Mike Macdonald's Baltimore Ravens way is clearly the new Seattle Seahawks way

Some young 12s have never known a life without the Seattle Seahawks being coached by Pete Carroll. Carroll was in charge of Seattle's final roster decisions for 14 years. John Schneider has been the general manager since 2010, the same year Carroll joined the team, but Schneider always had to answer to Carroll prior to 2024 when it came to signing a free agent or choosing a draft pick. No more.

Schneider is in full control of the team. This is why when new head coach Mike Macdonald decided to make a few changes at the VNAC lately by removing some photos of Carroll's glory days, 12s can be sure that Macdonald did not make the moves without Schneider's permission. Plus, why hire a new coach if the coach is going to be kept from making any decision he might see as helping reset the culture?

To be sure, however, there should be little doubt that while Schneider puts the team together, the on-field product completely belongs to Macdonald. Schneider, for instance, won't run practices; Macdonald will. Which spots players will be put in and what scheme Seattle will use offensively and defensively will also be Macdonald's decisions.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is bringing a heavy dose of the Ravens to 12s

That means that a lot of what 12s see will not be something they are used to. Seahawks fans knew what to expect for most of 14 years under Carroll. The practices would be loose and player involvement would be heavy. Former players would visit and help direct position groups voluntarily. For the most part, that is gone.

That includes what Seattle players wear during practice. Under Carroll, players wore practice gear. Under Macdonald, players will wear their game jerseys. This is exactly what Macdonald's former team, the Baltimore Ravens did. In other words, Seattle might look a lot more like John Harbaugh in the future than Pete Carroll.

No offense to Carroll who is clearly the best coach in Seattle football history, but the Seahawks had reached a point of mediocrity. The team is coming off back-to-back 9-8 seasons but had missed the playoffs in two of the last three years. Some issues, such as poor linebacker coverage, seemingly could not be fixed under Carroll but should not be a concern under Macdonald. Instead of sinking further into not being horrible but incapable of being great, Seattle needed to make a change.

This is partly why they chose Mike Macdonald who learned for several years under one Harbaugh or another (Macdonald was the defensive coordinator for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan in 2021). John Harbaugh hopefully passed on to Macdonald how to be successful long term and not let a down year or two change things too much. Harbaugh began his time as head coach of the Ravens by winning double-digit games in four of his first five seasons (2008 through 2012).

In five of the last six seasons the Ravens have won double-digit games and made the playoffs in all the seasons they did that. In Harbaugh's first year with Baltimore, he went 11-5. Macdonald could go 11-6 in year one with Seattle by passing on his Harbaugh tendencies to his new team, including an aggressive mentality both offensively and defensively. The Seahawks have been too laid-back the last few years and that will change under Mike Macdonald.

12s can thank John Harbaugh and the Baltimore Ravens for that. Now Macdonald just needs to make sure Ryan Grubb can make the jump from offensive coordinator in college to the NFL.

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