Seahawks' Mike Macdonald happily fails in comparison to one former coach

New Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is officially 0-0. The 36-year-old coach has never been the sole leader of a football team before. Prior to 2024, the best he had done was being a defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens and Michigan Wolverines.

One should expect Macdonald to make some first-year mistakes. Every new coach does. Even if Macdonald had coached for 30 years in the NFL, mistakes are going to be made. The new Seattle head coach does seem to have a good understanding of one important aspect: He knows that players want to go all-in on their belief in - and respect for - their coach.

Last week, the Seahawks were supposed to have three days of mandatory minicamp. Macdonald decided the team had worked hard enough and showed enough potential to give the players a break. Instead of a third day of practice and showing up to the VMAC for meetings, the coach let the team get an early start on summer vacation. The next time the team will come together will be at training camp.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald already has a leg up on Urban Meyer

This means that even if Macdonald never wins a game as head coach for Seattle - don't worry; he will probably win a lot of games and many important ones - he will never stoop as low on a recent ranking of worst head coaching hires in league history. The low mark for that goes to Urban Meyer who spent part of one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to Pro Football Network.

In 2021, Meyer, a lifelong college coach, was hired by the Jags. He lasted 13 games, of which he won two. His win-loss record was not his main issue, though. In his short time with Jacksonville, the head coach hired an assistant coach who had previously been accused of racial discrimination, and worse, Meyer literally kicked a kicker in the leg. He was fired hours after the accusation of assaulting the player.

Macdonald, on the other hand, has already shown he is aware it's probably best not to be a jerk to one's players. He is still firmly in charge of the on-field product of the Seahawks, and what he says will be the way things will go. But he also understands mutual respect is a good thing. Now he just needs to win a lot of football games.

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