Leslie Frazier ‘a critical part’ of Seattle Seahawks’ run to Super Bowl LX

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Buffalo Bills players weren’t feeling a part of a game plan back in 2017, and veteran linebacker Lorenzo Alexander drew the short straw to inform new defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

Most high-ranking NFL assistant coaches are about as welcoming of players questioning strategy as they would be of head coaches regularly looking over their shoulders. By even initiating a conversation, Alexander had reason to be hesitant.

To Alexander’s surprise, however, Frazier was not only receptive to his input, but he also engaged the team leader about what might work better. That day, Alexander learned what many throughout the NFL already knew: accountability, communication, and honesty in developing men – that’s what Frazier stands on.

To say the least, Alexander left the encounter pleased.

“Trust me, a lot of coaches in that situation — if a player came to them and said that the guys just don’t have any confidence in a particular play call that he came up with — would be like, ‘Nah. I’m not changing anything. We’re doing it my way.’ That’s just the ego involved in it all. But he’s not that way,” said Alexander, who played 13 years in the NFL.

“He just wants the best outcome, and to put his players in the best position to succeed. What I learned from that experience, and from everything he showed me when I played for him, is that he’s focused on developing men to be at their best – in everything. It’s easy to understand why any team trying to build a winning culture would want him on their staff.”

After stints with several NFL teams, Frazier eventually joined the Seattle Seahawks as an assistant head coach, bringing decades of experience to a young coaching staff.

The Seahawks couldn’t be happier he did.

On Sunday, Frazier will try to help the NFC champion Seahawks defeat the AFC champion New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium. Frazier has been busy this week during practice on the campus of San Jose State University, continuing his work that has helped the team reach the final game of the NFL season.

Frazier has been instrumental in Seattle’s fast, impressive turnaround (it missed the playoffs the previous two seasons). He provides sage counsel for second-year head coach Mike Macdonald, Frazier’s onetime mentee who’s in his first head coaching position.

Macdonald leans on his most-experienced lieutenant while handling myriad issues that confront coaches entrusted to lead multi-billion-dollar franchises – scheduling, media obligations, player discipline, and much more – capitalizing on Frazier’s 31 years in the NFL, including 26 as a coach, and his steadying hand.

Having seen it all, Frazier – head coach of the Minnesota Vikings for three seasons and a defensive coordinator for four franchises – offers his unvarnished opinions to Macdonald, who acknowledges that his consigliere provides winning advice.

The Macdonald-Frazier partnership is at the core of Seattle’s bedrock-solid foundation, helping the team’s young coaches and players grow and thrive. Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon calls it one of the best football relationships he has ever observed.

A former Seahawks signal-caller who also spent 14 seasons with the team as a radio analyst, Moon has deep ties to the franchise. Frazier couldn’t be better suited for his role, Moon said, and Macdonald has utilized him perfectly.

“Leslie is doing a great job. I’ve really been impressed with him,” said Moon, the only Black quarterback enshrined in the Hall of Fame. “Most of the things he does, which are so important, are things that aren’t seen by the public. It’s all about building the connectivity within the team. It’s such a long season, and there are so many things that can get in the way of winning. There’s so much that goes into everything working together, and working together every day and every week, to build a winning team.

“I’m talking about keeping the coaching staff solid with what the coaches need. I’m talking about keeping the locker room solid with what the players need. Then, keeping the relationships between the coaches and the players good. You’re talking about a lot of grown men and a lot of moving parts. Leslie is so great with communicating with everyone and keeping that connectivity strong. They’re such a connected group. You can see it in the way they coach and the way they play. Leslie has a lot to do with that – and Mike encourages him to do it.”

The analog recording’s picture isn’t sharp. By today’s digital standards, its audio isn’t crisp. Just another reminder that time is undefeated.

But if one looks closely, No. 21 of the 1985 Chicago Bears is clearly visible in the team’s iconic music video, The Super Bowl Shuffle. A starting cornerback on the dominant Bears’ team that terrorized the Patriots during their 46-10 rout in Super Bowl XX, Frazier steps to the beat as teammates lip sync rapping and mime playing musical instruments.

