The Seahawks have added three familiar faces to the coaching staff.
Longtime assistant coach Carl “Tater” Smith has returned to the team, sources told The Athletic. Smith’s son Tracy has also joined the coaching staff, per sources.
Former defensive back DeShawn Shead has been hired as well and is expected to assist with the secondary, per a source.
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Carl Smith was Seattle’s quarterbacks coach from 2011-17, then moved to associate head coach in 2018. He then spent two seasons with the Texans as QBs coach (2019) and offensive consultant (2020). Smith’s specific role with Seattle this time is unclear, however, he is not expected to be the quarterbacks coach.
When asked after last season who in the building helps hold him accountable and tells him what he needs to hear, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll named Smith on a short list of close confidants.
“Tater would tell me anything,” Carroll said. “He was awesome. I demanded it of him because he knew the truth and he needed to speak to me.”
A lack of accountability is one of the gripes Russell Wilson’s camp has with Carroll and the front office, as The Athletic has detailed.
DeShawn Shead (Ben Ludeman / USA Today)However, the reunion with Smith preceded The Athletic’s story by several weeks, sources said, and is not related to the report of a contentious relationship between Wilson and Carroll. All three hires were agreed to before the Super Bowl on Feb. 7.
Tracy Smith spent the 2011 season as a Seahawks assistant before stints with the 49ers and Raiders. He spent the last three seasons with Houston coaching special teams, and he’s expected to be involved with special teams with the Seahawks.
Shead, 31, joined the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent out of Portland State in 2012 and played multiple roles in the secondary until he left as a free agent after the 2017 season. He spent 2018 with the Lions before re-signing with the Seahawks in August 2019. Shead was cut after the preseason and hasn’t played since.
(Top photo of Carl Smith: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
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