Pete Carroll expected to add another trusted mind to his Seahawks staff: Ed Donatell
Pete Carroll is continuing to surround himself with experienced assistants reuniting on the Seahawks.
Now-former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is expected to join the Seahawks staff as a defensive assistant coach, in something of a special, senior role on Carroll’s defense and not as Seattle’s new coordinator. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN was the first to report that Friday, Donatell’s birthday.
Later Friday, league sources confirmed to The News Tribune the Seahawks are expected to promote defensive line coach Clint Hurtt to become the team’s new defensive coordinator. An announcement is expected within days.
Hurtt replaces Ken Norton Jr. Carroll fired Norton Jan. 18.
Last year, Carroll brought back trusted, 32-year offensive coaching veteran Carl Smith to be his associate head coach with the Seahawks after years away.
Donatell arrives as another senior sounding board. He turned 65 Friday. He knows how Carroll wants a defense run. He first worked with Carroll in 1983, at Pacific. Donatell was Carroll’s defensive backs coach when Carroll was the defensive coordinator at his alma mater. When Carroll was the defensive coordinator with the New York Jets from 1990-93, Donatell was his DBs coach. Donatell stayed in that job the one season Carroll got as a first-time head coach, with the Jets in 1994.
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai was candidate for the same job in Seattle. The 38-year-old Desai interviewed with the Raiders Thursday for Las Vegas’ defensive coorindator spot.
Gus Bradley was the Raiders’ defensive coordinator last season, before Las Vegas fired head coach Jon Gruden and then hired Josh McDaniels this week to replace interim coach Rich Bisaccia as the Raiders’ head man. Bradley is about to become the new defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, according to the Indianapolis Star on Friday.
Bradley, 55, was Carroll’s first defensive coordinator with the Seahawks from 2010-12, before Jacksonville hired him to be a first-time head coach 2013.
As for Donatell, he has been the defensive coordinator for Green Bay, Atlanta and Denver in the NFL. He also was Tyrone Willingham’s defensive coordinator for the University of Washington in 2008, the infamous season the Huskies went 0-12. Donatell is known for varied defenses and for being a coordinator for defensive-minded head coaches. He was the Broncos’ coordinator when defense-first Vic Fangio was largely running Denver’s defense as head man from 2019 until the Broncos fired Fangio Jan. 9.
Donatell and Fangio had Denver in two-high safety looks pre-snap — what Seattle was in more than ever under Carroll in 2021 — more than any other NFL team, more than 60% of the time. Then Fangio’s and Donatell’s Broncos defenses often jumped into single-high coverage, cover three that Carroll won a Super Bowl with on his best Seattle defenses, or into rolling hybrids of cover three with deep safety help to confuse quarterbacks after snaps.
Donatell’s son Tom was a defensive quality-control assistant for the Seahawks and Carroll from 2017-20.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 10:49 AM.
