Seattle Seahawks fire DC Ken Norton Jr., defensive assistant Andre Curtis

The Seattle Seahawks have fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. and defensive passing game coordinator Andre Curtis, a significant shake-up to Pete Carroll's coaching staff on the heels of the team's worst season in more than a decade.

The Seahawks announced the moves Tuesday.

Seattle has already begun its search for a new defensive coordinator, requesting permission to speak with Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. Donatell, 64, has coordinated and coached NFL secondaries for decades — a Seattle soft spot in recent years — and has history with Carroll at multiple spots.

The 55-year-old Norton, a longtime Carroll assistant, was the Seahawks defensive coordinator for the past four seasons. The 2021 season typified the mixed-bag nature of his tenure, with the Seahawks finishing fifth worst in yards allowed (379.1 per game) and tied for 11th best in points allowed (21.53).

For the second straight season, Seattle's defense was gashed at a historic rate early on before rebounding with a strong finish. Carroll mentioned that trend last week while citing several things that went wrong for the Seahawks during a 7-10 season in which they suffered their most losses since 2009, the year before he and general manager John Schneider arrived.

«Defensively, we didn't start fast enough in this season again,» Carroll told 710 ESPN Seattle a day after the season finale. «That's two times in a row we didn't start fast enough, and we found ourselves and put up some good numbers that indicate how you're playing. Just all of that just didn't happen soon enough.»

The 2021 team allowed at least 450 yards in four straight games (Weeks 2 through 5), a franchise record and tied for the longest