Hired by the Seahawks on March 25, 2015, Curtis joins his fourth NFL team after spending three seasons (2012-14) with the New Orleans Saints as assistant secondary coach.
By the end of the 2018 season, Seattle’s secondary saw three new starters in the backfield in CB Tre Flowers, S Bradley McDougald and S Tedric Thompson, teaming with CB Shaquill Griffin. The secondary began the season with one player recording two interceptions in each of their first three games (McDougald at Denver, Griffin at Chicago, Earl Thomas vs. Dallas), the last time a team had a two-interception player of the first three games of a season was the 1976 Washington Redskins.
In 2017, S Thomas returned from a broken leg suffered in 2016 and was named All-Pro for the fifth time and a Pro Bowler for the sixth time in his career after recording 88 tackles (56 solo) and two interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. With Thomas’ return, the group lost S Kam Chancellor (neck) and CB Richard Sherman (Achilles) for a majority of the season but saw the emergence of rookie CB Griffin, who became a 10-game starter at right corner.
Sherman earned his fourth Pro Bowl nod with a team-leading four interceptions in 2016. He has 32 in his career and ranks fourth in franchise history, tied with Hall of Famer Kenny Easley.
In his first season with Seattle in 2015, the Seahawks secondary boasted three Pro Bowlers in Chancellor, Sherman and Thomas for the third-consecutive season as they helped Seattle rank second in total defense (291.8 ypg) and second in pass defense (210.3 ypg) in the NFL.
In New Orleans, Curtis worked with S Kenny Vaccaro and CB Keenan Lewis. Vaccaro was a PFWA All-Rookie selection as he led the secondary with 93 tackles while Lewis led the team with a career-high four interceptions in 2013.
Curtis was a defensive quality control coach for the N.Y. Giants from 2006-08 and the defensive backs/safeties coach for the St. Louis Rams from 2009-11 before joining the Saints. In 2011, the Rams finished seventh in the NFL in pass defense (206.7 ypg).
Prior to the NFL, he coached defensive ends at Georgia Southern (2004-05) and linebackers at his alma mater, Virginia Military Institute, from 2000-03.
While on the VMI staff, Curtis worked in the N.Y. Jets training camp in 2002, and in 2003, was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a part of the NFL’s Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship.
Curtis was a four-year letterwinner as a linebacker at VMI from 1996-99. He started 31 consecutive games and finished his career with 354 tackles, while earning second-team All-Southern Conference honors in 1998.
Curtis is a native of Beaverdam, Va. and has a bachelor’s degree in economics and business from VMI.
