SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks are poised to employ Jay Harbaugh as special teams coordinator under head coach Mike Macdonald, according to an ESPN source on Monday.
Harbaugh, 34, has been in that position for the previous five seasons at the University of Michigan under his father, Jim Harbaugh. According to the Ann Arbour News last week, the younger Harbaugh was supposed to follow his father to Los Angeles to coach on the Chargers’ staff, but he will instead reunite with Macdonald in Seattle.
Macdonald and Jay Harbaugh worked together for two seasons, first with the Baltimore Ravens in 2014 and then at Michigan in 2021, when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator.
Harbaugh began his coaching career in 2008 as a four-year undergraduate assistant at Oregon State. He spent three seasons as an offensive quality control coach for the Ravens from 2012 to 2014 before joining Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, where he worked with tight ends, running backs, and, most recently, safeties. Jay Harbaugh was the assistant special teams coach from 2015 to 2018 before becoming coordinator in 2019.
While Jim Harbaugh was on suspension, Jay Harbaugh took over as interim head coach during the first half of Michigan’s victory over UNLV last September.
Jay Harbaugh succeeds Larry Izzo, who was Seattle’s special teams coordinator under head coach Pete Carroll for the previous four seasons. Harbaugh is the first coordinator and second assistant to join Seattle’s staff since Macdonald was named head coach last week. MacDonald has also hired Leslie Frazier as an assistant head coach.
Sports Illustrated was the first to report the Seahawks’ intention to hire Harbaugh.
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