The Seahawks have made another coaching change, but this time on the defensive side of the ball. The team has parted ways with current defensive coordinator Kris Richard in favor of bringing in the recently hired 49ers linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. to lead their defense next season, reports Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network (Twitter link).
It’s an odd turn of events because Richard had not been officially relieved of duties as of today, although there had been rumblings that the Seahawks were ready to move on from their once highly-touted defensive coordinator. Richard had been with Seattle since 2010, where he’s worked with the defense in a variety of roles. However, the 38-year-old coach had served as defensive coordinator for the past three years.
To add onto the twist, Norton Jr. comes over from San Francisco where he just agreed to become an assistant head coach/linebacker coach for Kyle Shanahan. Although, the move is reportedly in-play because there is an out in his deal that allows him to take this gig in Seattle, Garafolo adds. It’s an odd decision in a sense because Norton Jr. was fired as the Raiders defensive coordinator this past year because of the clear struggles that his defense had throughout the early portion of the season. In his favor, Norton Jr. does have familiarity with the Seahawks organization as he was the team’s linebackers coach from 2010-14.
The news does put Richard in limbo in terms of where he lands next season. He has clear credentials in the NFL community as he did land a head coach interview with the Colts last week, but being that Indy is expected to hire Josh McDaniels, Richard’s options seem somewhat limited. There’s currently no open defensive coordinator positions available, but a few should open up as new head coaches are officially brought in.
Coming off a year without a postseason appearance, head coach Pete Carroll has been aggressive in re-shaping his staff. They have already hired Brian Schottenheimer to replace Darrell Bevell as offensive coordinator, so this move represents another decision to move away from the status quo that failed the franchise in 2017.
Wow. Was stoked to have him back in the 9ers organization and now he goes to one of the teams I hate most lol. Well, I wish the guy nothing but the best but can’t say the same for eh Seahawks as a team lol
Why didn’t it work for the Raiders? Hope a Raider fan can help me out..
Ken Norton Jr? The other half of Shake n Bake?
It’s magic man now. Now you see me now you don’t what’s up
The defense was constantly out of place, confused about coverages and beating very badly on big plays. The part that doesn’t look good for him is that as soon as he was fired and John Pagano took over, the defense was a better by a great deal.
He was a 49er for 2 minutes