SAN FRANCISCO — As the Seattle Seahawks piled out of their charter jet and descended down flights of stairs to the tarmac at San Jose Mineta International Airport, there were few camera phones in the hands of players and even less pomp or vanity in their swagger. It was a little past 5:30 p.m. Standard issue gray sweats were the overwhelming choice of attire. And the mission appeared to be swift: Get off one plane. Get on four busses. Get this show on the road.
Among Super Bowl arrivals, it was a standard issue “business trip.”
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In the midst of the transit, Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold went to one bus. Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak went to another, joining the team’s coaching staff and traveling personnel. Soon enough, the parting of their company will become more permanent, with Kubiak expected to reach an agreement to be the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders shortly after the Super Bowl. For the Seattle faithful, this was the bittersweet note that hung in the air Sunday, whether you were milling about in San Francisco — where the NFL is prepping for a multitude of events surrounding the game — or 40 miles to the south in San Jose, trying to catch a glimpse of the Seahawks’ airport touch down.
This Seattle roster and staff is on the doorstep of the ultimate goal, and the band is already headed for a breakup of sorts. This happens, of course. Kubiak and Darnold are certainly not the first coordinator and quarterback tandem to head into a Super Bowl knowing that divergent paths are coming. We’ve seen it happen four times in the past eight Super Bowls — three times with the Philadelphia Eagles, with Frank Reich (LII), Shane Steichen (LVII) and Kellen Moore (LIX), and once with the Los Angeles Rams and Kevin O’Connell (LVI).
Kubiak is expected to make it five in nine after Sunday. And when he departs, it will leave Darnold entering the 2026 season with his eighth — eighth — different offensive coordinator in nine NFL…
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