The Seattle Seahawks plan to hire Aden Durde as their defensive coordinator under new coach Mike Macdonald, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Friday.
Durde was the Dallas Cowboys' defensive line coach for the past three seasons under then-coordinator Dan Quinn. The only other NFL team he has coached for is the Atlanta Falcons, serving as a coaching intern in 2016, a defensive assistant from 2018-19 and the outside linebackers coach in 2020, all while Quinn was the head coach. Durde began his NFL coaching career as an intern with the Cowboys from 2014-15.
Macdonald, the former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, said in his introductory news conference that he will initially call Seattle's defensive plays with the plan to eventually hand over those duties to a DC "when it becomes obvious that someone else is ready to go and we see it the same way."
Tabbing Durde for that role means Macdonald has two of his three coordinator roles in place, with Jay Harbaugh hired to run special teams and the offensive playcaller role still yet to be filled. Macdonald also hired Leslie Frazier as assistant head coach.
Durde replaces Clint Hurtt, who coordinated Seattle's defense for the past two seasons and was hired as the Philadelphia Eagles' defensive line coach after the Seahawks fired Pete Carroll in January. Durde takes over a defense that underachieved in 2023, ranking 25th in points allowed and 30th in yards allowed. Seattle ranked 30th against the run in 2022 and one spot worse last season, allowing the most rushing yards of any team in the NFL over that two-year span.
A native of London, Durde played linebacker in NFL Europe for six seasons with the Scottish Claymores and Hamburg Sea Devils. He also spent time on practice squads for the Carolina Panthers and Kansas City Chiefs. After his playing career, he spent six seasons as defensive coordinator for the London Warriors. He also served as head of operations at NFLUK, where he helped guide the International Player Pathway Program.