A report from ESPN's Adam Schefter over the weekend suggested the Seahawks could be interested in a reunion with former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
A report over the weekend from ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggested an intriguing possibility — a reunion between the Seahawks and former defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.
Bradley was Seattle’s DC from 2009-12, leaving the Seahawks in early 2013 to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was fired by he Jaguars late in the 2016 season with a 14-48 record and then spent this year working as the defensive coordinator with the Los Angeles Chargers.
However, Bradley had only a one-year contract with the Chargers and is now considering options. The Chargers want him to stay, and Bradley could well do that.
But as Schefter reported, indications are that Seattle could also be an option.
The complicating factor is that Seattle has a defensive coordinator in Kris Richard. Richard, though, also interviewed for the head-coaching vacancy of the Colts on Friday and could move on.
That would obviously make it easy to bring back Bradley, assuming Bradley wanted to return.
Less clear is if the Seahawks would make a move to bring back Bradley if Richard does not take another job.
Richard has been the defensive coordinator since 2015, taking over for Dan Quinn, who had replaced Bradley.
The defense has slipped a bit statistically the last few years — Seattle ranked 11th in total defense this year, allowing 323.2 yards per game after ranking fifth or higher every year from 2012-16.
But the Seahawks also battled an extreme amount of injuries on defense in 2017 — Seattle allowed 290 yards or less to seven of the first 11 opponents before the injuries took their biggest toll.
However, it’s also thought that the Seahawks are continuing to review all aspects of their coaching staff and the fact that no changes have yet to be revealed or announced — they will likely become public before the team would announce anything — doesn’t mean changes couldn’t still happen.
Bradley, 51, initially came to Seattle in 2009 as defensive coordinator under Jim Mora and was retained when Pete Carroll became coach in 2010. Bradley got ample credit for helping groom a young defense that in 2012 emerged as one of the best in the NFL, leading the league that year in fewest points allowed per game, 15.3.
While the Jacksonville head coaching stint didn’t go well, Bradley revived his defensive coordinator rep this season as the Chargers ranked third in the NFL in fewest points allowed per game (17.0) behind only Minnesota (15.8) and Jacksonville (16.8).
That the Jaguars emerged as one of the best defenses in the NFL this season with a lot of players that Bradley helped acquire also hasn’t gone unnoticed.
All of that, though, also has Bradley again one of the hottest names available among assistant coaches and the coaching carousel remains in full swing with four head coaching jobs still open — the Colts, Arizona, Detroit and New York Giants.
Who fills those jobs and how they then construct their staffs could create more openings.
The Seahawks might also be waiting to see if any of their coaches could be candidates to fill out assistant or coordinator jobs with other teams before making any moves of their own.
Until Bradley lands somewhere else, a return to Seattle could be an option.