Paul Allen Takes Command of Seahawks, Orders Jim Mora Fired

Paul Allen: Wanted Mora Out

It makes me question the very existence of free will to note that a single person, in a single year, oversaw both one of the best seasons in Seattle sports history and one of the most disastrous.

As CEO of Sounders FC, Tod Leiweke led the most successful expansion team launch ever. Puget Sound Business Journal named Leiweke Executive of the Year--an honor previously won by the CEOs of Costco and REI.

But Leiweke won't win any awards for his performance as CEO of the Seahawks. He presided over a complete breakdown in team management, coaching, and playing.

Now Leiweke's boss, Paul Allen, has taken control of the football franchise. Leiweke wanted to keep head coach Jim Mora, reports the Times' Danny O'Neil--perhaps waving his "executive of the year" plaque around for effect during the meeting--but Allen overruled Leiweke and ordered Mora fired.

Seahawks CEO Tod Leiweke: Wanted to Keep Mora

Mora's departure, and the non-renewal of GM Tim Ruskell's contract, frees the Seahawks to look for a "guru"-type candidate, one who would get to pick his players and coach them, too. Leiweke interviewed USC coach Pete Carroll earlier this week, according to the L.A. Times, and Mora's firing could be a prelude to Carroll joining the team.

The last time Allen exerted such control over the Hawks was after the 2004 season, when he, at Leiweke's urging, fired then-GM Bob Whitsitt. The next year, with Ruskell as GM, the Seahawks made their first Super Bowl.

At the time, Leiweke sang the praises of a united operation: "I don't think you get to [13-3] unless you have everyone pulling in the same direction. This isn't a widget business, it's a people business."

Leiweke's Seahawks won't be that kind of business anymore. The Seahawks will likely return to being a football fiefdom, with benevolent overload Allen supervising a coach/GM with near-dictatorial powers.

And Leiweke, at the peak of Seattle's business world just a few months ago, sees his authority undermined in a very public way. The lesson as always is to enjoy success when you've got it, because a kick in the teeth is usually just around the corner.

Leiweke will evidently return to the job he was hired to do--overseeing business operations, not athletic ones. But, hey, he's still got those Sounders!