One Seahawks coach Bumpus is most interested to see at work

The next era of the Seattle Seahawks is upon us, with an entirely new coaching staff having been assembled under first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.

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Some of the names on the staff are familiar, like offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, who spent the past two seasons as the OC for the high-flying UW Huskies. But a number of the names aren’t, and that’s especially the case with Grubb’s counterpart on the defensive side of the ball.

Seattle’s new defensive coordinator is Aden Durde, who was most recently Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach and holds the distinction of the first full-time British-born coach in NFL history.

Seattle Sports host and former Seahawks wide receiver Michael Bumpus was asked on Friday’s edition of Bump and Stacy which of the Hawks’ coaches he is most interested to see work this year, and he focused on the 44-year-old Durde.

“It’s not Grubb, because I know Grubb, I feel like Grubb is going to have success over there. Confident dude, knows what he’s doing,” Bumpus answered. “I’m looking at defensive coordinator Durde, because Mike Macdonald is still going to call the plays this year. He’s grooming and developing Durde.”

That does make for an interesting wrinkle. Macdonald was wildly successful the past two seasons as Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, and his one season at Michigan in 2021 as the DC is credited with playing a big part in shaping the defense that led the Wolverines to the NCAA championship over Grubb’s Huskies last season.

Because of Macdonald’s success as a DC, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that he plans to continue calling the plays on defense this year in Seattle. That only adds to what is unknown about Durde, though.

“I want to see what (Durde’s) demeanor is like on the sideline – if he is on the sideline – or I want to see what his demeanor is like up in the booth when it’s calling these plays. That’s what I’m most interested in,” Bumpus continued.

The Seahawks’ defense struggled in the final years of previous head coach Pete Carroll’s tenure, and that unit under Durde will have an uphill battle with plenty of new players in 2024.

“The defense has so much to prove this year,” Bumpus said. “That’s why you get a defensive (head) coach, that’s why you let some guys go, that’s why you’re even talking about possibly bringing Jamal (Adams) back – because you have to explore every single option with this defense because the past few years, they have not been very good.”

Bump and Stacy have had the chance to talk to Durde already, and Bumpus is optimistic about what he can bring to the table.

“We’ve sat down and spoken to Durde a couple of times, and I believe in the dude,” he said. “I think he’s going to do great things. But the proof is in the pudding, right? You want to see what that product looks like. I’m interested to see what the defense looks like, how Mike Macdonald brings Durde along, and how Durde blossoms over the next few years to where he’s finally the guy to call the plays and take charge of the situation.”

Hear the full conversation from the Four-Down Territory segment of Friday’s Bump and Stacy on Seattle Sports in the podcast at this link or in the player near the top of this post.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage

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• Rost: What we’ve learned about Seahawks from draft experts
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