Seahawks fire offensive line coach Mike Solari, will reportedly promote Andy Dickerson, hire Sean Desai

SEATTLE – Officially in for the Seahawks on their defensive coaching staff? Sean Desai, who will take over as associate head coach for defense, a league source confirmed.

Out for the Seahawks? Offensive line coach Mike Solari, who the team announced Friday afternoon had been fired.

And replacing Solari? A report states that Seattle is likely to give run game coordinator Andy Dickerson the title of offensive line coach, as well. Two sources said the move is expected to happen.

The moves were revealed Friday morning as part of Seattle head coach Pete Carroll’s continuing quest to remake the staff in the wake of a 7-10 record in 2021, the team’s first losing season since 2011.

Desai, 38, is expected to join with Karl Scott, 36, who is expected to be hired as defensive passing game coordinator after spending last season as the defensive backs coach with the Vikings, as Seattle remakes the defense following the firing of defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis.

The NFL Network first reported Seattle’s hiring of Desai, though sources had confirmed to the Times that the Seahawks had continued pursuing of him and hoped to add him to the staff with the title of associate head coach helping land him.

The Seahawks already promoted Clint Hurtt as defensive coordinator to replace Norton, who was fired in the wake of the Seahawks struggling on defense in the 2021 season, finishing 28th in the league in yards allowed.

Solari, 67, had been with the Seahawks since 2018, replacing Tom Cable.

In a statement, coach Pete Carroll said of the firing of Solari that “Mike and I agreed that parting was right for our continued offensive transition. Mike is a fantastic coach and a great person, and I am forever grateful for his service to the Seahawks.”

Dickerson came to Seattle last year along with Shane Waldron to remake the offensive staff in the wake of the firing of coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

The Seahawks had also hoped to add Ed Donatell to their defensive coaching staff. But after he agreed to take job as an assistant, with a league source confirming he had not signed a contract, he then was offered the defensive coordinator job with the Vikings. That, in part, helped make Desai available for the Seahawks.

While the Seahawks finished with a flourish on offense last season, scoring 30 or more points in four of their last six games, they have struggled to consistently put together a line to protect Russell Wilson throughout his career with Wilson publicly stating his frustration at getting hit so much following last season.

Dickerson served as assistant offensive line coach with the Rams from 2012-20 and had a significant role with the line last year in working as run game coordinator. Carroll was undoubtedly impressed with Dickerson’s work with the run game in 2021 as Seattle averaged 5.02 yards per rush, second best in team history behind only the 5.26 of the 2014 team that advanced to the Super Bowl.

Seattle also has Keli’i Kekuewa on staff as an assistant offensive line coach. The 29-year-old played at Bowling Green and joined Seattle’s staff as an offensive assistant before moving to assistant offensive line coach in 2021, and now figures to team with Dickerson in coaching the offensive line.

Hurtt, 43, had been Seattle’s defensive line coach since 2017 also adding the assistant head coach title 2018.

Seattle figures to still hire a defensive line coach to take over with Hurtt promoted to defensive coordinator. Hurtt became the fifth DC of the Carroll era when it was revealed last week he had been promoted.

The Seahawks have Damione Lewis as an assistant defensive line coach. Lewis, who played defensive line in the NFL from 2001-10, joined Seattle’s staff last season helping Hurtt with the defensive line.

Seattle also lost quarterbacks coach Austin Davis when he left to become the offensive coordinator at Auburn (a job he has since resigned from). The Seahawks may also make a hire to fill that job, as well. Though, they could reconfigure some responsibilities of those already on staff to fill it out, instead.

Brad Idzik, who joined the staff in 2019 as an assistant wide receivers coach, moved to assistant quarterbacks coach last year and Seattle also has other assistants on staff with a history of coaching quarterbacks, including Carl Smith, who was the team’s QBs coach from 2011-17 and returned last season in an associate head coach role.

The hiring of the Scott/Desai tandem is hoped to help the Seahawks specifically remake a secondary that was one its biggest defensive issues last season and find better ways to use safety Jamal Adams. Adams had 9.5 sacks in 2020, his first season with the team, after being acquired in a trade with the Jets.

But after Seattle signed him to a four-year contract averaging $17.5 million per year, making him the highest-paid safety in NFL history, Adams had no sacks as he was used far less as a blitzer, before he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the 12th game.

The Seahawks also struggled to create turnovers last season, getting just two interceptions from its outside cornerback position (both from D.J. Reed) and forcing just 18 turnovers overall.

The 2021 season was Desai’s first as a defensive coordinator and he earned positive reviews as the Bears finished fifth in the NFL in yards allowed per game at 316.7. Desai, who has a Ph.D. in education administration from Temple, had been with the Bears since 2013, first as a defensive quality control coach and then as safeties coach in 2019-20.

Desai last year became the first coordinator in NFL history of Indian descent. According to a story on the Bears’ official website, Desai’s parents immigrated from India, where they grew up in the country’s western most state, Gujarat, which is situated on the Indian Ocean and the border with Pakistan.

Scott had not coached in the NFL before last season, with all of his previous experience at the college level.

He was the defensive backs coach with Alabama from 2018-20 under Nick Saban when his players included Trevon Diggs and Patrick Surtain II. He has concentrated on defensive backs and linebackers in a coaching career that dates to 2007.