Louis Riddick meant it as a compliment. The longtime NFL scout-turned-talking-head was discussing the Seattle Seahawks’ prospects this season on a recent edition of ESPN’s First Take.
He wondered out loud how effective new offensive coordinator Brian Fleury would be, considering he has never called plays before. But he immediately concluded that Coach Mike Macdonald has pushed all the right buttons since arriving in Seattle. Nothing to worry about.
That is certainly high praise. The problem is that it isn’t exactly true. And it misses one of Macdonald’s greatest gifts as a coach.
Seattle Seahawks' Mike Macdonald’s greatest strength isn’t immediately obvious
When he was first hired in January of 2021, Macdonald was a bit of a mystery. Not a surprise, mind you. His name was near the top of plenty of lists. We would later find out that the Washington Commanders were desperate to hire him to replace Ron Rivera but were outmaneuvered by John Schneider. Macdonald was the type of young, innovative coordinator that every NFL team craves.
But there was a pretty big question mark regarding Macdonald. He had never been a head coach at any level. How would he do when every decision eventually fell onto his shoulders?
As it turns out, he would do just fine. But not because, as Riddick said, he pushed all the right buttons. In a way, it was the exact opposite quality that has made him so successful so quickly.
Macdonald’s first major task was assembling a staff. He turned over virtually every assistant that had served under Pete Carroll. He hit home runs with a lot of the hires. But he made a major mistake on his single most important coaching decision that first year.
Because Macdonald had a background coaching defenses, he would need a very good offensive coordinator to handle that side of the ball. The man he chose, Ryan Grubb, had twenty years of college coaching on his resume but had never coached in the NFL.
He seemed overmatched during his first season in the pro game. Though Macdonald had indicated he wanted a balanced attack that leaned heavily on the running game, Seattle finished the year with the fourth-fewest rushing attempts in the league. Geno Smith had the fourth most passing attempts.
Here’s where Macdonald’s greatness became evident. He fired Grubb as soon as the season ended and brought in an experienced NFL play-caller in Klint Kubiak. He did not try to salvage the mistake. He recognized it and learned from it.
That tendency was already apparent during his first season as coach. After getting off to a 3-0 start, the Seahawks then lost five of their next six games. Macdonald’s career was in danger of ending before it even began.
Over the bye week, he rethought everything. He essentially tore his entire coaching practice down to the studs and rebuilt it. The result? 6-2 after the bye. 14-3 and the Super the following year.
Shortly after Macdonald was hired, John Schneider signed two linebackers in free agency. Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker were presumably brought in with the new head coach’s blessing. But Macdonald determined rather quickly that neither player was an ideal fit for his defense.
Both were gone by mid-November. Dodson was simply released. Baker was traded for Ernest Jones IV. Macdonald moved rookie Tyrice Knight into the starting lineup. With Knight and Jones as his new linebackers, Macdonald began transforming the Seahawks’ defense.
The following year, when injuries slowed Knight, he moved former special -teamer Drake Thomas into a starting role. He had done something similar with the unheralded Josh Jobe the year before. And we all know the result.
Being a genius and pushing all the right buttons is great. It’s also a myth. Legendary coaches like Joe Gibbs, Bill Belichick, and now Sean McVay weren’t champions because they were smarter than everyone else. They won because they worked their butts off and because they weren’t afraid to confront mistakes with decisive action, even if it might not be popular or bear immediate fruit.
Mike Macdonald, in two short years, has demonstrated those qualities and more. So, no, he is not going to press the right button every time. But Seattle fans can be assured that if he makes a mistake, he will identify it quickly and correct it with conviction. That is what makes him one of the best coaches in the NFL.
Add us as a preferred source on Google