[Bette]

The Seahawks had reasons for announcing Mora's promotion so early. The team said they wanted it out of the way so everyone including free agents would know who's in charge in 2009.
Another reason is by inserting his promotion into his contract, they made it clear they were not circumventing the Rooney Rule which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate but allows for contractual successions.
Probably one of the biggest reasons was they wanted to send a message to CB Marcus Trufant who is to be a free agent February 29. Trufant played well under Mora's tutelage in 2007.


Seattle Seahawks "Seahawks had reasons for announcing Jim Mora's promotion now"- Realfootball365.com

[Seahawker 562]

Im not sure if this has been posted yet. But Jim Zorn was promoted from QB coach to offensive coordinator in washington. Then 2 weeks later he signed a 5 year deal as head coach.

[Lefty Noob]

Yeah, we're discussing it over in the Redskins forum.

The Hawks obviously want to let free agents (theirs and other teams) know that there's coaching stability with the franchise. Makes sense to me!

[Seahawker 562]

The press conference was to announce that Jim Mora will replace Mike Holmgren as head coach after next season, but somebody forgot to tell Mora because he didn't show up. Actually, Tim Ruskell and Tod Leiweke said that both Mora and Holmgren did not want to make the announcement a big deal, so they both decided not to show up, letting the decision-makers make the announcement. I would probably argue that the need to call a press conference inherently makes it a big deal, but ...
Anyway, Mora gets a four-year extension as head coach next season. Financial details were not available. Ruskell was insistent that Mora interviewing with Washington had nothing to do with this decision. He said the Seahawks did not give Mora any assurance when he was back with Daniel Snyder, in part because they didn't know what Holmgren's decision was going to be. They said this came together sometime after Ruskell returned from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.