John Schneider, the overall supervisor of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks had barely sat down, and he was already celebrating.
“Welcome to Mike Macdonald Day!” he introduced. It was Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. The day earlier than, Schneider signed Macdonald to a six-year contract to be the Seahawks’ new head coach. This was his introduction to native media.
It’s the most recent step in a exceptional journey for Macdonald BBA ’10, MS ’13, a Double Dawg and former UGA assistant coach. On the time of his hiring, Macdonald was coming off a two-year stint as defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens. Now, at 36, Macdonald is the NFL’s youngest head coach.
“Once I hear individuals inform me I’ve risen actually quick, it makes me a bit of uncomfortable as a result of that’s not likely the purpose,” Macdonald mentioned. “You’re attempting to be within the position that you’re to assist the staff the most effective you may. And, in the end, as your roles and duties improve, the flexibility to do this is larger, ? That’s the mentality you must have.”
Macdonald was born in Boston and grew up in Roswell. He performed baseball and soccer at Centennial Excessive Faculty, however his taking part in profession ended due to accidents his senior 12 months.
As an undergraduate on the College of Georgia, Macdonald took his first defensive coordinator job—with the freshman staff at Cedar Shoals Excessive Faculty in Athens. The job reunited Macdonald with Xarvia Smith, the Cedar Shoals Jaguars varsity head coach and Macdonald’s former coach at Centennial.
Macdonald took to the position rapidly. Over seven video games, the Cedar Shoals ninth-graders shut out their opponents six occasions.
“That’s in all probability essentially the most enjoyable I’ve had teaching,” Macdonald mentioned throughout a 2021 interview. The next 12 months, he coached varsity’s linebackers and working backs.
Whereas Macdonald was studying the way to mentor gamers underneath Smith, the pinnacle coach noticed one thing particular in his protege.
“You simply knew, together with his management and his need and his work ethic, what was going to occur,” Smith instructed Seattle’s KJR radio. The 2 keep in contact at the moment by texts, and Macdonald maintains relationships with a number of Cedar Shoals former gamers as effectively.
In 2010, mere months after graduating summa cum laude with a finance diploma from the Terry Faculty of Enterprise, Macdonald joined then-head coach Mark Richt’s employees as a graduate assistant. After a 12 months, he was promoted to defensive high quality management assistant. In 2013, he earned his second UGA diploma, a grasp’s in sport administration, with an ideal 4.0 common.
“He was sharp,” Richt says of Macdonald. “Very mature and accountable. He was prepared for the position. Something we gave Mike, he may deal with it.”
Macdonald joined the teaching employees of the Baltimore Ravens as an intern and was quickly promoted to defensive assistant (2015), then defensive backs coach (2017), and at last to linebackers coach (2018).
In 2020, Jim Harbaugh, brother of the Ravens’ head coach, employed Macdonald as defensive coordinator on the College of Michigan.
In his one 12 months with the Wolverines, Macdonald guided a protection that had ranked 87th nationally in yards allowed per recreation the earlier 12 months and turned them right into a top-10 unit. That have additionally included the one time Macdonald lined up towards the College of Georgia.
The run-up to that matchup within the 2021 Faculty Soccer Playoff Semifinal within the Orange Bowl gave Macdonald a chance to replicate on his time as a Georgia assistant.
“We have been doing all the pieces. We have been establishing tables for dinner, you identify it,” he mentioned on the time. “However, yeah, these are nice days. I imply, simply studying from Coach Richt, and Coach [Todd] Grantham, and Coach [Mike] Bobo, and actually simply what makes a corporation tick. Being in on the bottom ground and doing something you may to assist the staff win was actually helpful.”
“He was sharp. Very mature and accountable. He was prepared for the position. Something we gave Mike, he may deal with it.” — Former UGA head coach Mark Richt, who employed Mike Macdonald as a graduate assistant for the Bulldogs in 2010
Michigan misplaced that recreation, a significant step in Georgia’s run to its third nationwide title. It additionally represented, up to now, the final faculty recreation Macdonald has coached. In 2022, he returned to the Ravens as their defensive coordinator. The outcomes have been file breaking.
The 2023 Ravens have been the primary staff in NFL historical past to complete first in scoring protection, sacks, and takeaways in the identical season. The Ravens made it to the AFC Championship, and the Professional Soccer Writers of America named Macdonald the 2023 Assistant Coach of the 12 months.
Macdonald was a sizzling commodity heading into the offseason. Six groups, together with the Seahawks, checked on his availability. And Seattle moved quick, saying his hiring lower than 72 hours after Macdonald’s first interview with the staff.
“My plan is to be myself day by day,” Macdonald mentioned. “It’s not a facade. It’s all about the most effective pursuits of the staff, the most effective pursuits of the gamers, and the way we could be profitable.”