'Extraordinary Competitor' DeShawn Shead Comfortably Transitioning Into Coaching Role With Seahawks
RENTON, WA - Challenges have come in bunches over the course of DeShawn Shead's career in football, and he's met and exceeded them all. The average length of an NFL playing career is 3.3 years; Shead, an undrafted free agent signed by a team with three multi-time All-Pros in front of him, stretched that out to eight.
As Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, and Earl Thomas kicked their dominance as the leading men of the "Legion of Boom" into full gear in 2012, a rookie Shead was grinding it out on the Seahawks' practice squad. That grind carried over into the following season, though he finally earned a promotion to the 53-man roster as the storied Seattle secondary lost its nickel cornerback Walter Thurmond to a suspension and were facing a similar situation with its starting right-side corner Brandon Browner.
From that late November day in 2013, Shead was a constant on the Seahawks' roster and always went the extra mile to prove his value. Initially contributing as one of the team's key special teams players - and maintaining that role throughout his career - he eventually saw opportunities to fill in at both safety and cornerback when injuries cropped up. And in those moments, the culmination of his uphill battle came to a head and his competitive nature was put on full display for Seattle's fanbase to witness firsthand.
To Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, this was nothing new. He and his coaching staff recognized the uniqueness of Shead, someone who embodied his culture and philosophy perfectly. Lauding him as an "extraordinary competitor," Carroll knew Shead was special early on.
"He's always been one of our favorite guys because he's just one of the most true blue guys we've ever seen in our program," Carroll told reporters following the conclusion of the Seahawks' OTA workouts on Thursday. "Hard-working, dedicated, smart, creative, tough. Man, he had all of the elements that we love in the program. Big chip on his shoulder, always had to prove it, you know?"
Making a 53-man roster wasn't good enough for Shead, who kept that chip on his shoulder despite his accomplishments. Eventually, his hard work earned him a role as the starting right cornerback on one of the NFL's most dominant defenses in 2016. That year, he recorded an interception and 15 pass breakups while allowing opposing quarterbacks a passer rating of 87.6.
Unfortunately for Shead, injuries began to derail things. A torn ACL suffered against the Falcons in a 2016 playoff game nearly wiped out his 2017 campaign in its entirety. Appearing in just two games that year, he was released by the Seahawks prior to the start of the 2018 free agency period and landed a deal with the Lions shortly thereafter.
He'd make a quick return to the Pacific Northwest just a year later after his lone season with Detroit was cut short due to another knee injury. But as the preseason concluded, Shead saw his name among the many cut by the Seahawks.
Once Shead's final stop in the league - a four-day midseason run with the Saints - came and went in 2019, he took some time away from the game, though he didn't officially submit his retirement papers to the NFL. In that time, Carroll kept tabs on his former defensive back, who, as Carroll recalls, went on to excel in computer sales.
"He went into the, I think, computer sales business and just kicked butt and became one of the top salespersons in his organization in, I don't know, 18 months or something like that," Carroll recollected. "When I hear that story I go: 'Of course, that's what Shead would do.'"
Carroll's occasional inquiries into Shead's life were more than a simple matter of former colleagues catching up, however. He saw a future in coaching for the Portland State product, something he had been nurturing over the years.
After months of planning and discussion, Shead officially announced his retirement from the NFL and joined Seattle's staff as a defensive assistant on March 19 of this year.
"We talked about it as this season was approaching," Carroll explained of the process in hiring Shead. "We talked last year about the upcoming this year, and so we just stayed with it and we brought into this program just an extraordinary competitor, a guy with character and integrity and toughness and smarts and all that. You can't get enough guys like that around the program."
While it's yet another new challenge for Shead to take on, he's not necessarily stepping out of his comfort zone. Carroll has long believed this was a task tailor-made for him, and by his account, that's rung true thus far.
What's especially helped Shead smoothly transition into coaching, specifically with the Seahawks, has been his vast knowledge of the concepts and techniques the team employs. As Carroll notes, that understanding hasn't wavered in his time away from Seattle and the NFL as a whole.
"Interestingly, he's carried over our football and has retained it and maintains a really good command of what we did and the techniques of the cornerback position in particular, as well as the safety spot. ... A lot of guys can play and they don't take that stuff with them; he did."
Shead, of course, is just one of a few former Seahawks on the team's current staff, with Carroll previously recruiting the likes of quarterbacks coach Austin Davis and linebackers coach Aaron Curry. One of the most experienced active coaches in the NFL, the 69-year old Carroll is not shy about his intuitions when he identifies the coaching potential of his former players.
"When I have a sense for a guy that might really like it, might be one of those guys that's kind of a 'blood and the guts' guy - you know, just loves the game and all that - man, I'll drop it on 'em and say, 'You ever thinking about coaching?' just to kinda set the seed in the soil there and then if they bite on it, then I'll talk to 'em differently, you know, during the time that they're with us."
That was the case with Shead, who quickly earned a reputation as a great football mind for his impressive acumen and unique perspective as a player. And those traits are still very much fresh for him, not even two years removed from the end of his playing career.
Whether it be connecting with his players or contextualizing the game for them, the recency of Shead's career gives him an outlook unique to Seattle's coaching staff. And Carroll believes he can take that far.
"He's very sharp, so I expect really big things from him," Carroll said. "I think he's gonna do a great job immediately, but down the road, we're gonna see DeShawn Shead do some great stuff. He's really talented."
