Mike Macdonald took the road less traveled to get to where he wanted to be. Beginning as a high school coach years before he ever graced the NFL with his presence. Yet, just ten seasons removed from when he first experienced the NFL as an intern, he has now been hired as the next head coach for the Seattle Seahawks.
He will have big shoes to fill as Pete Carroll has rebuilt this program from the ground up in his image, and from all reports will still have a voice in the locker room. However this could be best case scenario for all parties involved.
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Let’s Examine How Mike Macdonald Rose so Fast
At 36 years old, you wouldn’t guess that Macdonald has been coaching since 2008. He has been in coaching nearly half his life at this point, and when you consider his playing career, football has been a central focus in this man’s life for over 2 decades.
He jumped into coaching high school for the first time before he ever left college. Beginning at just 21 years old coaching linebackers and running backs for Cedar Shoals High School in Georgia. A native of Georgia he would attend the University of Georgia where he eventually would obtain a Master’s Degree in Sports Management. After two years coaching high school he was able to join Georgia’s staff as a Graduate Assistant in 2010.
This allowed him to continue pursuing his masters degree, while getting coaching experience at a very high-level. Cutting his teeth on the Georgia staff garnered immediate respect for Macdonald early in his career. Serving as an assistant coach with Georgia until the 2013 season came to a close, he was given a shot in the NFL ranks at 26 years old after just four seasons in the college ranks. Having helped coach the safety position and serving as the Defensive Quality Control Coach for the last three years, Macdonald had begun to grow a name for himself.
Players he Personally Tutored
During his time at Georgia he helped coach players like Shawn Williams, Bacarri Rambo, and Damian Swann who all wound up draft picks after college. This helped raise his stock prior to the 2014 season when Macdonald decided to take an intern position with the Baltimore Ravens. This intern spot lasted just one season as in 2015 Macdonald was hired as a defensive assistant by the Ravens.
Just two seasons later he saw another promotion and was once again overseeing defensive backs. Taking over the position for the 2017 season, Macdonald had a solid unit to work with at the time. On the season his unit allowed a 58% completion rate despite being thrown at 569 times.
Under his watch Eric Weddle made the pro bowl in 2017, and his defensive backs combined for 19 interceptions. What was even more impressive is how the defense quickly turned into an offensive unit as soon as they got the ball. They would compile 264 return yards and 2 touchdowns on the season.
With players like Weddle, Tony Jefferson, Marlon Humphrey, Ladarius Webb, and Jimmy Smith as starters the unit was in good hands and helped develop younger players in Anthony Levine and Maurice Canady.
Another year and another great performance by the secondary again allowing only a 58% completion rate, despite seeing even more passing attempts. Seeing 8 more attempts they only allowed 4 more completions actually slightly improving upon 2017.
With virtually the same veterans leading the way in 2018, Brandon Carr was the main difference coming over to contribute at cornerback replacing Webb. This time they only produced 10 interceptions but what they lacked in turnovers they made up for in developing young players with Chuck Clark, Anthony Levine, and Tavon Young all making an impact. Each one collected an interception and all three players played in 15 or more games earning valuable playing time.
In just two seasons Macdonald led his unit to 29 interceptions and 2 pro bowl votes with a case to be made for a few snubs along the way.
Moving to Linebacker Coach
Following the 2018 season, the decision was made to move Mike MacDonald over to linebackers coach for the 2019 season and beyond. The Ravens defense has always been known for their linebackers dating back to their Super Bowl run in 2000 when players like Ray Lewis, Peter Boulware, and more patrolled the second level of their defense.
That trend continued later with names like Cj Mosley, Matt Judon, and others along the way. Under Macdonald the linebacker room upheld this oath to be among the best in the league every year. In 2019, his first season coaching linebackers, the Ravens would go 14-2 and hold opposing teams to 88 rushing yards per game on the year.
The linebackers as a group collected 25.5 sacks despite being forced to start backup linebackers like Lj Fort who later developed into a starter. Judon had a career high in sacks at that point with 9.5 and followed it up with 6 sacks in 2020. He was also tasked with overseeing Patrick Queen’s rookie year. He went on to lead the team in tackles with 106, and managed to make a huge impact.
