4 Seattle Seahawks who need to silence their doubters in 2024
By Lee Vowell
This has not been an offseason where the Seattle Seahawks are getting a lot of love. Teams moving on from long-term coaches normally do not get improved chances of winning the following season. Seattle, though, should be different.
The head coach that was brought in should immediately fix some concerns about the team's defensive woes of the last several years. This includes being better on third down and getting a more consistent pass rush. The Seahawks offense should be better under the direction of Ryan Grubb as well.
Still, Seattle will have its skeptics. Of course, the way to eliminate uncertainty is to win games. The following members of the franchise might have the greatest number of doubters, though.
Mike Macdonald - Seattle Seahawks head coach
A first-time head coach taking over a roster in transition? Seattle is going to be worse in 2024, surely. That, at least, is what many national pundits expect. Since Macdonald has never been the guy in charge of the on-field product of a football team, he is probably going to make some key mistakes that hold his team back. That is seemingly the thinking of ESPN and others.
Maybe Macdonald will make mistakes, but every coach does. The difference between Macdonald and former head coach Pete Carroll should be that Macdonald brings a completely different perspective on how a defense should be run. Macdonald has also had a lot more recent success in defensive productivity than Carroll. Sure, Carroll was not the defensive coordinator with Seattle, but he was a defensive-minded head coach who should have been able to fix defensive struggles.
National pundits likely will not take long to be heavily critical of Macdonald and the Seahawks organization should Seattle start slowly and look sloppy. Pete Carroll was a big draw for many people because of his personality. His positivity somehow ended up being divisive. The easiest way for Macdonald to change the narrative is to win at the beginning of the season and have the team look cohesive.