Former Seahawks DC Ken Norton Jr returns to the NFL

Norton will reunite with Dan Quinn in Washington.

The Washington Commanders will have a pair of former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinators on staff.

Head coach Dan Quinn has brought Ken Norton Jr on board to be the linebackers coach, according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero.

Norton was the linebackers coach at his alma mater under former head coach Chip Kelly, who stepped down earlier this month to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator. UCLA has since hired former Carolina Panthers running back and Bruins alum DeShaun Foster as head coach, and it’s unknown how much of Kelly’s previous staff will remain in place.

Pete Carroll hired Norton as USC linebackers coach in 2004, where he oversaw the development of Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews, and former Seahawks Lofa Tatupu and Super Bowl MVP Malcolm Smith. When the Seahawks hired Carroll in 2010, Norton became the team’s LBs coach, and I think we know that turned out extremely well given the rise of Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.

After a little over two seasons as defensive coordinator of the Raiders, Norton returned to Seattle in 2018 as Seahawks DC. The results were generally not very good, although in fairness to him he inherited a unit that lost the Legion of Boom and essentially lost their pass rush after trading Frank Clark. Norton was fired at the end of 2021, a season in which Seattle was one of the worst by advanced metrics but 11th in points allowed per drive.

While Norton the defensive coordinator may have had struggles, there’s no denying that he can coach the hell out of linebackers. Washington’s only off-ball linebacker under contract is Jamin Davis; Cody Barton and David Mayo are unrestricted free agents.