Report: Seahawks Expected to Hire Jay Harbaugh as Special Teams Coach
Another Harbaugh will be returning to the NFL ranks and joining Mike Macdonald's first coaching staff with the Seattle Seahawks.
As reported by Albert Breer and confirmed by multiple sources to AllSeahawks.com, the Seahawks are expected hire former Michigan special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh for the same position. He will replace the departing Larry Izzo, who won't be retained from Pete Carroll's staff.
The move comes as a bit of a surprise, as Harbaugh had been linked to the Chargers to coach with his father Jim Harbaugh, who accepted their head coaching vacancy last month. But instead of bolting for Los Angeles, he instead will team back up with Macdonald, who he coached alongside in Baltimore and at Michigan.
After nine seasons at Michigan on his father's staff, Jay Harbaugh will be returning to the NFL by reuniting with a former colleague in Mike Macdonald in Seattle.
The 34-year old Harbaugh brings a wealth of coaching experience despite being younger than his new head coach. As a member of his father's staff in Ann Arbor, he served as a tight ends coach, a running backs coach, and a safeties coach along with being elevated to special teams coordinator in 2019. Prior to that point, he has been an assistant special teams coach to go with his positional coaching duties.
Excelling as a coach in the third phase of the game at Michigan, Harbaugh oversaw current Browns receiver Donovan Peoples-Jones' Freshman All-American season as a punt returner in 2017. Giles Jackson tied a program record with two kick returns for touchdowns in a COVID-shortened 2020 season, while Khaleke Hudson blocked a Wolverines record five punts during his time as coordinator.
Kicker Jake Moody and punters Brad Robbins and Will Hart also emerged among the best in the nation at their respective positions in Harbaugh's tenure. Moody won the Lou Garza Award and owns program records for career points, field goals, and 40-plus yard field goals, while Robbins and Hart were finalists for the Ray Guy Award and each received Second-Team All-American honors at Michigan.
From a team perspective, the Wolverines consistently performed at a high level on special teams with Harbaugh at the controls. In eight seasons as a special teams coach with the program, they finished in the top-20 in kick and punt coverage five times and had a top-25 kick return unit four times while 21 different players received All-Big Ten and/or All-American recognition.
With Harbaugh set to take his coaching talents to Seattle, Macdonald can shift his sole focus to landing an offensive and defensive coordinator. So far, the team has been linked to former Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb and Lions pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand on offense, while current Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen reportedly is on the radar for the defensive coordinator role.
