It didn’t take new Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator long in the interview process to realize he and head coach Mike Macdonald were on the same page.
It also wasn’t much of surprise.
Why Macdonald landed on Fleury as Seattle Seahawks’ new OC
Fleury had heard from others in the football world who knew him and Macdonald that the two coaches would get along well.
“It’s just a shared enthusiasm for football and more about the fundamentals of how it’s played and that sort of thing than the schematics,” Fleury told Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy on Thursday. “We both like the schematics and we can geek out about that sort of stuff at times, but at the end of the day, I think we see football for what it truly should be.
“It’s just a game of fundamentals and technique and effort and violence, and those are the most important parts of it.”
After being introduced as the Seahawks’ new offensive coordinator on Thursday, Fleury did his first radio interview as an official member of the Seahawks with Bump and Stacy. Here are four things we learned about Seattle’s new play-caller.
A role he’s been preparing for
Fleury has worked his way up the coaching ranks for more than 20 years. He landed his first job as a coaching intern and graduate assistant at the University of Maryland in 2003. He then spent eight years coaching on the defensive side of the ball and special teams during stints at Sacred Heart University and Towson University, the latter of which he played quarterback at from 1999-2002.
Fleury became an NFL coach for the first time in 2013, but didn’t start coaching on the offensive side of the ball until 2020 with the San Francisco 49ers. He’s had his sights set on a clear goal since making that switch.
“I’ve been preparing to be an offensive coordinator ever since I moved over to the offensive side of the ball,” he said. “I knew what my ultimate goals were, and I’m always looking for ways to grow in any direction. So I was very confident I was ready for this opportunity. It’s just really a blessing to be here out of all places in a top-notch organization that’s obviously built for success right now. They’ve got a great quarterback in place and good talent on the roster.”
Working under Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco helped his preparation.
“He’s obviously a great play-caller, a great play-designer and that sort of stuff, but he does an amazing job of identifying people that he thinks are capable and empowering them and giving them roles in which they can grow,” Fleury said.
A helpful perspective
Fleury has more experience coaching on the defensive side of the ball. He worked with linebackers as a quality control coach with the Buffalo Bills in 2013. He then was a linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2014 and 2015.
During his three years working in football research with the Miami Dolphins from 2016-18, he assisted in helping with all three levels of the defense. And when he first arrived with the 49ers in 2019, he was a defensive quality control coach for one season before eventually becoming a tight ends coach and run game coordinator.
“Coaching on the defensive side of the ball gives me a lot of perspective as to how to attack defenses,” Fleury said. “I was fortunate enough to work in a bunch of different systems with the three teams I was at on defense here in the league and then obviously back in college too.”
Fleury gave the example of how once he became a tight ends coach, his past experience coaching linebackers allowed him to explain to his tight ends how linebackers would try to attack them and what they would view as weaknesses.
Fleury will be calling plays on offense for the first time in Seattle, but he thinks his past defensive experience will be helpful there, too.
“I have the same perspective from a play-calling standpoint as well. I can look at defenses and see where the flaws are, the holes, the things they’re maybe not executing as well as they probably should and where the vulnerabilities are, the cracks in the foundation,” he said. “So I’m anticipating that that’s going to help me as a play-caller as well.”
Expect a similar offense
Fleury is set to become the third offensive coordinator under Macdonald as he heads into his third season as head coach. There was a big transition on offense last year going from Ryan Grubb’s scheme to Klint Kubiak’s, but that won’t be the case in the transition from Kubiak to Fleury.
The system Shanahan ran in San Francisco is similar to the one run by Kubiak, who was also with the 49ers in 2023. Additionally, Fleury has spent the past five seasons working alongside Klay Kubiak, who is Klint Kubiak’s younger brother and was the 49ers OC in 2025.
“I don’t think the casual observer will see too many differences,” Fleury said. “The foundations of what Klint was doing and what I would like to do are going to be very similar. There’s some things that we can supplement that we’ve evolved to in San Francisco that maybe Klint wasn’t in tune with or just didn’t feel like it was necessary.”
Teaching is in his blood
One aspect of being a good coach is being a good teacher. That’s something Fleury is passionate about and that runs in his family.
“I come from a family of teachers on both sides and the educational aspect is important to me,” Fleury said.
When it comes to teaching his players, he views himself as a supportive figure.
“I realized at some point down the line that we’re really on different paths to the same journey, just trying to support our families for as long as we possibly can in the National Football League,” Fleury said. “Anything I can do to help you in that regard is what I’m here for, and you also have an opportunity to help me by going out and playing your butt off and just being attentive and taking the feedback.”
Hear the full interview with new Seahawks offensive coordinator Brian Fleury in the video at the top of this story. Listen to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.
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