Hiring a first-time NFL head coach to take over as the figurehead of a multi-billion dollar enterprise?
Such a high-risk craps shoot.
Two years ago, the Seattle Seahawks fired the oldest head coach in the NFL (72-year-old Pete Carroll) and replaced him with the youngest (36-year-old Mike Macdonald).
Macdonald wasn’t just young, he had zero experience – at any level – as a head coach.
General manager John Schneider pointed to Macdonald at his introductory press conference and said: “This is the future, right here, this is where it’s going.”
Really? That’s a lot of faith to place on someone whose highest position had been two years as an NFL defensive coordinator.
Schneider’s most optimistic projections couldn’t have included a scenario in which Macdonald would, so quickly, have the Seahawks heading into the playoffs as the team favored to win the Super Bowl.
It’s not a fluke. Ask the players.
Perhaps the emotional heartbeat of the team, linebacker Ernest Jones IV, assessed Macdonald’s influence in emphatic terms: “We’re here today, as a No. 1 seed, because of Mike. … The community he builds in that locker room. We play for each other; we fight for each other.”
Nobody would have questioned Macdonald’s credentials as a defensive savant, but so much more is required of a head coach. And NFL history is littered with examples of promising coordinators whose talents couldn’t translate into head-coaching success.
Players can sniff out the disingenuous, the pretenders. The head coach has to be able to keep them focused after defeats, keep them hungry amid success, to build and sustain expectations in an environment where 70 players with varied motives have to learn to share common goals.
The Seahawks had never hired a head coach with fewer tangible accomplishments: Macdonald’s predecessors having won Super Bowls, NCAA national titles, NFL divisional titles, or having longtime successful NFL assistantships.
But Macdonald arrived in Schneider’s consciousness like a punch in the gut. On Nov. 5, 2023, the Ravens crushed Seattle 37-3. In the sullen aftermath, Schneider debriefed staff and players on what in the world had just happened to them. It was unanimous, that defense, piloted by Macdonald, had owned the Seahawks like nobody they’d ever seen.
As Schneider was prepping for the job hunt, he came across a bit of hiring philosophy that caused him to elevate his candidate criteria, from finding someone who could come in and be competitive in the marketplace to finding someone who had the capacity to walk in and change the marketplace itself.
As Schneider sought recommendations and interviewed candidates, he became convinced that Macdonald had the kind of intelligence, insight and innovative skills to reshape the power-structure of the NFC West Division.
So, how has Macdonald made such a quick and convincing leap?
First, coaching involves resource management. While Macdonald never played college football, he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in business, with a graduate degree in sports management. Extremely intelligent and analytical.
As for earning the respect of the players, nothing could have offered more in the way of instant legitimacy for Macdonald than comments from his former Ravens players.
Linebacker Patrick Queen: “I don’t think anybody does it like him. Nobody cares like him. Nobody will do what he does. He will not rest until he has everything right. … The guy is all around just the best person I’ve ever been around, coach-wise and person-wise. He truly cares about the players, the people around the organization and the fans.”
Surely, Macdonald knows what the players want most, somebody they could trust to help them win games.
With full staff turnover and heavy roster churn, Macdonald’s Seahawks have gone 24-10 in two seasons, and, more impressively, 20-5 since the middle of his first season.
Macdonald’s strength, from the start, was clear and incisive messaging. Perhaps his most effective message is this: The Standard is the Standard.
The simple reminder has been around the league awhile, and often voiced by Baltimore’s old rival head coach, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin.
Macdonald is most effective when re-enforcing that message by non-verbal means.
Last season, for instance, a defensive slump followed a quick start and left the Hawks at 4-5 and last in the division.
Standards are just rhetoric if not enforced. Macdonald and Schneider waived the starting middle linebacker and brought in a defensive beast, Jones IV. The message was sent to all players, especially defenders, who elevated their unit into the NFL’s top 10 over the last half of the season.
The offensive attack had been spotty, with the rushing game failing in key moments. In the offseason, they rebuilt the staff, particularly the offensive coordinator and line coach.
The standard is the standard.
Penalties have been cut 20 percent this season. Improved clock management has helped the Hawks win games, such as in a dramatic last-minute victory over Indianapolis.
They’ve won high- and low-scoring games. They’ve won by having the defense compensate for sluggish offenses. They’ve won despite losing the turnover battle. And the only three losses have come by a combined nine points.
“It starts with a clear vision, and getting people bought in to go that direction,” Macdonald explained recently. “As coaches, it’s our job to steer the ship and make sure those daily standards come to life.”
Macdonald and the Seahawks return to the playoffs Saturday, hosting rival San Francisco. Having the confidence they can win games in a variety of manners is comforting, especially this time of year, Macdonald said.
“That’s probably the most you can take out of it,” he said. “It’s the message for our team; we’re in our second year of our program and we’re trying to learn how to win, to make that our expectation, make that the standard for our team. It’s been great for our team to realize there are multiple ways to do it.”
Because that’s what the new marketplace demands, and anything less would be substandard for the 2025 Seahawks.