The Seahawks dismissed two of their top assistants on Tuesday, including defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. While Norton has a long history and a good relationship with coach Pete Carroll, Seattle’s defense more often than not had disappointing results over the last four seasons.
The decision to move on from Norton could be part of a changing defensive philosphy – a more aggressive one, specifically. According to a report by Adam Jude at the Seattle Times, Carroll was satisfied with the shift to playing cover 2 this season to prevent explosive plays, however he’s looking for a more attack-minded plan going forward.
The coaching changes do represent for Pete Carroll at least a small pivot in his defensive philosophy, per sources. Carroll preferred Cover 2 this season because his priority was to limit explosive plays (which it did), but he does plan to be more "attack-minded" going forward… https://t.co/UTliQIwQ85
— Adam Jude (@A_Jude) January 18, 2022
The Seahawks did do an excellent job of preventing explosive plays, as well as stopping their opponents in the red zone. However, they had an awful time getting off the field – partially because of their strategy.
While the two-high safety looks helped keep everything in front of them, it left them more vulnerable to quarterbacks who thrive dinking and dunking and attacking the defense underneath. Kirk Cousins and Colt McCoy were just a couple of examples of QBs who took advantage in costly conference losses.
Seattle’s defensive line and associate head coach Clint Hurtt is among the early candidates to replace Norton.
