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Sources: Former Seattle Seahawks QBs coach, associate HC Carl 'Tater' Smith rejoining coaching staff

By Ben Arthur, Seattle P-I

|Updated

The Seattle Seahawks are adding three familiar faces to their coaching staff.

Carl “Tater” Smith, a longtime NFL assistant who served as the Seahawks quarterbacks coach from 2011-17 and associate head coach in 2018, has rejoined Pete Carroll’s staff, league sources confirmed to Seattle P-I on Sunday. Smith’s son, Tracy Smith, and former Seahawks defensive back DeShawn Shead are also joining Seattle as assistants, the sources said.

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The formal titles of their roles are unclear at this point. The team has not yet formally announced the hires.

Smith was a close confidant of Carroll’s in his first stint with Seattle, and also worked under Carroll with the Patriots from 1997-99 and USC in 2004. Asked about those who hold him accountable within the Seahawks organization at his end-of-season press conference, Carroll mentioned Smith, along with his sons -- Brennan (now at the University of Arizona) and Nate (Seahawks wide receivers coach) -- and general manager John Schneider.

Smith, 72, spent the last two seasons with the Texans, serving as Houston’s quarterbacks coach in 2019 and as an offensive consultant this past season. His NFL coaching experience dates back to 1986.

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RENTON, WA- CIRCA 2011: In this handout image provided by the NFL, Carl Smith of the Seattle Seahawks poses for his NFL headshot circa 2011 in Renton, Washington. (Photo by NFL via Getty Images)

RENTON, WA- CIRCA 2011: In this handout image provided by the NFL, Carl Smith of the Seattle Seahawks poses for his NFL headshot circa 2011 in Renton, Washington. (Photo by NFL via Getty Images)

Handout/Getty Images

“The true loyalty is the people that will tell you what you need to hear when you might not want to hear it, you know?” Carroll said Jan. 11. “‘Tater’ (Smith) would tell me anything, you know? He was awesome. I demanded it of him because he knew the truth and he needed to speak to me. So I’ve lost a few guys like that. It is something I’m looking at.”

The younger Smith, Tracy, was a Seahawks coaching assistant in 2011. He returns to Seattle after stints with the 49ers (2012-14), Raiders (2015-17) and Texans (2018-20). He was Houston’s assistant special teams coordinator in 2020. Before Seattle, he also worked as an assistant special teams coach for the Browns from 2009-10.

Shead, 31, played six of his seven NFL seasons with the Seahawks after going undrafted in 2012. He was released by Seattle in spring of 2018 and played the ensuing season with the Detroit Lions.

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The Seahawks re-signed Shead in July 2019, but he did not make the 53-man roster. He did not play in the NFL this past season.

The hirings of Carl Smith, Tracy Smith and Shead were first reported Sunday by The Athletic.

Ben Arthur covers the Seattle Seahawks, the Mariners, and other Seattle-area sports for the SeattlePI