Source: Seahawks hiring Frazier as assistant HC

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks plan to hire former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier as their assistant head coach, a source confirmed to ESPN on Friday.

Frazier becomes the first assistant known to be hired to Mike Macdonald’s staff. The two will reunite in Seattle after coaching together with Baltimore Ravens in 2016, when Macdonald had the title of defensive assistant and Frazier was the secondary coach.

Macdonald, hired on Wednesday after spending the past two seasons as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator, is the NFL’s youngest head coach at 36. Frazier, 64, brings over two decades of NFL coaching experience to Seattle. He’s been a defensive coordinator for four different teams, most recently filling that role for the Bills from 2017-22 while also holding the title of assistant head coach from 2020-22.

Frazier was also the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach from 2011-13. He did not coach in 2023.

During his introductory press conference on Thursday, Macdonald said he plans to call defensive plays at first and eventually hand over those duties to a coordinator.

Former Ravens linebackers coach Zachary Orr was a candidate to fill that role on Macdonald’s staff before Baltimore promoted him to DC, a source told ESPN.

The NFL Network first reported Seattle’s plans to hire Frazier.

ESPN’s Jamison Hensley contributed to this report.