According to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, the Seahawks are set to bring Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell onto head coach Pete Carroll’s staff.
However, Donatell is not expected to take the open defensive coordinator position. Instead, he will be in an unnamed “senior” defensive role.
Former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell is set to join the Seattle Seahawks defensive staff, per sources. He’s not expected to fill the open defensive coordinator role, but moreso a senior defensive role at this point.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 4, 2022
Donatell has been Denver’s defensive coordinator for the last three seasons under Vic Fangio. He also previously served as the DC for Washington, Atlanta and Green Bay.
In addition to having worked with Pete Carroll before, Donatell’s experience is mostly on the back end of the defense. After 10 years coaching at several different colleges, he got started in the NFL as the defensive backs coach for the Jets in 1990. Later, Donatell held similar positions with the Broncos on two separate occasions as well as the 49ers and the Bears.
Given Donatell’s track record, our best guess is that he’ll be taking over the defensive passing game coordinator role that was held by Andre Curtis until he was fired along with defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. last month.
