carroll in identifying specific areas of need and finding the unique players that fit those exact criteria.

Schneider has worked in his current capacity with the Packers for 8 years. His title changed to Director of Football Operations two years ago. Before that it was "personnel analyst to general manager."

He's a 17 year vet of the NFL, including a one year stint with the Seahawks in 1999, Mike Holmgren's first year.

What are your thoughts?

by Dave Wyman

Oh how I look forward to talking to our ultimate ESPN insider John Clayton today! The "professor" is the only way KC will address John but I'm going to campaign for calling him "The substitute teacher" today!

On Friday, he was quite confident that there was no way that a running team with a sub-par QB could win so when I predicted that the Jets would take out the Chargers with the running game and good defense, an avalanche of condescension ensued. (Listen here). I was told, "Come on David" (something my Mother calls me when I'm in trouble), "You're stuck in the 80's", "This is a passing league" and a barrage of numbers and meaningless calculations were thrown at me.

I think football fans everywhere were relieved to see at least one under-dog story in the playoffs right? If San Diego had won, you would've been looking at the 1's vs. the 2's in the championship games and I think we can all agree that as long as the Seahawks aren't in the playoffs, that would've been boring. Instead, there was some drama and excitement and now we're looking at a Super Bowl that is MOST LIKELY going to be played by 2 of the top 3 teams in the NFL (Colts, Saints & Vikings).

Whaaaaaa!

I cannot believe that the Vikings' late score against the Cowboys is even being discussed! On 4th & 3, with 1:55 left in the Minnesota/Dallas game, Brett Favre threw a TD pass to Visanthe Shiancoe to make the final score 34-3. After the play, Cowboy linebacker Keith Brooking sprinted over to the Viking sidelines and yelled at head coach Brad Childress about running up the score. (Maybe if he'd run that fast during the play, the Vikings wouldn't have scored.) After the game, head coach Wade Phillips agreed that the Vikings were running up the score and that it was "classless".

When did this become Select Soccer?! Did the Cowboys have orange slices and juice boxes at halftime? Running up the score? It's not about making you feel okay about yourself Wade! 27-3 is a blowout too. And…if I were on the Cowboy defense, I would've felt more humiliated if the Vikings had taken a knee. I don't want anyone's pity. Let's play football until the final gun goes off. Keith Brooking and Wade Phillips…it's time to grow up. Even my mom would've told them: "Man up!"

Viking coach Brad Childress put it best: "As Lou Holtz used to say, 'It's our job to score points. It's their job to stop us from scoring points.'"

A Change for the Better!

The Jets' win over San Diego sets up a very interesting match up in the AFC Championship game. In week 16, the 14-0 Indianapolis Colts pulled many of their starters (okay…they pulled Peyton Manning…The End) in the second half of their game against the New York Jets allowing the Jets a backdoor into the playoffs. This caused an unexpected reaction out of some of the Indy players and most of their fans (they booed their 14-0 team!) and they directed their outrage at Colts GM Bill Polian and head coach Jim Caldwell. Why all the outrage? Get this…it seems that they wanted to win the game. Isn't that crazy?

The next week, the Cincinnati Bengals went on the road against the Jets and also DIDN'T PLAY TO WIN, allowing the Jets the opportunity to face them in the playoffs. The next week in the Wild Card round, this strategy bit them in the butt as the Jets beat the Bengals…again.

Now, the Colts are facing an AFC Championship game against the team THEY ALLOWED into the playoffs. Admittedly, the Jets chances of winning are less than great, but if they find a way to beat the Colts…you may see riots in the streets of downtown Indy!! The fans were already chapped about the Colts pulling their starters and not going for the perfect 16-0 season 3 weeks ago. Now, if the team that they laid down on, turns around and crushes their dreams of winning the Super Bowl… look out!

If this scenario plays out the way I would like it to (Jets beat Colts), you may see a shift in ideology about how to handle the last part of the season-a change for the better. No more playing to not get hurt…no more resting your starters…no more saving yourself for the playoffs. As Herman Edwards put it, "You play to win the game." Play to win every play and play to win every game. The End. Then there would be no more need to contemplate sitting starters (Bill Polian & Jim Caldwell) or not trying to score touchdowns (Wade Phillips and Keith Brooking). The new way of thinking may be what 'ol Herm described so eloquently:

By Matt Pitman

710 ESPN Seattle's John Clayton reports that the Seahawks are narrowing their search from 4 to 2 candidates and that New England Patriots Senior Advisor Floyd Reese is one of the finalists.

Click here to read the very latest from Clayton.

Clayton reports that Reese and New York Giants Director of College Scouting interviewed in Renton on Tuesday. Pittsburgh Steelers Director of Football and Business Administration Omar Kahn and Green Bay Packers Director of Football Operations John Schneider interviewed yesterday.

Reese and Carroll have a history, according to Clayton the two hit it off while assistant coaches with the Vikings in the mid 80's.

John Clayton will join the Kevin Calabro live today to break this down and give us the very latest insider perspective on the GM Search.

By Matt Pitman

Despite several reports yesterday that New Mexico State head coach Dewayne Walker had been approached by the Seahawks about becoming Pete Carroll's defensive coordinator, it appears he hasn't.

Walker denies he has even been contacted by the Seahawks, telling the Las Cruses Sun News "I have not been offered the job. Therefore, I have not accepted the job. Everything everybody is writing is false."

Walker tells the paper neither he or his representatives have even heard from the Seahawks.

"Nothing's been offered, nothing's been talked about," Walker said. "I haven't even talked to Pete. And if I did, (NMSU Athletics Director McKinley) Boston would be the first to know."

Walker does have history with Carroll, he was the first assistant hired when Carroll took over in Los Angeles in 2001. He enjoyed success as the defensive coordinator at UCLA, and went 3 and 10 last season, his first at New Mexico State.