Will 'Mad Scientist' Mike Macdonald Return To Ravens Next Season?
Heading into this coaching cycle, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald appeared poised to fill one of the vacancies after orchestrating one of the best defenses in football.
With only two job openings left, Macdonald has gone from seemingly being in his final days as the Ravens coordinator to more than likely returning next season.
Mike Macdonald
© Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders are the final two teams still looking for a head coach. All signs point toward Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Houston Texans OC Bobby Slowik being the favorites for the Washington gig. Seattle's search has taken a while, and no clear-cut favorite has emerged yet. That could mean the coach Seattle is interested in is still coaching in the playoffs, or it's in no rush to find the guy to replace Pete Carroll.
Regardless, barring Seattle's lengthy search being because it's waiting for Macdonald, there's a strong chance he'll be back as the Ravens' defensive coordinator next season.
Under Macdonald, Baltimore allowed the fewest points per game (16.5), had the most sacks (60) and was tied for first in turnovers (31) with the New York Giants. Macdonald has also helped lead multiple players to career years in his second season as the defensive play caller.
Among those players are second-year safety Kyle Hamilton. Hamilton made the first-team All-Pro with 81 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 13 passes defended, four interceptions and three sacks, all of which were career-bests for the former first-round pick.
"I like the duality of it," Hamilton said of Macdonald's scheme. "First off, we have guys upfront who allow us to do a bunch of stuff on the backend, in terms of doing their job correctly. Moving around, everybody doing different things, it doesn't make us one-dimensional. We have a bunch of guys who can do a lot of different stuff, and it makes it hard on the offense not to know who is doing what on each snap."
Linebacker Roquan Smith, who was also a first-team All-Pro, thrived in his first full season with the Ravens, as he had 158 tackles, five tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, eight passes defended and an interception. He praised Macdonald's ability to let his players be themselves and put them in a position to succeed.
"Mike Macdonald allows us to just be ourselves at the end of the day," Smith said. "He gives us such a unique plan [to] dissect offenses like it's no other, like he's a mad scientist in a sense, and then [he] gives it to us in a way that we understand it."
Linebacker Patrick Queen and defensive tackle Justin Maubuike, who led the team with 13 sacks, made the second-team All-Pro.
Macdonald's work is worthy of becoming a head coach, though he may have to wait one more year. With a huge hurdle in the way in the form of having to stop Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, another lights-out performance from Macdonald's defense could be what lands him the Seattle job or makes him a shoo-in to earn a head coaching gig next season.
The Ravens face the Chiefs on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium at 3 p.m. ET.
