Former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell now with Dolphins

Darrell Bevell, former Seahawks offensive coordinator, has been hired by the Miami Dolphins to be their quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. Bevell was Seattle’s OC from 2011 through 2017.

Since being let go by the Seahawks after the 2018 season, Bevell became the Detroit Lions OC for two years. He then went to NFL purgatory, otherwise known as the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he coached rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence under head coach Urban Meyer. Bevell deserved better than what he had to do in 2021.

Going to the Dolphins is a bit of a step down for Bevell. He has been an offensive coordinator in the league since 2006, except for one year in 2018. He was a quarterbacks coach for three years with the Green Bay Packers before becoming that team’s OC. In fact, Bevell has been an offensive coordinator in the NFL so long that he was the OC for the Packers when Brett Favre was still the quarterback there.

Former Seahawks coach Darrell Bevell goes to the Dolphins

Bevell’s change of style with the Seahawks does mirror some of the same issues Seattle is still having, though. From 2011 through the first half of 2015, Seattle ran the ball a lot more than they have recently. One of the reasons for this was Marshawn Lynch was still the main back in Seattle. Two is that the Seahawks won a bunch of games by running a lot.

But after Lynch got injured in the early part of 2015 and Russell Wilson had an unbelievable second half of that season (24 touchdown passes and 1 interception over the final 8 games), Seattle decided to let Wilson be by far the focal point of the offense. Lynch left after the season. Bevell was gone after 2017.

In the last few seasons with Detroit and the Jaguars, Bevell’s offenses have remained more pass-heavy than run so maybe the change that happened with the Seahawks wasn’t about Pete Carroll wanting to try something different and more Bevell wanting to.

Either way, Bevell is now an assistant offensive coach with the Dolphins whose offense was not good last year. Bevell won’t call the plays, I assume on offense, and that’s probably a good thing. But maybe he can make Tua Tagovailoa better.