Report: Seahawks Expected to Hire Trio of Assistants to Mike Macdonald's Coaching Staff
With the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine looming next week in Indianapolis, the Seattle Seahawks appear to be closing in on finalizing their first staff under new head coach Mike Macdonald with three new hires reported on Tuesday.
Headlining the group of reported additions to Macdonald's staff, per CBS Sports college football insider Matt Zenitz, the Seahawks are expected to hire former Chargers linebacker coach Jeff Howard as a defensive backs coach. He will team up with defensive pass game coordinator Karl Scott, the only holdover kept so far from Pete Carroll's previous staff, coaching cornerbacks and safeties.
Heralding from Mike Zimmer's coaching tree, Jeff Howard offers NFL coaching experience both in the secondary and with linebackers, making him another flexible addition for Seattle's new-look staff.
Howard first broke into the NFL coaching ranks in Minnesota, spending seven seasons with the Vikings as a defensive assistant for coaches Leslie Frazier and Mike Zimmer. In 2020, the Browns brought him on board as their new defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, helping the team finish fifth in passing defense in 2021 and 2022. Last season, he bolted to Los Angeles to coach linebackers for Brandon Staley, who was fired at the end of the season.
In joining the Seahawks, Howard will reunite with Frazier, who granted him his first chance to coach in the NFL and recently joined Macdonald's staff as an assistant head coach.
Away from Howard, Zenitz later reported Seattle planned to hire former NFL safety Nick Perry to its coaching staff as well. The ex-Alabama standout spent the past three years in Atlanta, coaching receivers last season and defensive backs in 2021 and 2022 on then-coach Arthur Smith's staff. Prior to jumping to the league, he served on legendary coach Nick Saban's staff in Tuscaloosa.
In an additional report from ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Seahawks also are expected to hire Jets offensive assistant Mack Brown as their new tight ends coach. Not to be mistaken for North Carolina's iconic coach, he spent the previous five seasons in New York working for Robert Saleh and Adam Gase, serving as a defensive assistant in his first two seasons on Gase's staff before transitioning to the other side of the football in 2021.
Before being hired by the Jets, Brown spent three seasons at FCS program Missouri State as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, helping the Bears increase their scoring average in three consecutive seasons. Before going to Springfield, he spent multiple seasons at Missouri as a recruiting assistant and offensive quality control coach following a stint as an offensive coordinator at Lawrence High School in Kansas.
Now nearly a month into his tenure as coach, Macdonald will likely try to finish filling out his staff before the combine next week, as the start of the new league year and free agency rapidly approaches. Expect reports and official hiring announcements from the Seahawks to continue trickling in over the next few days.
