After a yr off, Leslie Frazier will return to an NFL workers. The previous Vikings head coach and Payments defensive coordinator will take a job in Seattle. Mike Macdonald is including the veteran defensive coach to his workers, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
Macdonald has counted Frazier as a mentor, per Pelissero. Frazier and Macdonald coached collectively on the Ravens’ 2016 workers. Set to grow to be the NFL’s youngest active HC, Macdonald will herald probably the most skilled defensive staffers obtainable. Frazier, 64, will grow to be an assistant head coach in Seattle. 4 groups pursued Frazier for an AHC function, according to CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson.
The Chargers and Raiders interviewed Frazier for their HC positions last month, and whereas he by no means profiled as a robust candidate to land a prime job throughout this yr’s cycle, the veteran staffer actually is smart as an assistant. Frazier spent six seasons because the Payments DC, primarily holding play-calling duties. Successfully pressured out after final season, Frazier expressed a need to return to coaching in 2024.
Frazier additionally interviewed for the Dolphins’ defensive coordinator position. That is still unfilled, pointing to Miami informing the latest AFC East DC he was now not within the working for the job. With Macdonald set to call plays for the Seahawks, it’s price questioning if he’ll rent a defensive coordinator or if this Frazier rent will double as a de facto DC appointment.
Macdonald, 36, was not but a place coach throughout Frazier’s season in Baltimore. Seattle’s new HC labored as a top quality management assistant underneath Frazier that yr; the latter was the workforce’s DBs coach in 2016. Macdonald took over that job in 2017, following Frazier’s Buffalo exit. Macdonald continued to rise inside the Ravens group. By 2022, each he and Frazier had been NFL DCs.
Sean McDermott lower Frazier’s run as Buffalo DC brief, shifting on from the previous NFL DB months earlier than axing OC Ken Dorsey. Like Dorsey, Frazier’s models ranked properly statistically. The Payments ranked first and second in scoring protection in 2021 and ’22, respectively, doing so largely with out Tre’Davious White‘s providers. Frazier’s 2022 protection additionally misplaced Micah Hyde early, and Von Miller suffered what appears to be like like a career-altering ACL tear on Thanksgiving 2022. The Payments struggled to cease playoff opposition that yr, coming after the terrifying Damar Hamlin scenario, and Frazier was out quickly after the workforce’s divisional-round loss to the Bengals. After going with no DC in 2023, McDermott promoted Bobby Babich to fill that function this week.
Going from the NFL’s oldest energetic head coach (Pete Carroll) to the youngest, the Seahawks now have a 35-year teaching veteran on their workers. A lot of that have got here within the NFL. Frazier labored as an NFL staffer from 1999-2022. He went 21-32-1 as a head coach, with the Vikings’ ill-fated Christian Ponder first-round choose being their defining transfer throughout that interval. Frazier did oversee a Minnesota playoff berth in 2012, when Adrian Peterson stormed to MVP honors. Frazier additionally served as a DC for the Bengals and Buccaneers throughout his profession.