Richard Sherman has praised the promotion of Kris Richard to defensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.

Sherman credited Richard with molding a cast of mid- and low-round picks -- Sherman and Kam Chancellor were fifth-rounders, Byron Maxwell and Jeremy Lane were sixth-rounders and Brandon Browner hailed from the CFL -- into the league's most fearsome secondary, nicknamed the Legion of Boom.

"The only first-round guy that anyone ever knew about was Earl (Thomas)," Sherman said. "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."