Pete Carroll Gives Seahawks' Defensive Coaching Staff True Refresh While Staying Faithful to 'Win Forever'

The Seahawks' new defensive coaching staff fits Pete Carroll's past vision while offering a refreshing new element. Matty F. Brown breaks it down.

We were forced to stay patient following the double-firing of Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis. Our resolve has been rewarded with a fantastic rejig of the defensive coaching staff, consisting of new defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, associate head coach Sean Desai and defensive passing game coordinator Karl Scott. 

Pete Carroll has given the Seahawks' coaching staff a true refresh, all while staying true to his philosophy outlined in Win Forever.

Seattle's new trio have a lot of positives. All three are young. All three are people of color. All three are experienced. All three bring experience from other defenses that fit the apparent schematic direction of the Seahawks’ system over recent years. (Have a spot-the-difference game with CLEO, Vic Fangio’s Cover 8 and Nick Saban’s Cover 7). 

All three also meet Carroll’s long-held desired attributes of a candidate.

“Putting together a staff may be the most important part of any head coach’s job, and I have always enjoyed it,” Carroll wrote in his 2010 book

Win Forever

.

“I am often asked what I look for when hiring coaches. The first thing I look at is a person’s competitiveness and work ethic. I also like to hire young and promote from within. There have been exceptions along the way, of course, but for the most part I would rather get someone who is open-minded and full of competitive fire, even if it comes at the expense of a certain amount of experience.” 

Hurtt is the oldest of the trio at 43. The in-house promotion Carroll outlined 12 years ago, Hurtt has served as the Seahawks' assistant head coach and defensive line coach since 2017. The superb technique and fundamentals of the interior defensive line—specifically Poona Ford, Bryan Mone, and Al Woods—is a testament to his methods. 

Hurtt has been coaching since 2003, where he started at his alma mater, Miami, as a graduate assistant. He later worked for three years on the Bears' coaching staff, which included Desai as a defensive quality control coach. Their professional relationship and experience together will be key in this new staff. 

The 38-year old Desai got his first shot at coaching with Temple University in 2006 on defense and special teams. While at Temple, the Indian-American earned a PhD in educational administration in 2008. He also received an undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science. 

He coached for nine seasons with the Bears, four with Vic Fangio and brings a valuable year of NFL play-calling experience. Prior to his defensive coordinator role, Desai served as Chicago’s safeties coach for two seasons. As such, it will be interesting to see if he focuses largely on coverage in Seattle with his vague title.

Scott is the youngest of the triumvirate at 36 years old. 

The new defensive pass game coordinator began coaching as a graduate assistant at Delta State in 2007, under the tutelage of current Alabama defensive coordinator Pete Golding. That relationship saw Scott land at Tusculum College (2008-2011) and at Southeastern Lousiana (2012-2013). 

After spells as Southeastern Lousiana defensive coordinator in 2014, then Louisiana Tech (2015) and Texas Tech (2016-2017), Scott was reunited with Golding at Alabama and worked with defensive backs in Nick Saban’s defense (2018-2020). 

Last year, Scott coached the defensive backs for Mike Zimmer's Vikings. For those counting at home: 11 of Scott’s 14 years of experience has been spent as a defensive backs positional coach.

The one Seattle miss in this cycle was not landing Ed Donatell. The 65-year old Donatell would have brought vast experience, in addition to a familiarity with Carroll, both in age and the pair’s co-operation together at Pacific in 1983 and the Jets from 1990 to 1994. 

Instead, Donatell picked the a higher job title with schematic freedom: calling the Vikings' 2022 defense for new head coach Kevin O'Connell. The remaining coaches have a different dynamic with Carroll than Donatell would have, even if the head coach has worked with Hurtt for four seasons.

We are therefore left with a true refresh and this is no bad thing. 

The upcoming season will mark the first year that the Seahawks are without a defensive coach who was on the staff when Carroll joined in 2010. The closest is current linebackers coach John Glenn, who served as a special teams coaching assistant in 2012. 

Meanwhile, assistant linebackers coach Aaron Curry played under Carroll in 2010 and 2011, and assistant defensive backs coach DeShawn Shead was an undrafted free agent of Seattle's in 2012. These are the new young options who may one day be internally promoted.