Over a year and a half after his retirement from the NFL, former Seattle Seahawks defensive back Deshawn Shead joined the team’s coaching staff as their defensive assistant/defensive backs coach in March.
Shead told reporters that he had an interest in coaching at the professional level for the longest time before taking the position with Seattle. He stated that he is motivated by seeing younger players succeed under his tutelage.
“It’s always been something I was very interested in,” Shead said. “I’ve always been a captain at every level that I played, so I find myself just coaching naturally. I love to see when you tell somebody something and then teach somebody something, and they go out there do it successfully. I’ve always had that in me.”
Head coach Pete Carroll revealed that he and Shead stayed in contact after the latter’s departure from the Seahawks and subsequent retirement, and Carroll clearly had the idea of Shead joining the coaching staff on his mind for quite some time because of the qualities he showcased as a player.
“We’ve stayed in contact for a couple of years here, and he’s always been one of our favorite guys because he’s just one of the most true-blue guys we’ve ever seen in the program — hard-working, dedicated, smart, creative, tough,” Carroll said. “I mean, he had all of the elements that we love in the program, big chip on the shoulder, he had to always prove it. So we just kept in contact, and I talked to him a few years back that, ‘If you’re ever thinking about it, let’s talk. There’ll be a conversation waiting for you.'”
Shead expressed his enthusiasm about returning to the Emerald City to coach for a competitive organization with a coaching staff and defensive system he is familiar with, calling it the best-case scenario for him and his family.
“It’s very special,” Shead said. “Best case scenario to come here in Seattle. We have a home here. This has been my home for the past nine, 10 years, from playing here. So to come here to a system I know, great coaching staff—they know what it takes to win, how to build a team. You’ve got Coach Carroll that I can learn a lot from, Coach (Ken) Norton, who has a lot of knowledge, who I’ve learned so much from already. So just to come on Coach Norton’s staff was a blessing to have this opportunity and start here, and I’m glad I’m here.”
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