How Aden Durde’s unusual role with Seahawks follows trend of his career

SEATTLE – Aden Durde may not know exactly how the future will unfold for him in Seattle.

But growing up in London – where the word football means something different – he never could have envisioned the path his life has taken so far.

So if there’s a little uncertainty in his role as the new defensive coordinator for the Seahawks, then so be it.

Durde was introduced to the media this week as one of the three coordinators hired by new head coach Mike Macdonald.

It’s clear from the start that offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will call the plays on that side of the ball, and that special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh will oversee the kicking and punting units.

Macdonald, who comes to Seattle fresh off a two-year stint as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens that turned him into one of the hottest, young coaches in the business, said he plans to call the defensive plays.

So what does that leave for Durde, who will be a defensive coordinator for the first time after serving in varying defensive assistant-coaching roles the last six years in Dallas and Atlanta?

“I think that’s going to be built over time,” Durde said. “As we go through this, we’re going to build that process. One of my roles that I think is important, is really getting to know him. I’ve always found that whenever I’ve worked with someone, the more I understand and the more I can see around corners for them, the more I can support them, the more successful we’ve become.”

Unless Macdonald had spent a lot of time in England through the years, there weren’t a lot of shared paths to have crossed.

Durde, 44, was born in North London, where he said it was a fluke he became interested in American football.

“In England, when I was young, it was on terrestrial TV,” he said. “It was on a channel that was on at a certain time on Sundays, and I just kind of liked it. It was random, there was a kid in my street that liked it. My mom bought us a football, we started playing, and then I found a team and never had an expectation to go where I’ve gone, but I just fell in love with the sport, and kind of ignited from there, and that’s how I found it.”

Primarily a linebacker, his first significant playing experience was with the London Olympians of British American Football. That led to spots with the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils of the old NFL Europe League from 2003-07.

Success with those teams led to his initial forays in football in America with stints on the practice squads in Carolina in 2005 and Kansas City in 2007. He then got into coaching in British pro leagues.

Along the way, he earned a spot as an intern with the Dallas Cowboys in 2014-15.

That proved his break into full-time NFL coaching. In Dallas, he worked with Jerome Henderson, who is the defensive backs coach with the Giants.

In 2016, Henderson left Dallas to become the defensive pass game coordinator in Atlanta under Dan Quinn, who was in his second year with the Falcons after being the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks in 2013-14.

That led to an internship with Atlanta in 2016 and to Durde getting hired by the Falcons in 2018 as defensive quality-control coach.

“I went out there and did a small interview with those guys and the rest is history,” he said.

When Quinn was fired by Atlanta in 2020 and became the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys the following year, Durde followed him, working as defensive line coach the past three seasons.

When Quinn left to become head coach of the Washington Commanders, there was some talk that Durde might succeed him in Dallas. The Cowboys brought back veteran Mike Zimmer to fill that spot.

That left Durde looking at his options, one of which came in Seattle. Macdonald and Schneider mentioned in radio interviews this week on Seattle Sports 710 that the team decided to interview Durde based on word of mouth.

“Aden came in highly, highly recommended and got on our interview list and hit it out of the park,” Macdonald said.

One of Macdonald’s first moves was to hire longtime coach Leslie Frazier – whose resume includes 14 years as a defensive coordinator in the NFL – as assistant head coach.

While his role is undefined, the Seahawks liked the potential of Durde and wanted to get him on staff and work out the rest later. Durde saw Seattle as good place for a next step in his career.

Macdonald has said that down the road he could pass off the play-calling duties, and Durde – who says you can just call him “A.D.” – knows he could be the one to someday take over that role.

“In our interview, yes,” Durde said when asked if he’d talked with Macdonald about someday becoming the defensive play-caller. “But once you get past that, it’s about the now. Everything we do now in the present. Coach Macdonald talks about it all of the time, we’re at ground level. So we have to create a foundation with true clarity. If we do that and we build it right, like I said, the good things will happen after that.

“When I look forward and I try to push myself into a space that I’m not in at that present time, it’s not as good. I try to bring everything back and say, ‘OK, what are we doing?’”

That approach has taken him from London to Seattle, and from aspiring player and coach to NFL coordinator. And if he’s heading into the unknown, he sounds like he can’t wait to see what happens.”