‘That Was Obviously A Draw’

Sam Darnold’s adjustment to the Seattle Seahawks is made easier by his familiarity with offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.

The two worked together when Darnold was the backup to Brock Purdy with the San Francisco 49ers during the 2023 season. Kubiak’s arrival with the Seahawks – he served as the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints last season – is a big reason why Darnold signed with the Seahawks as the NFL’s biggest name in free agency this past offseason.

“Klint, obviously a blue collar man, he’s very easy going,” says Darnold in a one-on-one interview of Kubiak. “I was with him obviously in 2023 with the Niners. It’s a system that I’m pretty aware of. I have some experience in it a couple years ago. That was obviously a draw.”

The Seahawks made the decision to move on from Geno Smith, who had been a Pro Bowl quarterback in back-t0-back seasons (2022 and 2023) and had led Seattle to a playoff appearance during the 2022 season.

As solid as Smith was, it became clear the Seahawks had reached a ceiling with the veteran quarterback, missing the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. The new regime – head coach Mike Macdonald took over last season – made it clear they wanted to head in a new direction with their own hand-picked signal caller.

“Then I saw the Geno trade go down, that was when I knew that it would be a possibility to be going there and with the roster that we have,” says Darnold. “I was very excited about it. Those are the kind of things you look for at this point in my career, I’m just ready to win.”

The Seahawks have reshaped their roster in a major way this offseason, moving on from longtime holdovers such as wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. However, Seattle did bring in former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp. That’s obviously not mentioning the shift in quarterback and offensive coordinator.

The bottom line is, the Seahawks have posted a winning record in each of the past three seasons, going 10-7 last year with Macdonald and tying the Los Angeles Rams (the NFC West champions) for the best record in the division.

They have a ready-made roster to contend and will be looking to do so with a quarterback who led the Minnesota Vikings to the playoffs last season with the second-best record in the NFL at 14-3.

“Looking at the opportunity to come into Seattle and and win games, I think that was the biggest thing,” says Darnold. “Obviously, Coach Macdonald as well, just the kind of culture that he set in Seattle last year. The kind of culture we’re setting early in this off season has been really, really good, and we’re just going to continue to work. I would definitely say after the Geno trade, that’s kind of when I realized that Seattle, I had a real opportunity to go there.”

When asked if he has any concrete objectives for the 2025 season, Darnold downplays statistical objectives and instead zones in on with continuing to be his best every day.

“When people ask you about kind of what goals you’re setting, you have long-term goals, you have short-term goals,” says Darnold. “I really stick with that mindset of just continuing to be the best that I can every single day. I feel like everything will kind of fall into place if if I just continue to do that. It’s tough, because in this business, everything is driven on results.

“Do you get wins, do you throw for touchdowns? You’re trying not to throw interceptions,” Darnold continues to say. “All these stats that people look at at the end of the day, you just do everything that you can every day to be the best person, best player you can be, and everything else will kind of just fall into place from there. That’s that’s really how I look at it.”

Sam Darnold On Highlighting Blue-Collar Jobs For Young Workers

While Darnold continues to acclimated to his new surroundings and teammates in Seattle, he did spend time recently in the city celebrating blue-collar jobs such as plumber, electricians, HVAC techs and builders. The event was part of Lowe Foundation’s blue carpet on SkillsUSA National Signing Day, which mirrors signing day for skilled trades the way high school athletes are celebrated for signing with their college programs on national signing day.

Darnold surprised students at a Seattle-based Lowe’s, where he talked about his own family’s history in the skilled trades while also educating people about the next generation of workers. Nearly 1-in-5 young adults aged 20-24 held blue-collar jobs in 2023.

It hits close to home for Darnold considering his dad made a living as a plumber for many years.

“It hits home for me,” says Darnold. “There’s so many opportunities for these kids that go into the skill trades to make an impact. I think that’s the biggest thing is, is making an impact on this, on their communities, their families. My dad’s work ethic, he really showed me the way for myself and just to see the example that he set for for myself and my sister, to be the best people that we can be, day in and day out. Seeing how hard he worked at his job and as a father, it was because he was grinding. He was grinding every day.”

The 27-year-old quarterback mentions how “important” it is for workers to get into these skilled trades considering it’s needed. He mentions his own experience needing skilled trade workers after moving into a new house in Seattle.

“It’s incredibly important,” says Darnold. “I feel like it’s kind of a lost art nowadays, but it’s always needed. I’m moving into a house right now in Seattle, and I’m calling people left and right to figure out a ton of things in my house that I have no idea what’s going on, besides the plumbing – I can call my dad for that. But the electricity, the heating, the venting, all those kind of things, you have specific people that you need to be able to call when you know those things either aren’t working or you need them to work a little bit better. We always need those people in the trades to be able to help us out with that.”

Darnold details how his dad still had the energy to spend time with him and his sister despite working a labor-heavy job and why that was important for him to share with the next generation of workers.

“For him to come home and have the energy that he had, and coach me in baseball, basketball, football, and do all those things to be the best dad that he could be for me, that really set an example for me and my sister,” says Darnold. “These kids that are going into the skilled trades, they have such a great opportunity to help their communities and their families. It’s so cool to be able to meet those kids yesterday and spend time with them and their families as well.”