The Seattle Seahawks are hiring Baltimore Ravens now-former defensive coordinator Zach Orr to be their inside linebackers coach.
Orr is a top-level Mike Macdonald disciple. He spent a total of nine years under his guidance in Baltimore as an All-Pro player, defensive analyst and position coach.
Orr was promoted to take the Ravens’ DC opening in 2024 after Mike Macdonald became the Seahawks head coach. They both joined, left, and returned to the Ravens in the same exact years before Macdonald’s head coaching opportunity came. Not only were they eager to continue their shared history after Jesse Minter took over the Ravens defense last month, but Orr turned down an interview for a superior role with the Las Vegas Raiders to make the reunion possible.
The Ravens originally signed Orr as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He became a Second-team All-Pro as a player in 2016, just his third year- but was forced to retire that same off-season due to a congenital spinal condition. He immediately joined the Ravens as a defensive analyst, where he remained for four seasons from the 2017 through 2020. He took the Jacksonville Jaguars outside linebackers coaching job in 2021, but moved back to coach inside linebackers with the Ravens in 2022 and 2023. He then spent the last two years as their DC after Macdonald left.
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Macdonald joined the Ravens the same year Orr did as a coaching intern, quickly being promoted to a defensive assistant and then defensive backs coach. He moved to linebackers coach for three years from 2018 to 2020, spent 2021 as Michigan’s DC, then moved back to the Ravens for 2022-23.
While inside linebackers coaches don’t typically get much recognition- just ask Seahawks fans if they can name the last one who helped them win the Super Bowl- Orr is as familiar with Macdonald’s culture as can be. That alone made him a clear choice to be Seattle’s first outside hire of 2026.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks former Ravens coach Zach Orr as inside linebackers coach