Seahawks add to coaching staff, hire defensive line coach

Wait a minute, Justin Hinds never coached the Seattle Seahawks before!

The first Seattle Seahawks coaching staff under Mike Macdonald is closer to being finalized.

Chicago Bears assistant defensive line coach Justin Hinds is moving up to main defensive line coach for the Seahawks. The news was made public by his agent, Aston Wilson.

If the headline has you all confused, it’s fully understandable. Hinds has never coached in Seattle before, so how is he a former Seahawks assistant coach?

Well…

Justin Hinds did coach college football’s Wagner Seahawks from 2012 to 2013. He was in charge of the defensive line and outside linebackers at the small private college on Staten Island, New York, and earned his master’s degree along the way. Wagner won the NEC Football Championship that season and won an FCS playoff game before losing to Eastern Washington.

So yes, Hinds has experience coaching Seahawks, and might be one of the few to ever coach a college and pro version of the ‘Hawks.

As is somewhat of a theme for several other of Mike Macdonald’s assistants, the bulk of his coaching career has been in the college ranks. Before he was hired by the Chicago Bears as an assistant DL coach in 2022, Hinds also worked at Western Carolina, Central Michigan, Mississippi State (graduate assistant), Florida (graduate assistant), Valdosta State, and Lafayette College.

We now wait and see what Seattle does with Bobby Wagner in free agency. If he re-signs with the team, Hinds could go from coaching the Wagner Seahawks to Wagner’s Seahawks.