Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has given new defensive coordinator Kris Richard a large part of the credit for building the formidable secondary of the 'Legion of Boom'.

The Seahawks have boasted the best defense in the NFL for the past three seasons, which has largely been based around their secondary coached by Richard as he helped guide late-round Draft picks such as Sherman, Kam Chancellor and Byron Maxwell into players of the highest quality.

"The only first-round guy that anyone ever knew about was Earl [Thomas]," Sherman told ESPN. "Now everyone is like, 'Oh you guys have this big-time secondary.' Where were you guys at in 2011 when no one knew us from nobody.

"I think [Richard's] growth with us through that process to where we are now is the reason we respect him so much.

"He kind of built the giant that we are now with discipline, attention to detail, always being on it and always keeping us humble and down to earth, especially in the meeting room and making sure we understand our strengths, our weaknesses, what we do well and what we don't do well."

Richard was announced as Dan Quinn's replacement as the club's defensive coordinator after the 44-year-old left to become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.