The Seahawks are moving quick to find a replacement for former defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero (via Twitter), Seattle requested permission to interview Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. for their DC vacancy.
[RELATED: Seahawks To Make Changes To Defensive Coaching Staff]
Whitt has been coaching in the NFL since 2007. He’s bounced around recently, spending time with the Packers (2018), Browns (2019), Falcons (2020), and Cowboys (2021) over the past four years. Despite all of his jobs, he’s maintained his job title of defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach.
As NFL Ian Rapoport notes on Twitter, Whitt Jr. is a candidate to take over for Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn if/when he gets a HC gig. Seattle’s request could force the Cowboys’ hand, so it will be interesting to see how everything unfolds.
We learned yesterday that the Seahawks were moving on from Norton. The veteran coach had served as the team’s defensive coordinator for the past four seasons, a stretch that has seen unusually poor results on that side of the ball. We’ve already learned of three potential replacements for the role. In addition to Whitt, Seattle also requested permission to interview Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai and Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell.
I wonder what they see in Whitt? Dallas has a couple good athletes on defense, but were next to last in defensive penalties and gave up a whopping 5.5 yards per play. Whitt’s area of concern was no great shakes either. Trevon Diggs had 11 interceptions, but that was because the opposition was targeting him on nearly every play (Diggs gave up over 1000 yards in receptions to people he was “covering” this year).
I understand your frustration but a lot of the stats you list are compiled with the running game as well. Whitt Jr was strictly passing defense. And diggs is young but will learn to cover better. Can you imagine the int numbers when he’s a better cover guy?!!