Getty Images

Earlier this month, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman lobbied for Seattle defensive backs coach Kris Richard to receive a promotion.

“He took kind of a ragtag bunch of DBs in 2011 and made them perennial All-Pros and Pro Bowlers, and you don’t hear his name being mentioned as much for D-coordinator jobs and things like that,” Sherman said. “Which I think it should be. We obviously know what kind of coach he is and what he’s done. But obviously everybody else doesn’t.”

People are starting to figure out it. Per a league source, Richard currently is expected to become a defensive coordinator after the Super Bowl — either by joining Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta or by taking Quinn’s position after he becomes head coach of the Falcons.

Richard came to the Seahawks with coach Pete Carroll in 2010, after spending two years as an assistant at USC. As a player, Richard was a third-round pick of the Seahawks in 2002. The connections to Seattle and to Carroll may nudge Richard to remain in Seattle, if he receives the opportunity to replace Quinn.