As the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks embarked on the process of finding a new offensive coordinator to replace Klint Kubiak, many expected them to promote internally.
An expert’s view: What to know as Seahawks go up for sale
The Seahawks had four reported in-house candidates: quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko, run game specialist/assistant offensive line coach Justin Outten, passing game coordinator Jake Peetz and tight ends coach Mack Brown.
But instead, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald went with Brian Fleury – a little-known name from a division rival.
Fleury, a longtime San Francisco 49ers assistant who spent last season as their run game coordinator and tight ends coach, was formally introduced as Seattle’s offensive coordinator at a press conference Thursday.
“We had some really great, talented coaches in house that we talked to, and all those guys did a phenomenal job,” Macdonald said. “Brian’s someone that I’ve known about for a while, and we have some common relationships that we’ve shared throughout the coaching ranks.
“So I knew about Brian, I knew he was a great coach, and then we had an opportunity to talk to him and he just did a phenomenal job.”
In particular, Macdonald emphasized the “alignment” between Fleury’s vision for the offense and his own.
“The principles and philosophy on how he goes about his business and how he coaches and what he wants from our offense, he took it straight out of our culture graphic,” Macdonald said. “… All the things we’ve talked about (this past) season in terms of connectivity, attention to detail, the chasing edges type of mentality – I mean, he didn’t use those words verbatim, but he might as well have.”
Macdonald said recently hired New York Jets defensive coordinator Brian Duker and recently hired Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver were two mutual connections who placed Fleury on his radar.
“Those are guys that have been signing his praises for a while, all the way back to (my time with) Baltimore,” said Macdonald, who spent nearly a decade on the Ravens’ coaching staff before landing the Seahawks’ head coaching job in 2024.
Fleury has a wide array of NFL coaching experience on both sides of the ball.
Fleury began as the Buffalo Bills’ quality control coach in 2013. He then spent two seasons in Cleveland, where he was the Browns’ assistant linebackers coach in 2014 and their outside linebackers coach in 2015. After that, he spent three seasons with the Miami Dolphins as their football research analyst in 2016 and their director of football research in 2017-18.
Fleury then spent the past seven seasons working on 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan’s staff. He was the 49ers’ defensive quality control coach in 2019, their offensive quality control coach in 2020-21 and their tight ends coach from 2022-24 before adding the title of run game coordinator in 2025.
In Seattle, Fleury will be an offensive play caller for the first time.
“All play callers have to be first-time play callers at some point,” Macdonald said. “You could tell how Brian thinks about the game. I mean, look, you’re gonna have to grow in any new role, but we have a lot of great people around here and a lot of great opportunities for him to get ready to go.”
While the Seahawks hired an external candidate, it appears most of their offensive coaching staff will remain intact. At the moment, Janocko and run game coordinator/senior offensive advisor Rick Dennison are the only reported Seahawks offensive assistants departing to join Kubiak’s Las Vegas Raiders staff.
“It gave us an opportunity to have some great continuity and keep some great coaches as well, and let us take our offense to the next level,” Macdonald said. “So we’re really excited about it. … It’s gonna be a fun process to build this thing.”
More Seattle Seahawks coverage
• Report: Seattle Seahawks promote assistant to run game coordinator
• Seahawks for sale: A ‘secret list’ and how much they’re worth
• Reaction: What the Seattle Seahawks need in their next owner
• Brock: Upcoming draft comes with good news for Seattle Seahawks
• 3 things to know about reported new Seattle Seahawks OC