Seahawks Coaching Staff Under Mike Macdonald Could Carry Built-In Advantage
Tasked with hiring his first head coach after 14 seasons working in tandem with Pete Carroll, Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider entered the process last month with an open mind, speaking with candidates of varying degrees of experience and backgrounds.
Interviewing nine candidates in total, including six of them twice, Schneider ultimately tabbed Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as Carroll's successor, believing he would retain the positive culture built by his predecessor while bringing innovative schemes and ideas to the organization. Calling him a "marketplace changer" in an introductory press conference on February 1, he checked off the specific criteria both he and the ownership group wanted filling the shoes of a legend.
Away from his ability to connect and lead players and coach up Xs and Os, however, the 36-year old Macdonald also offered a unique perspective to the Seahawks similar to the one Carroll did when he first took the job in 2010. While he most recently coached the past two seasons in Baltimore, he first made the jump to defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2021, transforming the Wolverines into a top-eight defense seemingly overnight.
Why is that a potential advantage for Seattle? Aside from gaining invaluable experience from a head coaching standpoint learning under one of the premier teachers in the sport in Jim Harbaugh and developing several of his own future NFL players in Ann Arbor, Macdonald game planned every week to compete against some of the best talent in college football in the rugged Big Ten as well as Georgia in the playoffs.
Though he only coached one season at Michigan, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald should have intel on some of the top prospects for this year's draft class from that experience.
Though it isn't a perfect comparison since Carroll didn't have another NFL job between his time at USC and joining the Seahawks as Macdonald did, his expertise on incoming draft prospects paid major dividends for the franchise, as they landed diamonds in the rough such as Stanford cornerback Richard Sherman in the fifth round to build a Super Bowl contender in quick fashion.
Among the dynamic talents Macdonald coached against who will be in the 2024 NFL Draft, his defense had to deal with Georgia tight end Brock Bowers, Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr., and Wisconsin running back Braelon Allen among others who should hear their name called in April. His insight on dozens of draft prospects provides a nice cherry on top to go with his other strengths coming into his first head coaching job, and he's not alone benefiting Seattle in that regard.
Over the past week, Macdonald has landed a pair of excellent coaches from the college ranks for key positions on his staff, hiring former Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb for the same position with the Seahawks and persuading former Michigan special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh - the son of Jim Harbaugh - to come to the Pacific Northwest. Both have been coaching at the Division I level since 2014 and battled against top talent in arguably the top two Power Five conferences in the sport a year ago.
In the case of Grubb, several of his own players from a top-10 offense with the Huskies will be in play as early round picks. Receiver Romeo Odunze likely will be gone well before the Seahawks pick at 16th overall, but guard Troy Fautanu and quarterback Michael Penix could be potential targets in that range. He also will have intel on a number of exciting defensive prospects from Montlake such as edge rushers Bralen Trice and Zion Tupuola-Fetui.
As for draft prospects he had to scheme up against over the last two seasons, Grubb's Huskies found success putting up points on defenses featuring multiple potential first-round picks, including Byron Murphy II of Texas and Laiatu Latu of UCLA. Even in the middle rounds, there should be plenty of former Pac-12 and playoff opponents who he carries advanced knowledge on compared to other coaching peers in the league.
Like Macdonald, Harbaugh's time at Michigan should serve him well consulting in the draft process in Seattle. From his own players that he coached in different capacities, including tight ends and safeties over the past three seasons, to the talented players he faced off against in the Big Ten and College Football Playoff, Schneider and the scouting staff would be wise to pick his brain in coming weeks as well.
Given the current state of college football with NIL and a near-unrestricted transfer portal, Macdonald and his staff aren't entering quite the same situation as Carroll did nearly 15 years ago. Carroll recruited players such as Sherman while coaching at USC, giving him additional information on several prospects during his first couple years working with Schneider. Macdonald, Grubb, and Harbaugh may not have been as involved with that aspect with their respective college programs.
But with rosters changing rapidly from a year to year, an argument can be made that Macdonald's new incoming coaching staff actually may have an even bigger advantage having studied and coached against a larger pool of players.
Regardless, under Schneider's direction, whether intentional or not, the Seahawks have stocked up on coaches with recent college ties. How much that winds up helping the organization won't be known until a few years down the road, but if the team does select several Big Ten and Pac-12 prospects with ties to Macdonald, Grubb, and/or Harbaugh in April's draft, it shouldn't be viewed as a coincidence.
