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Seattle Seahawks Coach Is Grounded by Faith, Not Football

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CBN.com -It's the hub of every NFL championship defense - a head coach, coordinator, and staff who position their elite defenders. But in Seattle, coaching innovation has positioned Rocky Seto as the Defensive Passing Game Coordinator, connecting the defensive spokes that keep those Super Bowl wheels turning.

Coach Seto says, "My job is to meet the needs of the players and the coaches - to help everyone become successful. The Seahawks were gracious enough to come up with that title, first in the history of football. I look at everything in the pass game and even the run game. I try to be another set of eyes."

The Seahawks are staring down sustained success as the youngest Super Bowl Champions in NFL history. Seto believes, "God's blessed us with great players."

Last season's title team led the league in surrendering the fewest points, yards, and touchdowns. Seto explains, "Our philosophy on defense of 'let's play hard as we can, and let's execute the technique as well as we can and then let's fly with it,' promotes a brotherhood of playing for each other, playing with each other, so we demand for each player, each coach to perform their job as best they can and to highlight their talents."

Seto's game knowledge, leadership, and communication skills have paired him with Head Coach Pete Carroll for fourteen years, nine of them at USC, prior to their joining the Seahawks in 2010. Their long history together even includes a game-changing instructional video, with Coach Carroll advocating tackling techniques to enhance player safety at all levels of football.

Seto adds, "He's the guy that trained me up and raised me up in coaching. I see him as a friend. I see him as a mentor. There's an open line of communication and I have a great deal of respect for him and admiration."

Pete Carroll responds, "He's been with me the longest and I rely on Rocky to keep the message true and to stay to it. He's kind of the keeper of the records around here. He knows when I start to get off base a little bit or start going down the wrong road. And I count on him. It's been a role that nobody else can play."

Learning to play that role didn't come easy. Rocky's early need for affirmation fueled this one goal while in his hometown of Los Angeles. "Play football for the University of Southern California. I felt like I'd be something!" Seto adds, "And a lot of that had to do with validation through my dad. I know my dad enjoyed it. My dad looked up to it. So if I - I thought to myself, if only I could do this, I could make him proud. And that drove me. That drove me hard."

So hard that after two years of junior college, Rocky walked-on at USC as a linebacker. The next year he was awarded a scholarship for his senior season. Seto recalls, "I got in my Nissan pick-up, drove home and said, 'Papa, Mama, I got something to tell you!' And I told 'em, 'today they gave me a scholarship.' That was one of the greatest thrills of my life. And my dad looked at me and he goes, 'you know, you made me believe in the impossible.'"

Rocky stayed at Southern Cal after graduating, foregoing a doctorate to join the coaching staff as a volunteer assistant. Opportunities progressed once Coach Carroll arrived in 2001, including a national title. Rocky turned down NFL and collegiate offers before being promoted to defensive coordinator. He was released after Carroll was hired in Seattle. Rocky followed, taking an entry-level position with the Seahawks.

Seto elaborates, "My identity was Jesus, wrapped up with football, coaching, USC, there were some idols wrapped around it. And the Lord stripped me of those things when he brought me up here, humbled me! At the time it was difficult, but looking back, it's like 'wow, this is great.'"

His duties with the Seahawks have expanded, helping tackle instruction, situational defense, and game planning. Each playing to Rocky's strength – empowering others in their assignment.

Seto believes, "You got to know who you're working with so that you can meet their needs. Ultimately that's what it's about."

Seahawks Safety Earl Thomas calls Coach Seto, "very genuine. His heart is right and you can tell. Just the way he talks, just the way he carries himself. He's very passionate about God. He's very passionate about football. He's helped me in my growth as a football player and spiritually, might send me a text message of scripture or he can kind of tell when I'm down because we know each other, I've been here going on five years. He desires a lot of credit because he's definitely a key figure to our success here in Seattle."

The daily charge here at 12 Seahawks Way, "always compete, bringing the best out of the player, the team and the organization." But the foundation for competition runs much deeper and broader, drawing the best out the person.

Seto says, "Competition is competing with yourself to see how good you can be. You revere that man in front of you who's pushing you to higher limits, higher levels of play that you never could've done on your own. It's really based on helping each other get better. We like to build relationship with the players. How can we meet the needs of guys so that they could be as good as they could become? That's really our objective as a team. And as a byproduct, you know it happened to be a Super Bowl."

This Defensive Passing Game Coordinator has a perspective that surpasses the game - emphasizing achievement with lasting purpose. "The Super Bowl was great. It was awesome," Seto says. "I'm telling ya, it was awesome. It was a lifelong dream of being able to be part of that. But still Jesus is way better, 'cause that game has come and gone. It's over. We're already after the next thing. As soon as you put it as okay, this defines me then it's a very disappointing thing. Only Jesus fulfills that role of true meaning."

Rocky's commitment reaches a crescendo when asked where his allegiance lies. "My ministry to Sharla and the children come first. And next to Jesus being the greatest treasure in my life. They're my treasures. He is who we revere. Jesus is the king in my life, He's the owner of my life, He owns me, He dominates me. I'm under the King that takes care of every single thing that I ever hope or will ever want in my life. He's the King that I look to for affirmation. He is my identity. He's taken care of everything for me."

Rocky Seto, impassioned and mission-minded, a Super Bowl-winning coach, who is true to both team and message, says "The reason why I coach is really to advance the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 2:2: 'For I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.' Paul is just consumed with who Jesus is. Spoken and lived out. By God's grace, I hope that's what it comes down to. I hope that's my message."

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