Seahawks announce coaching staff, including Carl Smith, DeShawn Shead

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The Seahawks announced their 2021 coaching staff Wednesday.

They have added three coaches to Pete Carroll’s staff, making the hirings of Carl Smith, DeShawn Shead and Tracy Smith official.

Shead, who played 54 games for the Seahawks over six seasons, returns to Seattle as a defensive assistant/defensive backs coach. It is his first NFL coaching job.

Carl Smith has coached for Carroll for decades and is one of Carroll’s most trusted confidants. He returns to the Seahawks as an associate head coach following two seasons with the Texans. Tracy Smith, Carl’s son, who most recently served as the Texans’ special teams coordinator, will be Seattle’s assistant special teams coach.

Larry Izzo officially has become the Seahawks’ special teams coordinator, a role he took over last season when Brian Schneider stepped away for personal reasons. Schneider returned to the team during the season, but Izzo continued to lead Seattle’s special teams groups.

Schneider recently was hired by Jacksonville as the Jaguars’ special teams coordinator.

Carl Smith first worked with Carroll when the two were assistants at NC State in 1982. He followed Carroll to New England from 1997-99, USC in 2004 and then with the Seahawks from 2011-18, spending seven seasons as Seattle’s quarterbacks coach and one as associate head coach.