Report: Seahawks Expected to Hire Aden Durde as Defensive Coordinator
Making a significant slash two days before the Super Bowl, Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks look to have found their defensive coordinator.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Seahawks plan to hire Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde to take over as the defensive coordinator on Macdonald's first staff. The 44-year old had also been in the mix to stay in Dallas to replace Dan Quinn for the same position on Mike McCarthy's staff.
Making history in the process, Durde will become the first British-born defensive coordinator in NFL history.
Born in Middlesex, England, Durde emerged as a success story from the now-defunct NFL Europe, playing linebacker for the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils from 2003 to 2007. He also spent brief stints with the Panthers and Chiefs in the NFL as a player, though he never appeared in any regular season games, before transitioning into coaching as an assistant with the London Warriors.
A former NFL Europe standout, Aden Durde has climbed the ladder from intern all the way to defensive coordinator, the position he's expected to take over for the Seahawks.
Getting his first taste of NFL coaching, Durde spent two training camps with the Cowboys and one training camp with the Falcons as part of the Bill Walsh NFL Diversity Coaching Fellowship from 2014 to 2016. Following those valuable experiences, he took over as head of football development at NFLUK, overseeing the International Player Pathway Program and helping several international players land practice squad spots in the league.
Durde returned to the Falcons in 2018, joining Quinn's staff as a defensive quality control coach and earning a promotion to linebackers coach in 2020. After Atlanta fired Quinn midway through the 2020 season, he followed the former Seattle defensive coordinator back to Dallas as a defensive line coach and found great success helping develop superstar Micah Parsons as well as defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, edge rusher Dorance Armstrong, and others.
By adding Durde to the staff, the Seahawks finally have an assistant with a defensive line background to pair with Macdonald and assistant head coach Leslie Frazier, who specialize in coaching linebackers and secondary respectively. Though he isn't expected to call plays with Macdonald holding that title for now, he will be heavily involved in the game planning process and could also be the defensive run game coordinator.
With Macdonald's staff starting to take shape, now all attention will be diverted towards hiring an offensive coordinator, which may not happen until after Sunday's Super Bowl between the Chiefs and 49ers. Thus far, UCLA head coach Chip Kelly, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and Lions pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand have been linked to the vacancy.