He added 9 tackles for a loss, 10 QB hits, 1 interception, 2 forced fumbles, 2 recoveries for 53 yards and 1 touchdown. He also managed 2 pass deflections, and 3 sacks. All of this helped Macdonald sell himself to teams as a coordinator candidate without trying.
From One Harbaugh to the Next
After four seasons overseeing the defensive backs and linebackers, Jim Harbaugh, now at Michigan came calling. Looking for a defensive coordinator in 2021 he looked to raid his brother’s staff for a potential candidate while possibly raising the stock of an up and coming coach. Macdonald accepted the promotion and went to work on his unit.
During his only season at Michigan, he oversaw a defense that held future NFL talents like Aiden Hutchinson, David Ojabo, Josh Ross, and Brad Hawkins. Hutchinson and Ojabo combined for 25 sacks on the season going on to become first and second round picks respectively. Ojabo actually ended up drafted by his former defensive coordinator’s new team in Baltimore after an injury prematurely ended his rookie season and hampered his draft stock.
At the same time, the Ravens were becoming disenchanted with their defensive coordinator, Wink Martindale. This ultimately led to a reunion between John Harbaugh, the Ravens and Mike Macdonald, this time as the defensive coordinator. This one season at the collegiate level had been enough to show multiple NFL teams that Macdonald had a future in the NFL as a defensive play caller. The Ravens opted to jump before any other team did to get their guy.
Two is Macdonald’s Lucky Number
Over the next two seasons, MacDonald continued to improve upon the defensive prowess for the Baltimore Ravens. In 2021 the Ravens showed some cracks in their vaunted defense against quality opponents when they lost to the Raiders in week one, nearly lost to the Chiefs in week two, allowed 25 points up the Colts in five, and losing to the Bengals in embarrassing fashion, then returning from the bye week only to allow 31 points to Minnesota, followed by a loss to Miami.
This team needed a change and it looked like it was on the defensive side of the ball. As is always the case when things aren’t going well the play callers, in particular Wink Marrindale were taking heat for several decisions along the way. The Ravens limped to an 8-9 record allowing 40 or more points twice, 30 or more six total times, and 20 or more 11 out of 17 games.
To put this into perspective in Macdonald’s first season with virtually the same roster, the Ravens allowed just one team to score more than 27 points all year long. That was to the Miami Dolphins who scored 42 points. That was it. They also only allowed 20 or more points just nine times in 18 games. Quite the improvement in one season. The Ravens finished 10-7 on the year.
In just his second season in this role his team was among the best in the AFC on both sides of the ball, and made a deep playoff run. During this run they didn’t allow a single team to top 40 points, but they saw two score over 30. However overall they only allowed 20 points or more in six games.
They ultimately met the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game where they lost, but after only giving up 17 points to the Chiefs. In total Macdonald’s defense allowed a total of 27 points in two games, capping a streak of six games allowing 19 or less points. This included that Dolphins offense that had been the only unit to top 40 points under Macdonald’s watch. His defense produced 31 turnovers on the season which included a five interception game against Brock Purdue and the San Francisco 49ers. Purdy threw 4 interceptions himself matching his total over all of 2022. Prior to that he had never thrown more than 2 interceptions in a game in the NFL.
Qualified to be an NFL Head Coach?
While his résumé is impressive as a coordinator and position coach We must remind ourselves that he has never been a head coach at any level even in high school. It’s one thing to be a successful position coach, and or play caller, but managing an entire team: offense, defense and special teams is a whole new level for Mike Macdonald.
That’s where keeping a veteran voice like Pete Carroll who was a head coach at the college or NFL level for 27 years makes sense.This seems all too similar to the succession plan they had in place with Mike Holmgren when he moved out of coaching into the front office and the Seahawks hired Jim Mora Jr. it didn’t end well that time, but this time is different. It wasn’t Carroll who hand-picked his replacement, and Macdonald is from a completely different coaching tree as well.
This will bring a new energy, and I would imagine there will not be any internal pressure to retain the coaching staff or schemes that had been assembled by Carroll. That was not the case in 2009 when Mora took over. The coordinators may have changed but for the most part the schemes remained similar. I don’t expect that to be the case in 2024. Especially on defense.
If you wanted a great breakdown on why the Seahawks chose to hire a defensive mind after having Carroll as their Head Coach for 14 years check out this amazing break down on the 2023 defense regarding the total cost of the unit and what they brought to the table in 2023.
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