Recent Seahawks free agent signing reveals how special Mike Macdonald might be

There are some teenagers who are Seattle Seahawks fans who have never experienced a life without Pete Carroll roaming the sidelines for their favorite NFL team. That means, of course, that Carroll was highly successful for more than a decade in Seattle and that level is going to be difficult to attain for any new head coach. But that will be Mike Macdonald's job, of course. Instead of winning lots of games, Macdonald needs to win Super Bowls.

That is the only way he will exceed Carroll in franchise history. Carroll led the 2013 team to the franchise's only championship. Seattle could have gone back-to-back except for not giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch. Such is the slim margin that Macdonald will be held to during his tenure. One play kept Carroll from truly being immortal. It will take many special seasons for Macdonald to surpass that.

The hope is that he can, of course. Otherwise, why move on from Carroll? If slightly better than mediocre is the level general manager John Schneider and team chairperson Jody Allen expect, the team should have held on to Carroll. But that is not the expectation so Macdonald needs to be good fast.

Pharaoh Brown praises new Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald in how he assembled his staff

This offseason the Seahawks signed free agent tight end Pharaoh Brown. Brown has been in the league for seven seasons already and played in six of them. Seattle will be his fifth different organization. Since he has bounced around quite a bit, he has a unique perspective on how different coaching staffs operate. According to what Brown said on the NFL Network, Mike Macdonald is different and that is a good thing.

Brown raved about Macdonald's "amazing energy" and how the entire coaching staff seems to share the same kind of outlook. But what truly separates Macdonald from other coaches Brown has been around is that he wants input from different sources. Brown said many coaches simply hire others who are "loyal" and that the coach is "comfortable with." Macdonald instead reached out to coaches he thought would be the best at their positions, not who he thought might be most loyal to him.

This means each position group for Seattle should have coaches who know what they are doing, not simply what the head coach wants them to do. That should lead to better direction and better communication. In turn, the on-field product should be more streamlined, efficient, and more productive.

It says a lot about Macdonald at 36 years old that he showed no fear in going after coaches he thought would make his team better. Seattle players should carry that same kind of fearlessness into the 2024 season. That hopefully means a playoff trip for the Seahawks this coming season.

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