The Seattle Seahawks are set to officially present Mike Macdonald as their new head coach at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday. Macdonald, the former defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, was chosen by Seattle after a second meeting on Wednesday, following their initial interview in Baltimore the day before. Taking the helm as the ninth head coach in franchise history, Macdonald succeeds Pete Carroll, who led the Seahawks for the past 14 seasons and now continues with the organization in an advisory role.
Mike Macdonald has agreed to a six-year deal with the Seahawks, according to ESPN.
Expressing his excitement, Macdonald, accompanied by his wife Stephanie, shared, “What an honor. We are super excited to be here. Just getting to know [general manager John Schneider] 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 Seattle prepares for the introductory press conference, let’s take a look at Macdonald’s career.
A significant youth movement is taking place in Seattle. In just a matter of weeks, the Seahawks transitioned from having the oldest coach in the NFL, 72-year-old Carroll, to the youngest, 36-year-old Macdonald. Carroll, who won 137 regular-season games, two NFC titles, and a Super Bowl during his tenure in Seattle, was replaced after the Seahawks concluded a 9-8 season that fell short of making the playoffs. Last month, the team officially announced that Carroll would not be returning as the head coach.
The former coach of the New England Patriots and New York Jets is transitioning into an advisory role with the Seattle Seahawks, although the specifics of this role are yet to be defined. General Manager John Schneider mentioned last month that the new coach would be entrusted with advancing the franchise while upholding its existing culture.
“We want to keep our positive culture,” Schneider emphasized. “Everything that’s been created here, everything in this building. There are so many special people in this building. It’s amazing to be on the phone with all of these agents and people that are interested in this position, and to be able to explain to them like, ‘Hey. There’s a foundation here and it’s incredible.'”
Mike Macdonald was a highly sought-after coaching candidate during this hiring cycle. He interviewed with five other teams with coaching vacancies, including the Washington Commanders, Los Angeles Chargers, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, and Tennessee Titans.
In the case of the Seahawks, they initially interviewed a reported nine candidates, conducting second, in-person meetings with several of them. This list included:
1. New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka
2. Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham
3. Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn
4. Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero
5. Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson
