Reported Interest for Sean Desai from Seahawks

The Chicago Bears defensive coordinator is still under contract but the Seattle Seahawks have a reported interest in interviewing him.

USA Today

It's been assumed the new Bears head coach will have a decision to make on whether to bring in his own defensive coordinator or retain Sean Desai.

The Seattle Seahawks are trying to make that decision for everyone.

The Bears don't have a coach yet but their defensive coordinator is still under contract and Desai is a person of interest to the Seattle Seahawks.

According to a report by Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic, the Seahawks have asked the Bears for permission to interview Desai.

Hearing that another name to watch in the Seahawks defensive coordinator search is Sean Desai of the Bears. Seahawks have requested to interview him, I'm told.

— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) January 19, 2022

On Tuesday the Seahawks fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and passing game coordinator Andre Curtis after finishing 28th on defense and 31st against the pass.

The Bears just beat the Seahawks on December 26, 25-24 with Nick Foles at quarterback. The preparation for that game may have left an impression with coach Pete Carroll about the Bears defense. They had been coming into that game after holding the Vikings to 17 points in a loss using an entirely backup secondary, including practice squad players.

Speculation in Seattle had centered on the Seahawks possibly contacting former Bears defensive coordinator and Broncos head coach Vic Fangio, and Seahawks Seattle Times reporter mentioned the possibility they might be interested in Ed Donatell, the former Bears defensive backs coach who served as defensive coordinator for Fangio.

So a Desai fit seems a decent one considering he was mentored by Fangio and worked on the Bears staff with Donatell.

Under Desai, the Bears defense climbed back into the top 10 overall at sixth in yards allowed after sliding under Chuck Pagano in 2020 to 11th. They improved from 12th to third against the pass and led the NFL for 2021 in number of sacks per pass defended.

However, they finished 22nd in scoring defense after finishing fourth and 14th in two seasons under Pagano. The Bears allowed 24 points or more 10 times and 29 or more seven times, while also squandering leads late against Baltimore and Pittsburgh, and suffering a late-game collapse against Green Bay in the 24-14 loss at Soldier Field.

On the other hand, Desai's ability to keep the team in games occurred despite injuries to Akiem Hicks, Khalil Mack and Danny Trevathan. They had Hicks for nine games, Mack for six and Trevathan for five games.  They also lost safety Eddie Jackson to a hamstring injury for three games and played all season with either unproven Kindle Vildor or veteran street free agent pickup Artie Burns at starting left cornerback.

Twitter: BearDigest@BearsOnMaven