After 14 seasons with Pete Carroll as their head coach, the Seattle Seahawks decided to part ways after the 2023 season. That’s where Mike Macdonald comes in, becoming the franchise’s ninth head coach.
Macdonald was previously the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator for the last two seasons and was one of the most in-demand coaches during this year’s hiring cycle.
Let’s take a look at Macdonald’s coaching staff in his first season as head coach of the Seahawks.
Seattle Seahawks Coaching Staff
Here is the new-look Seahawks coaching staff for the 2024 season.
- Mike Macdonald, Head Coach
- Leslie Frazier, Assistant Head Coach
- Ryan Grubb, Offensive Coordinator
- Jake Peetz, Offensive Pass Game Coordinator
- Mack Brown, Tight Ends
- Scott Huff, Offensive Line
- Brendan Nugent, Assistant Offensive Line
- Frisman Jackson, Wide Receivers
- Charles London, Quarterbacks
- Kennedy Polamalu, Running Backs
- Tyson Prince, Assistant Wide Receivers
- Zak Hill, Offensive Assistant/Quality Control
- Quinshon Odom, Offensive Assistant/Quality Control-OL
- Chuckie Keeton, Offensive Assistant
- Aden Durde, Defensive Coordinator
- Karl Scott, Defensive Passing Game Coordinator/Defensive Backs
- Justin Hinds, Defensive Line
- Jeff Howard, Safeties
- Kirk Olivadotti, Inside Linebackers
- Chris Partridge, Outside Linebackers
- Nick Perry, Defensive Quality Control
- Josh Bynes, Defensive Assistant/Linebackers
- Rob Caprice, Defensive Intern
- Jay Harbaugh, Special Teams Coordinator
- Devin Fitzsimmons, Assistant Special Teams
- Ivan Lewis, Head Strength & Conditioning
- Thomas Garcia, Strength & Conditioning Assistant
- Mark Philipp, Strength & Conditioning Assistant
- Grant Steen, Strength & Conditioning Assistant
- Danny Van Dijk, Strength & Conditioning Assistant
- Jamie Yanchar, Strength & Conditioning Assistant
While a majority of the staff is new to the organization, Macdonald did opt to retain at least one of Carroll’s assistants in Karl Scott, the team’s defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach. The Seahawks’ defense allowed the 12th-most passing yards per game in 2023 (233) but has seen a lot of success from their cornerbacks.
According to Matt Zenitz, Scott was almost hired by the Philadelphia Eagles, but he opted to return to Seattle instead. Following Carroll’s departure, all of his assistants were “free to seek employment,” despite still being under contract.
New Additions to the Seahawks’ Coaching Staff
Macdonald made sure to secure a veteran assistant head coach in Leslie Frazier, who brings 25 years of experience to the table. A former head coach, defensive coordinator, position coach, and assistant HC, Frazier will be able to counteract Macdonald’s inexperience in the NFL as a rookie head coach.
Another important hire was offensive coordinator, as Macdonald’s specialty is defense. For this role, he brought in former University of Washington OC Ryan Grubb. In 2023, Grubb and the Huskies ranked 13th in the nation in yards per game, fifth in total yards, and 13th in points per game.
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Macdonald is a defensive specialist — having led the NFL’s sixth-best defense in yards per game with the Ravens — but he’ll need some help improving Seattle’s 30th-ranked defense in the same metric. Thus, he hired Aden Durde as the team’s defensive coordinator to help him mold this unit under his vision.
Having been in the NFL since 2014, Durde was most recently the Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach from 2021-2023.
Macdonald also added Jay Harbaugh, the son of new Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, to his staff. The younger Harbaugh joins the team as the special teams coordinator, the same position he held at Michigan while Macdonald was there.