Macdonald never lets him forget it.

Hired in 2016 to work under Frazier, then the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary coach, Macdonald was a fresh-faced quality-control assistant. Quickly, Frazier realized that Macdonald was both whip-smart and eager. Steadily, Frazier increased Macdonald’s responsibilities.

“He understood defense and he worked his tail off,” Frazier said. “He did all the little things that you had to do in that role, and he never complained, no matter what I asked him to do. No task was too big or small. I felt like this guy, if he got his opportunity, would be a really good head coach one day.”

Frazier didn’t even mind when his gifted, young apprentice playfully jabbed at him about his dance moves in the video.

“Uh, yeah, that’s not a highlight of my career,” Frazier said, punctuating his comment with a wide smile and a hearty laugh. “But winning that Super Bowl in Chicago was special.”

The fact that Frazier rose to be a starter on one of greatest defenses in NFL history is a testament to his work ethic, which he continues to display at 66 years young.

Undrafted out of HBCU Alcorn State, Frazier played five seasons with the Bears and had 20 interceptions. He suffered a major knee injury in the Super Bowl and never played another snap, starting him along his longest path in the league.

That journey began earlier than most realize.

In 1988, Trinity College (now Trinity International University) in Deerfield, Illinois, located about 25 miles north of downtown Chicago, hired Frazier. Then only 29, Frazier was tasked with building a football program from scratch.

He did it – well.

As the team’s head coach for nine seasons, Frazier won two conference championships and qualified for the NAIA playoffs. In recognition of his achievements, the school’s football field is named Leslie Frazier Field.

From Trinity, Frazier had a two-year stint coaching defensive backs at the University of Illinois. He then began an unbroken run of coaching in the NFL from 1999 until 2022, earning a second Super Bowl ring as a coach.

Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy hired Frazier as a defensive assistant to work with the team’s young defensive backs. Frazier, a special assistant to the head coach, was an integral member of the staff when the Colts defeated the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

At each coaching stop, Frazier made a lasting impact on those under him.

Former Minnesota defensive tackle Kevin Williams can relate to the experience Alexander had with Frazier in Buffalo.

A dominant run-stopper during his playing days, Williams appreciated that the Vikings never had to guess where they stood with Frazier.

“When you know what you’re gonna get every day from the guy in charge, it’s easy to play your best,” said Williams, a six-time Pro Bowler and five-time first-team All-Pro. “Now, he’s gonna get on you. He’s gonna stay after you. But there won’t be any surprises.

“The main thing is he treats you like a man. He tells you exactly what he expects of you. If you don’t do what he expects of you, he’ll talk to you about that. And if you still don’t do it, he’ll explain why he’s putting someone else in. You can’t ask for more than that.”

After working for so many teams and guiding so many coaches and players for so long, including serving as Buffalo’s defensive coordinator for six seasons, Frazier needed a breather. The Bills had failed yet again in the postseason, and Frazier – despite having job offers from several teams – took the 2023 season off.

He describes it as a sabbatical. As things turned out, his break lasted only one year.

To get Frazier’s head back in the game, all it took was a call from Macdonald.

The chance to work again alongside his protégé – who, at 36, became the league’s youngest head coach at the time of his hiring – and to break new ground was an offer too good to pass up. No longer responsible for running an entire team or one side of the ball, Frazier could move around and assist wherever and whenever needed.

Make no mistake, Macdonald wasn’t seeking anyone for the role. He wanted Frazier. And luring Frazier out of semi-retirement is among Macdonald’s many spectacular decisions since he took command of the Seahawks.

No one needs to tell Macdonald.

“He’s a critical part of what we’ve been able to build,” Macdonald said. “He is a great resource for me. He is a great resource for a lot of our coaches, a lot of our players. He’s just a great human being, a great football coach and a great leader. We wouldn’t be sitting here if he wasn’t here.”

The Seahawks are in the Super Bowl partly because Frazier is performing as well in his role as Macdonald envisioned. It’s as if Frazier has been preparing for it his entire career.

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