Seattle Seahawks make absolutely perfect hire with Mike Macdonald

After three weeks of a coaching search, 12s finally know who will be leading the team beginning in 2024. According to multiple reports, the Seattle Seahawks have hired former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald to be the team's new head coach. While it will be odd to see someone else on the sidelines leading the team other than Pete Carroll, Macdonald is the perfect candidate to replace Carroll.

The move is also a great one for Macdonald. He has never been an NFL head coach before and he will not be tasked with having to be in charge of the roster right away either. General manager John Schneider will have those duties. Macdonald will simply be allowed to focus on coaching, helping Schneider build a coaching staff, and simply making the Seahawks a better team.

Macdonald coached for the Ravens from 2014 through 2020 as an assistant and then left to lead the University of Michigan defense for one year. He then returned to the Ravens in 2022 to be the defensive coordinator. While with the Ravens and the Wolverines, Macdonald would have learned under a Harbaugh, John in Baltimore and Jim at Michigan.

Seattle Seahawks find Pete Carroll's replacement with Mike Macdonald

I point this out because both Harbaughs have been extremely successful at the NFL level and, therefore, both know how to create successful defenses in the league. Macdonald's Seahawks have quite a bit of talent on defense, especially young talent in edge rusher Boye Mafe and cornerback Devon Witherspoon, and the unit simply needed better leadership.

Macdonald will be the head coach, but there is no doubt the defense will be run to his excellent specifications and he will likely hire a defensive coordinator who understands what he needs from his defense. Seattle's offense has been good enough to win the last few years, but the defense has been the main problem.

An improved Seahawks defense, which absolutely should be expected in 2024 and beyond under Macdonald, should be good enough to get the Seahawks back into the playoffs next year. Macdonald also knows how to coach against Kyle Shanahan's San Francisco 49ers and Sean McVay's Los Angeles Rams. Baltimore beat both the Rams and 49ers this season and the Ravens defense was dominant.

Mike Macdonald is extremely intelligent, if not nearly as effervescent as Pete Carroll. Most importantly, though, he knows how to adjust to what offenses are trying to do. While the Ravens lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game, for instance, Baltimore gave up zero points in the second half of the game.

Mike Macdonald is going to make Seattle's defense better and that means making the team overall better. Boye Mafe might turn into the kind of edge rusher who gets 15 sacks under Macdonald. Now the question is who Macdonald and Schneider will hire to lead the offense.

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