Seahawks Hire Three Additional Coaches, Including Former DB DeShawn Shead & Longtime Assistant Carl Smith

The Seahawks hire three more assistant coaches; Promote Larry Izzo to Special Teams Coordinator

Mar 03, 2021 at 12:58 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

The Seahawks added three coaches to their staff, including two who are very familiar with the organization: longtime Pete Carroll assistant Carl Smith, and former defensive back DeShawn Shead. Also joining the coaching staff is Tracy Smith, Carl's son.

Shead, who worked his way from the practice squad as an undrafted rookie to an eventual starting role, and who played 54 games with the Seahawks over six seasons, returns to Seattle as a defensive assistant/defensive backs coach, his first NFL coaching job.

Carl Smith, one of Carroll's most trusted confidants over multiple decades of coaching together, is back with the Seahawks as an associate head coach following two seasons with the Houston Texans. Tracy Smith, Carl's son, who most recently served as the Texans' special teams coordinator, will be Seattle's assistant special teams coach.

On a related note, Larry Izzo has officially been given the title of special teams coordinator, a role he took over last season when Brian Schneider had to step away for personal reasons. Schneider returned to the team during the season, but Izzo continued to lead Seattle's special teams groups. Schneider has since been hired by Jacksonville as the Jaguars' special teams coordinator.

Carl Smith, who first worked with Carroll when the two were assistants at NC State in 1982, worked for Carroll in New England from 1997-1999, at USC in 2004, then with the Seahawks from 2011-2018, spending seven seasons as Seattle's quarterbacks coach and one as associate head coach.

Tracy Smith, who spent one season as a coaching assistant in Seattle in 2011, has also worked for the Browns, 49ers, Raiders, and most recently with the Texans where he served as special teams coordinator in 2020.

Shead begins his coaching career where he made a great playing career for himself after coming into the league as an undrafted free agent out of Portland State in 2012. After spending much of his first two seasons on the practice squad, Shead eventually became a core special teams player and versatile defensive back who could play both safety and corner, then eventually moved into a starting role, starting 21 games over two seasons, including 15 games in 2016.

Shead, a one-time special teams captain in Seattle, was once described by Carroll as being "a great Seahawk." Having played both safety spots, as well as left and right cornerback, Shead will bring knowledge of the entire secondary to this coaching role.

"He's done so many things," Carroll said in 2015. "He's come out of the ranks and worked his way up. He became a core special teams guy by doing things right and playing hard and being a great kid, and has worked his way around long enough that he knows how to play everything in the system back there."