According to Jonathan Jones of the NFL on CBS, new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald and offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb have hired former Titans assistant Charles London to train their quarterbacks. It’s a terrific addition for Seattle after seeing London interview for offensive coordinator positions in the previous offseason.
London has been coaching in the NFL since 2007. After three years at Duke, London accepted a position as the Bears’ offensive quality control coach. Three years later, he spent a year as an offensive assistant for the Titans before returning to college for two years at Penn State. London would split his time coaching running backs in Houston and Chicago over the next seven years.
London, who had previously focused primarily on running backs, took a career change when he accepted the Falcons quarterback coaching position in 2021. After two years in Atlanta overseeing the transition from Matt Ryan to Marcus Mariota and Desmond Ridder, London accepted the same position with the Titans last year after initially interviewing for the offensive coordinator position. In Tennessee, London managed another quarterback transition after veteran Ryan Tannehill was benched for rookie second-round pick Will Levis due to an injury.
While London’s passing game expertise isn’t particularly impressive, he is well-regarded in offensive coaching circles. Last year, the Titans were not the only team interested in London as a play-caller; the Commanders also wanted to interview the experienced coach. Last year, the Dolphins and Rams interviewed London for the post of coordinator.
In Seattle, London will now be responsible for teaching veteran quarterbacks Geno Smith and Drew Lock. It’s difficult to see the Seahawks moving on from Smith after seeing him revive his career over the last two seasons, but at 33 years old, Smith is becoming one of the NFL’s oldest starters. This is not the team’s aim, but London’s experience transferring offences from a seasoned quarterback to a new starter would be useful if Seattle needed to replace Smith soon.
So, after hiring instructors for their running backs and wide receivers earlier this week, the Seahawks now have a new mentor for their veteran quarterback. With offensive line coach Scott Huff joining Grubb from Washington (and Tuscaloosa) and Jake Peetz in place as pass-game coordinator, Grubb’s offence now only needs a tight ends coach.
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