Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks wasted no time in expanding their coaching staff after introducing new coordinators Ryan Grubb, Aden Durde, and Jay Harbaugh on Thursday. The team has officially announced Devin Fitzsimmons as a special teams assistant, who will be working alongside Harbaugh, now making his debut as an NFL special teams coordinator. Fitzsimmons, a native of Folsom, Louisiana, has a decade of experience in the league, having most recently served as the Panthers special teams assistant in the previous season. Prior to his stint in Carolina, Fitzsimmons held the same position in Arizona, where he played a crucial role in helping veteran kicker Matt Prater achieve one of the best seasons in franchise history with 137 points in 2021. Additionally, Fitzsimmons contributed to punter Andy Lee setting a franchise record of 49 yards per punt for the Cardinals in the same season.
Prior to heading to the desert, Fitzsimmons spent two years working as a special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at Vanderbilt at the college level, and five seasons as a special teams assistant with the Lions. He began his NFL coaching career as an offensive quality control coach with the Colts. Harbaugh praised Fitzsimmons as an extremely experienced, intelligent, and excellent football coach, and expressed gratitude for his assistance during the transition to the Seahawks. According to various sources, the Seahawks are reportedly considering hiring three coaches, with NFL Network insider Mike Garofolo stating that Rams pass game specialist Jake Peetz is expected to join as their new pass game coordinator.
Peetz, who has extensive experience coaching in both the NFL and college, recently joined the Rams as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after spending a year in the same position at LSU in 2021. Prior to his time in Baton Rouge, Peetz was the running backs coach for the Panthers for two seasons, where he oversaw Christian McCaffrey’s impressive 2,392 yards from scrimmage in 2019. Peetz has also had coaching stints with the Raiders, Commanders, and Jaguars, coaching quarterbacks in Oakland and holding an assistant receiver coach title in Washington. He even worked as a scout for Jacksonville before transitioning into coaching and spent two years on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks are reportedly hiring Jackson as their new receivers coach, replacing Sanjay Lal. Jackson, a former Cleveland Browns wideout, has coached receivers for five seasons in the league, including the past two with the Steelers, where he helped George Pickens achieve 1,140 yards and a league-best 18.1 yards per reception in 2023. Before joining Mike Tomlin’s staff in Pittsburgh, Jackson served as Carolina’s receivers coach for two seasons and spent one year with Tennessee in the same role. He has also coached receivers for several Division I programs at the college level, including Baylor, Temple, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, and Akron.
Additionally, Kennedy Polamalu, a former Raiders coach, will reportedly join Macdonald’s staff as the Seahawks’ new running backs coach, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Polamalu will work with Ken Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.
It’s interesting to note that Polamalu was once a special teams coach at USC under former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll’s staff from 2001 to 2003. In 2004, he left to become the running backs coach for the Browns. After one season, he moved to the Jaguars where he coached Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew to a combined three 1,000-yard seasons in five years. Recently, Polamalu worked with Josh McDaniels’ staff at the Raiders for two years and coached Josh Jacobs to a league-best 1,653 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns in 2022. Before joining the Raiders, he spent four seasons as the Vikings running backs coach, where he saw Dalvin Cook surpass 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons.
