Why Gus Bradley should be a no-brainer for Seahawks DC job

The Seattle Seahawks are still looking for their next defensive coordinator. The question isn’t if it should be Gus Bradley, it is why shouldn’t it be?

So far, Seattle does not appear to have asked Bradley to interview. Neither have they asked Kris Richard, currently the defensive backs coach of the Saints to interview. Richard is the less likely to entertain coming back to Seattle after the way he was given the boot after being a fairly successful DC with the Seahawks from 2015 through 2017.

But Bradley has been a successful DC in the NFL even during the time he was coaching elsewhere. Bradley also knows how to work well with Pete Carroll and should understand what Carroll expects from his defense.

Seattle Seahawks need to hire Gus Bradley as defensive coordinator

I am not going to say how the Seahawks defenses did under Bradley when he was DC from 2009 through 2013 because Seattle had different players. Did Bradley make the unit better? Yes. But Seattle now doesn’t have the same kind of talent.

But the Seahawks defense does have talent. Poona Ford is really good. So is Jordyn Brooks. If D.J. Reed and Quandre Diggs are re-signed, and they should be, then the secondary should be solid with a better overall scheme.

My point is that Bradley has been successful as a DC since 2017 with the Chargers (2017-2020) and then the Raiders (2021) because he schemes well and puts his players in the best situations.

With the Chargers, Bradley’s defense ranked from third to ninth in passing yards allowed. Last year the Raiders gave up the 13th-fewest passing yards but in 2020 (the year before Bradley arrived) the Raiders allowed the 26th-most yards. In2019, they allowed the 25th-most.

Las Vegas also improved in sacks over 2020 and improved in yards per rush allowed. It wasn’t as if the Raiders suddenly added a bunch of better players; They just added a defensive coach who made the overall unit better.

This is what the Seahawks need to do as well. Bradley is a great defensive coach and isn’t getting a head coaching job this offseason (I assume) so Seattle needs to at least give him a call about his interest. Based on his experience with the Seahawks and his success in the NFL, not trying to bring Bradley in to be the defensive coordinator is simply unacceptable.