The Seahawks have made a slew of reported changes to Pete Carroll’s staff since the end of the 2021 season. Most of those moves have come on defense, where a fundamental shift is taking place. In an effort to field a more “attack-minded” unit, Carroll has picked some choice fruit from the Vic Fangio coaching tree.
Defensive line coach Clint Hurtt is being promoted to defensive coordinator – he was on Fangio’s staff in Chicago as the outside linebackers coach between 2015-2016. Carroll also tried to recruit former Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell – who was Fangio’s DC the last three seasons – but he was hired by the Vikings to be their coordinator before the Seahawks made it official.
The guy that Carroll appeared to want most based on the beat reporting was Sean Desai, who’s spent the last nine seasons with the Bears – including Fangio’s four years as defensive coordinator (2015-2018). This season Desai took over that position and did fine work despite missing Khalil Mack for 10 games. Yesterday, Pete finally got him. According to Ian Rapoport at NFL Network, the team is hiring Desai to be their defensive associate head coach.
This hiring feels more significant than the others. While Carroll probably won’t retire any time soon, this move gives Desai an inside track position to succeed him if and when it does happen.
To learn more about the newest member of the team, we asked Bears Wire managing editor Alyssa Barbieri. Here’s what she shared about Desai.
“Sean Desai is a highly intelligent football mind, which is why he spanned three different coaching regimes. He’s credited with helping Vic Fangio build a Chicago defense that was the league’s best in 2018. Desai is someone who looks to adapt his system around his personnel, putting players in favorable positions. So it was a no-brainer that he got his opportunity as defensive coordinator with the Bears last season. Desai did an impressive job in his first season, growing as the season progressed. He made the most of a bad situation, which featured holes in the secondary and a slew of injuries. Desai is someone who’s well respected, confident and has a good understanding of how to get the most out of his players. The Seahawks are getting a good one.”
Exciting stuff. Seattle has plenty of defensive talent on the roster, aside from an edge rotation that needs a real double-digit sack threat. If this new staff can fix the major issues that plagued Ken Norton Jr.’s time managing the defense, better days are ahead.
