Seahawks sign contracts with seven assistants for Mike Macdonald, their next coach.Currently popular

The Seattle Seahawks announced on Tuesday that they had signed contracts with offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, defensive coordinator Aden Durdee, and associate head coach Leslie Frazier, among other seven coaches for new coach Mike Macdonald.

Seattle’s new special teams coordinator is Jay Harbaugh; the offensive line coach is Scott Huff; the defensive backs and pass game coordinator is Karl Scott; and the inside linebackers coach is Kirk Olivadotti.

The lone remaining member of Pete Carroll’s crew is Scott. Prior to the 2022 season, he signed with the Seahawks. For the previous five seasons, Olivadotti has been Green Bay’s inside linebackers coach.

It was originally stated that Grubb, Durdee, Harbaugh, and Frazier had agreements.

Huff, who coached offensive line at Washington, was anticipated to follow Grubb to Alabama following Kalen DeBoer’s departure from the Huskies to assume the head coaching position with the Crimson Tide. However, similar to Grubb, Huff leaped at the chance to remain in the Pacific Northwest.

It was earlier this week that Macdonald stated on KIRO-AM, “We have been working on our staff the whole time.” “We initially visited the facility to introduce ourselves prior to the press conference, and we had a quick meeting with everyone. After that, we got right to work on staffing the board.” Seeking the appropriate folks to come in here and coach our team is a terrific process, but it takes time.

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Ryan Grubb, Aden Durde, and other coaches have been hired by the Seahawks.

The Seahawks revealed their new coaching staff members on Tuesday. Over the previous week, reports had surfaced about these additions.

For John Schneider, the team’s general manager, in particular, the true news was in the titles.

Pete Carroll held the positions of coach and executive vice president of football operations, while Schneider held the titles of general manager and executive vice president.

However, Schneider’s current title is president of football operations and general manager, which means he is in charge of all on-field employees, including the players and coaching staff.

Carroll had the final word on personnel matters, even though Schneider and Carroll collaborated on their previous titles.

However, Schneider now has the last word, as new coach Mike Macdonald reaffirmed on Monday in a radio interview with Seattle Sports 710 AM. “Obviously John is handling the personnel side, but we tag-team throughout that whole process,” Macdonald responded when asked about the personnel decisions the club will soon have to make.

This ultimate say also extended to managing Macdonald’s hiring as Carroll’s replacement and then staffing Macdonald.

On Tuesday, Seattle announced the hiring of seven assistant coaches:

Ryan Grubb, coordinator of offense.
Aden Durde, coordinator of defenses.
Jay Harbaugh, coordinator of special teams.
Leslie Frazier, head coach assistant.
Coach of the offensive line Scott Huff.
Karl Scott is the defensive backs coach and coordinator for the passing game.
Coach of the inside linebackers, Kirk Olivadotti.

It’s interesting to note that Grubb does not also hold the title of quarterbacks coach, unlike the two years prior at the University of Washington and the two years prior at Fresno State, where the Seahawks intend to appoint a quarterbacks coach.

Fred Walker, an offensive assistant who helped the Raiders with their quarterbacks over the previous two seasons, is one of the contenders. Walker had a Tuesday interview with the Seahawks, according to CBSSports.com.

Walker spent 11 years coaching at the collegiate level before joining the Raiders in 2022. He was most notable for his work with quarterback Daniel Jones at Duke in 2018–19 and at Mississippi State from 2011–15, where he worked primarily with the quarterbacks during Dak Prescott’s starting seasons in 2013–15.

The previous season, Kerry Joseph assisted Greg Olson as the quarterbacks coach for Seattle.

Olson has not been mentioned as having a new job, but Joseph has been hired by the Bears to be the quarterbacks coach under former Seattle offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

The announcement makes it clear that Scott will take on the same dual job as he did when he was initially employed by Carroll in 2022. He served as senior assistant and coordinator of the defensive passing game the previous season.

Thus far, Scott is the only member of Carroll’s staff who has been kept on.

Even though the Seahawks have filled the most notable assistant-coaching positions, “more still to come,” according to their news release. Staff members of Carroll’s could occupy some of those positions.

Seattle had 23 position coaches last year. The Seahawks have 16 hirings left if they adhere to that amount; however, NFL coaching staffs are not subject to any cap or minimum standards.
Macdonald has coached three of the seven hires: Olivadotti (Georgia), Harbaugh (Michigan), and Frazier (Ravens). After assisting UW in making it to the College Football Playoff championship game last month, Grubb and Huff were hired. Moreover, Durde has coached with former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for the previous six years, despite having no prior experience with Macdonald.

The appointments also mean that coaches without prior NFL coordinating experience will staff Seattle’s three coordinator positions.

In his six full-time NFL seasons (including the last three as defensive-line coach with the Cowboys), Durde has only coached positions, while Grubb is the only NFL offensive coordinator for 2024 without any NFL coaching experience. Harbaugh only has three years of NFL experience—he was an offensive quality-control coach with the Ravens from 2012–14—but he was his father Jim’s special teams coordinator at Michigan from 2019–22.

Despite Durde’s lack of coordinator experience, Macdonald has stated that he intends to keep calling defensive plays, having done so for the previous two years in Baltimore. The 64-year-old Frazier is also a skilled defensive playcaller.

experience, which includes 11 years as an NFL coordinator (with the Bengals, Vikings, Buccaneers and Bills) along with three years as the Vikings’ head coach and another partial season as interim head coach.

Shead will work as a Miami DB coach.
DeShawn Shead, another former member of Carroll’s staff, announced on social media on Tuesday night that he is joining the Miami Dolphins. Shead, who was a member of the 2013 Super Bowl winning team and was a player for the Seahawks from 2012 to 2017 as well as again in 2019, has been with the team for the last three seasons, most recently serving as assistant defensive backs/cornerbacks coach. Shead’s exact title with Miami has not yet been announced.