Seahawks expected to hire Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach
ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 31: Defensive coach Leslie Frazier of the Buffalo Bills on the field before a game against the Miami Dolphins at Highmark Stadium on October 31, 2021 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images)
RENTON, Wash. - The Seattle Seahawks are expected to hire Leslie Frazier to be an assistant head coach for new head coach Mike Macdonald, a source confirmed to FOX 13 Seattle on Friday.
The agreement was first reported by Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.
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. The move feels reminiscent of when the Los Angeles Rams hired a 69-year-old Wade Philipps as defensive coordinator to help a then 30-year-old Sean McVay adjust to being a head coach.
Like McVay in 2017, Macdonald, 36, is now the youngest head coach in the NFL with his hire by Seattle.
Frazier and Macdonald coached together on the staff of the Baltimore Ravens for one season in 2016. Frazier was the team's secondary coach while Macdonald was a defensive assistant.
Frazier has 24 years of coaching experience in the NFL with the Seahawks set to be the eighth different team he's worked for. He broke into the league as a defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1999 and became a defensive coordinator for the first time with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003.
After two years as an assistant with the Indianapolis Colts, Frazier joined the Vikings as defensive coordinator in 2007 and was promoted to interim head coach 2010 when the team fired Brad Childress during the season. Frazier was given the job full-time in 2011 and spent three years as head coach of the team.
Frazier spent two seasons as defensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a year in Baltimore, and six seasons in Buffalo before leaving the team after the 2022 season.
Ryan Grubb, Tanner Engstrand connected to offensive coordinator opening:
The Seahawks have been connected with two candidates as possibilities for their offensive coordinator position: Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and Detroit Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrad.
Grubb – the former University of Washington offensive coordinator – was reported to be a candidate for the job by Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Meanwhile, Engstrand was connected to the job by Albert Breer of The MMQB.com.
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. When Grubb was passed over by Washington in their search for a replacement for DeBoer, Grubb followed DeBoer to Alabama and appeared set to become the offensive coordinator in Tuscaloosa.
Engstrand, 41, has spent the last four seasons as an assistant with the Detriot Lions with last year being his first as passing game coordinator. A former college quarterback at San Diego State, Engstrand spent 13 years as a coach at the University of San Diego before joining Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan for one season in 2018 as an offensive analyst. After serving as offensive coordinator for one season for the DC Defenders of the XFL, Engstrand joined the Lions in 2020 as an offensive assistant.