Mike Macdonald’s success calling defensive plays in Baltimore helped him become the Seahawks’ head coach and he’s not planning to give those duties to someone else in Seattle.
In a Thursday press conference introducing Macdonald, Seahawks General Manager John Schneider made several references to how impressed he was by Macdonald’s work in the Ravens’ 37-3 win over the Seahawks during the 2023 season and that game was indicative of the whole Ravens season. They allowed the fewest points in the league and Macdonald used that as a springboard into the job as Pete Carroll’s successor in Seattle.
Macdonald said that he will continue calling defensive plays despite his bump up the ladder, although he left the door open to a different approach at some point down the line.
“Right now the plan is I’ll be calling the plays,” Macdonald said. “Depending on who the defensive coordinatror is and when that becomes — Ultimately I’m the head coach of the football team so I want to coach the football team. Right now, the best way that we can win, in my opinion, is for me to call the plays. When it become obvious that someone else is ready to go and we see it the same way, then we’ll make that change.”
The Seahawks don’t have an offensive coordinator either and that hire will play a significant role in Macdonald’s chances of succeeding in his first season with his new team.