Report: Seahawks Hiring Former Bears DC Sean Desai as Associate Head Coach

It took some convincing and a great deal of patience, but Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has reportedly landed his man. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the team is expected to name former Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai as its new associate head coach.

After nine seasons in Chicago, Desai was not retained by new head coach Matt Eberflus. That sent the 38-year old on an interviewing tour around the league for several defensive coordinator openings, only to come up empty-handed on that front. His final opportunity to helm a defense closed when Ed Donatell, who was reportedly in line to become a senior defensive assistant in Seattle, spurned the Seahawks for the Vikings' defensive coordinator position on February 10.

Expected to be one of the youngest associate head coaches in the NFL, Desai has worn many different hats in his coaching career and learned from some of the game's most respected minds in the process. Before reaching the highest level of the sport, he spent four years at Temple University coaching defense and special teams, then a year as the assistant director of football operations at the University of Miami and, finally, a short-term stint as Boston College's running backs coach and special teams coordinator in 2012.

The following year, he was hired by the Bears to join Marc Trestman's staff as a defensive quality control coach—a title he would retain for six seasons, under three different coaching regimes. In Trestman's final season as head coach, Hurtt was brought on as an assistant defensive line coach and later kept aboard when John Fox took over in 2015. Eventually, Hurtt made his way to the Pacific Northwest, but not before he and Desai collaborated with Donatell and modern defensive coaching legend Vic Fangio.

Fangio, Fox and crew exited after three disappointing seasons in Chicago, but Desai weathered the storm and kept his role as defensive quality control coach in 2018 under Matt Nagy. He was eventually moved to safeties coach for the 2019 and 2020 seasons before breaking ground as the NFL's first Indian-American defensive coordinator in 2021.

Despite not having star pass rusher Khalil Mack and defensive end Akiem Hicks for most of the year, Desai's defense finished sixth in total yardage allowed, third in passing yards allowed, first in pressure percentage and fourth in sacks. It did, however, surrender the 12th-most points per game and secured the third-fewest takeaways in the league. But for the coach's first year at the position—one filled with turmoil and dysfunction for the face of the operation, Nagy—there was plenty to be impressed by.

Now, he'll see another bump in responsibility with the Seahawks as Carroll's right-hand man. And with his arrival, the team's defensive coaching staff for the 2022 season appears to be complete. Along with Desai and Hurtt, former Alabama and Vikings defensive backs coach Karl Scott is anticipated to replace Andre Curtis as Seattle's new passing game coordinator.

An official announcement of these moves has yet to be made by the Seahawks, though one should be expected in the coming days.