Erickson May Stand Alone In Seattle

At one point in the second half of the Seattle Seahawks’ loss to Kansas City last Sunday, the guy running the audio feed into the Kingdome played a selection that might have been a little out of place, but was revealing nonetheless.

Amid the customary assault of ‘70s and ‘80s retreads, they slipped in that old kids’ song that goes “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands - boom, boom, boom.”

I looked around the stadium as it played.

About three people in the entire place were clapping.

Seahawks’ coach Dennis Erickson surely wasn’t clapping on the sidelines.

And although I couldn’t see him, if I had to speculate, I’d say that in the owner’s box, Paul Allen wasn’t clapping, either.

Just guessing here, but I imagine he’s not happy.

And he knows it.

Of the Seahawks’ six victories, only one has victimized a team that currently has a winning record - Tennessee (7-6).

The other five victories have been at the expense of opponents who now have a combined win-loss record of 15-46.

In a couple of the Seahawks’ losses - against the Jets in the opener and last Sunday against Kansas City, in particular - opponents have seemed much better prepared than Seattle. Outcoached, if you will.

Well, coaches Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer do that to a lot of people.

Some fans seem to think that trick plays constitute good coaching. That’s baloney.

Having good offensive and defensive schemes is good coaching. The Seahawks have those.

But it’s also the capacity to adapt those schemes to react to opponents’ counterpunches. And, frankly, the Hawks have been a little slow to derail the blitzes opponents have used to neutralize what had been a potent passing attack.

And the Seahawks’ special teams have become the football counterpart to the Mariners’ bullpen.

Some of the problems have been due to injury - such as to punter Rick Tuten. Some have been because of individual lapses - such as a couple ill-timed Ronnie Harris fumbles. Those are not coaching mistakes.

Still, there’s the scent of undeniable cluelessness on coverages that has opposing special-teams coaches gearing up specifically for the Seahawks. And that is poor preparedness.

So, it’s probably not premature to examine a question that’s been volleyed a bit in recent days: Whether Erickson and his staff are in danger of being purged before the clock strikes 1998.

Here’s some speculative scenarios:

Hawks run the table. Ten wins and a couple breaks gets the team in the playoffs and employment is not an issue for anybody.

With all the injuries and potential for total collapse the team has had, this, in fact, would constitute a remarkable job of coaching.

Is this realistic? Sure. Atlanta, Baltimore and Oakland are decidedly beatable, and San Francisco in the finale will leave its studs on the shelf where they can’t get dented before the playoffs.

Hawks win three or four, but fall just short of the playoffs.

This is the tough one to read.

Pretty much since taking over this team, Allen and top lieutenant Bob Whitsitt have set the bar at “playoffs.”

Whitsitt can certainly see, however, that no team can lose the likes of Cortez Kennedy, Tuten, all representatives of the Blades family and Shawn Springs, and still have more than a meager chance of success.

Hawks struggle and finish at 8-8 or less.

You know what the NFL calls coaches with losing records after three seasons?

Nothing, it doesn’t call them at all.

But the NFL might be bucking the three-and-out trend a bit these days.

Washington’s Norv Turner and Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher each had losing records after three seasons, but both are still employed and are in charge of teams resting slightly above .500 at this point.

Both have had to rebuild amid unstable situations.

But so, too, has Erickson. And it almost seems as if any seasons having to coach under the previous Seahawks ownership should be immediately expunged from one’s record and not count against them.

Hawks fold like cheap lawn furniture in a wind storm.

It seems as if the character of this team is too good to simply phone in the month of December.

But if this came about, a change would not only be imminent, but necessary and appropriate.

Here’s what I bet on:

Seattle makes a minor rally, finishes with nine victories, but not the playoffs.

Injuries, etc., are enough of a mitigator to rescind the “playoffs” mandate.

The current personnel people have done a good job, and they’re kept around, but Allen and Whitsitt bring in a GM on top of the existing structure.

The new man wants a season to evaluate the staff, but can see right off that Erickson needs to dump a few deck chairs to keep the whole boat from sinking.

So, as difficult as it is for Erickson, a man for whom staunch loyalty has been a large component of his success thus far, he shuffles his staff a bit.

And everything is judged anew next September, when we’ll all see if people are clapping their hands because they’re happy and they know it.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: What’s left? The remaining schedule for the Seahawks: Today vs. Atlanta Dec. 7 at Baltimore Dec. 14 at Oakland Dec. 21 vs. San Francisco