Get To Know Mike Macdonald: The Newly Appointed Seahawks HC

According to sources who spoke with ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks have signed defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald of the Baltimore Ravens to a six-year contract, making him their next head coach.

After leading the Ravens to the top of the league in points allowed, sacks, and takeaways in 2023— his second season as Baltimore’s defensive coordinator— Macdonald, 36, becomes the youngest head coach in the NFL and carries a reputation as one of the best defensive minds to Seattle.

Pete Carroll, 72, will not serve as the Seahawks’ coach in 2024, as the team confirmed earlier this month. Macdonald will take over for Carroll. Carroll is still an advisor with the Seahawks.

The former defensive coordinator for Baltimore is only thirty-six, younger than most of his peers. Nonetheless, he has established himself as one of the finest young brains of his generation on that side of the ball and is a seasoned player in the football world. That has a number of teams, including the Seahawks, snooping about in an attempt to locate a new coach to cover huge gaps in their ranks.

One of the most exciting young coaches in the NFL right now is Macdonald, but how did the Harbaugh protégé get to where he is?

Who is Mike Macdonald?

Following a brief stint at Michigan, Macdonald was hired by the Ravens as their defensive coordinator in 2022, taking Wink Martindale’s spot.

Macdonald seemed like a simple choice. After all, he oversaw the defense that was unquestionably the best in the NFL in 2023 and has been probably the best for the last two seasons.

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Baltimore became the first team in NFL history to allow the fewest scores (16.5 per game), accumulate the most sacks (60), and record the most takeaways (31) all in the same season.

In which college did Mike Macdonald attend?

Macdonald, a native of Roswell, Georgia, attended at the University of Georgia and earned a finance degree with honors.

Macdonald has experience playing football, just like a lot of football brains. At Centennial High School, he played football, albeit his senior season was cut short due to a string of injuries.

Nonetheless, Macdonald had a deep passion for football. During his stay in Athens, he made the decision to become a coach. He began by mentoring the Cedar Shoals high school squad before joining Mark Richt’s staff as a graduate assistant.

Mike Macdonald coaching history

“What an honor,” Macdonald said after he and his wife, Stephanie, were greeted by team employees upon their arrival at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “We are super excited to be here. Just getting to know John and the rest of the folks, the reputation of this place, what drew us here was the people. That’s why we’re here, to bring a championship back to Seattle and the 12s.

“We’re going to have a lot of fun, we’re going to work our tails off, and it’s going to be an incredible ride. We’re going to be here for a long time, and we’re going to win a lot of football games.”

As the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens for the last two seasons, Macdonald has assembled one of the greatest defenses in the NFL. At thirty-six, he becomes the league’s youngest head coach.

Quickly moving up the coaching ladder, Macdonald was appointed Georgia’s safeties and defensive quality control coach in 2011 after serving as a graduate assistant.

Macdonald joins John Harbaugh’s staff in Baltimore following four seasons in Athens. In 2014, Macdonald was brought in as an intern and worked his way throughout Charm City’s first job. Macdonald held the positions of linebackers coach, defensive assistant, and defensive backs coach for a total of seven years. He managed the growth of athletes including Matthew Judon, Marlon Humphrey, and Marcus Peters, among others.

Macdonald swapped Ravens purple for maize-and-blue, joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff at Michigan as the program’s defensive coordinator in 2021.

After spending barely a year up north, Macdonald returned to his old haunts in Baltimore, this time in the role of defensive coordinator, proving that “distance makes the heart grow fonder.” Looking back, that was an astute rehiring.

In 2023, the Ravens’ defense was deemed the best in the NFL. Against Baltimore’s terrifying defense, quarterback completion percentage fell to 60.6%, which is the fifth-lowest in the NFL.

“Mike is going to do a really good job,” Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy told reporters on Monday. “If he gets a head-coaching job, he’s going to be really, really good. Very solid coach, very good at Xs and Os, very good at communicating and getting the team galvanized in the right direction for the main goal – and he loves football. I think that it’s awesome for him to get looked at as a head coach at such a young age…I expect big things out of him.”

By implementing an improved system and generating greater production out of his players than Seattle’s prior defensive coordinators, Macdonald can assist here. Over the last two seasons, it has been a subpar unit, especially against the run.

In addition, the Seahawks’ defense as a whole underperformed in 2023 despite an offseason redesign of their front seven and the signings of safety Julian Love and cornerback Devon Witherspoon. In 2022, the defense was undermanned up front.

Not only that, but the Seahawks should be thrilled about what Macdonald can do with Witherspoon, a versatile cornerback who reached the Pro Bowl following a stellar rookie year, even if he doesn’t bring multiple guys from Baltimore’s defense to Seattle.

 

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