Seahawks announce assistant coach hires for head coach Mike Macdonald
RENTON, WASHINGTON - FEBRUARY 01: John Schneider, general manager of the Seattle Seahawks, welcomes Mike Macdonald as the new Seattle Seahawks head coach at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on February 01, 2024 in Renton, Washington. (Photo by Steph Ch
The Seattle Seahawks announced the hiring of seven assistants for Mike Macdonald's coaching staff on Tuesday, along with general manager John Schneider adding the title of president of football operations.
FOX 13 Seattle had reported several of the hires prior to Tuesday's announcement, including the additions of Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach, Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator, Aden Durde as defensive coordinator, and Jay Harbaugh as special teams coordinator.
Additionally, the team announced the hires of former University of Washington assistant Scott Huff as offensive line coach, and Green Bay Packers assistant Kirk Olivadotti as inside linebackers coach.
Karl Scott – who had spent the last two seasons as the team's defensive passing game coordinator – remains in that role on Macdonald's staff and is the only holdover from Pete Carroll's coaching staff.
Schneider had previously had the title of executive vice president/general manager.
Grubb, 47, spent the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator under head coach Kalen DeBoer with the Huskies as they reached the National Championship last month. Grubb was set to follow DeBoer to Alabama before the Seahawks came in and hired Grubb to stay in Seattle as their new offensive coordinator.
"He's been on my radar, watching his teams perform, throughout the season, obviously thinking that a situation like this might come about," Macdonald said in an interview with Seattle Sports 710 AM on Monday. "Then getting to know him throughout the process, the type of guy he is, he's been a winner everywhere he's been. I just think it speaks to his football character, things that him and Kalen have over time – everywhere they've gone they've really rebuilt the culture where they've been and they've won immediately. Having that type of growth mindset, being able to adapt to the players that he as, and his scheme, I just respect what his offense looks like."
Durde, 44, is a native of Middlesex, England who played linebacker for six seasons in NFL Europe for the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils. He moved into coaching in England and spent six years as the defensive coordinator of the London Warriors, an American Football Club in the British American Football Association.
Durde joined the Cowboys as a coaching intern for two seasons in 2014-15 before moving on to intern for the Atlanta Falcons for one season. Durde then joined the Falcons' coaching staff full-time in 2018 as a defensive assistant on Dan Quinn's coaching staff. After that staff was let go in Atlanta, Durde followed Quinn back to Dallas to become the defensive line coach as Quinn was named defensive coordinator.
"Aden came in highly recommended, he got on our interview list, and knocked it out of the park when we first sat down," Macdonald said. "Just listening to him talk about how he sees the game was very similar to how I saw it in terms of what you need to do to be able defend offenses these days. And he had some really interesting perspectives, so we thought, 'Shoot, we've got to get this guy in here in person.' We brought him in, he did a great job, and it just kind of took off from there. So I'm really excited to work with him, and he's coming into town later on today, actually, so we're excited to sit down and start building the staff out."
Frazier, 64, spent parts of four seasons as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2010-13, and was most recently the defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills under head coach Sean McDermott from 2017-22. The Bills gave Frazier the title of assistant head coach in 2020.
The addition of Frazier gives Macdonald a veteran coach to help him navigate his first job as a head coach in the NFL.
"I worked with Leslie back in Baltimore in 2016, so I've had a relationship with Les for a long time, and obviously he's got an incredible track record in the NFL, being a head coach, high-powered defenses, being on the Bears '85 team. There's so much wealth of knowledge," Macdonald said. "I have so much respect for him, both in what he knows football wise, and also just his character. He's going to be a massive resource for us, and me personally navigating it being a first-time head coach. He's been through the wars, he can see around the corners, and he's been a great help so far. We're working this thing as a great partnership between him and I. I just really respect Les and I'm just really happy he decided to join us."
Harbaugh, 34, and Macdonald have spent two seasons coaching together with the Ravens and at the University of Michigan. Harbaugh spent three seasons as an offensive quality control coach with the Ravens under his uncle, John, before leaving to join his father Jim's staff at Michigan in 2015. Harbaugh has spent the last five years running the special teams units for Michigan. He served in a dual role and also spent time working with running backs, tight ends and safeties as well.
Olivadotti, 50, also has a connection with Macdonald as they coached together for three seasons at the University of Georgia together. Olivadotti has 20 years of NFL coaching experience with 16 seasons coming in Washington and the last four with the Packers.
Huff has spent the last seven seasons with the University of Washington as their offensive line coach, first joining the program under head coach Chris Petersen. The Huskies offensive line won the Joe Moore Award as the best offensive line in college football last season.