Mike Macdonald‘s itinerary will now include two Seahawks meetings in a two-day span. After waiting until Tuesday to meet with the popular candidate, the NFC West team will squeeze in a second meeting.
The second Macdonald-Seahawks summit will take place today, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. Macdonald-to-Seattle buzz has intensified over the past 24 hours; news of a second meeting will further drive speculation about the two-year Ravens DC being a frontrunner for this job.
A report Tuesday indicated Macdonald and Giants OC Mike Kafka were candidates to watch for the Seattle job. The Seahawks skipped the virtual interview opportunity with the young defensive coordinator, but the team had him on its radar during the process. Tuesday’s meeting took place in Baltimore, per Pelissero. This one will occur in Seattle, per the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta.
The Seahawks went through a second interview with Ben Johnson on Monday, but the two-year Lions OC informed both HC-needy clubs — Seattle and Washington — he no longer wishes to be considered. Hours after Johnson bowed out of a second HC carousel, Texans OC Bobby Slowik followed suit. Slowik, however, had not been connected to a second Seahawks interview. He had met with the Commanders twice.
Johnson removing himself from consideration keeps the door wide open for Macdonald to land one of the two remaining jobs. Though, the Commanders have not met with Macdonald a second time yet. His first interview with the NFC East team took place Monday. The Ravens’ AFC championship game loss clears Macdonald’s interview schedule.
Despite the Chiefs and 49ers advancing to Super Bowl LVIII, it is the Ravens and Lions’ coordinators who have drawn attention during this year’s hiring period. None of the three San Francisco or Kansas City coordinators (Steve Wilks, Matt Nagy, Steve Spagnuolo; the 49ers do not employ a traditional OC) are candidates for the Seattle or Washington positions. Here is how the Seahawks’ search looks as January winds down:
- Ejiro Evero, defensive coordinator (Panthers): Conducted second interview 1/27
- Patrick Graham, defensive coordinator (Raiders): Conducted second interview 1/23
- Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator (Lions): Conducted second interview 1/29
- Mike Kafka, offensive coordinator (Giants): Conducted second interview 1/24
- Mike Macdonald, defensive coordinator (Ravens): To conduct second interview 1/31
- Raheem Morris, defensive coordinator (Rams): To conduct second interview 1/26
- Dan Quinn, defensive coordinator (Cowboys): Conducted second interview 1/25
- Bobby Slowik, offensive coordinator (Texans): Interviewed 1/21
- Frank Smith, offensive coordinator (Dolphins): Interviewed 1/18
- Mike Vrabel, former head coach (Titans): Mentioned as candidate
My only concern with a young coach like Macdonald is whether he can build a staff with fewer connections than a typical experienced coach has. What’s not to like otherwise?
There’s always a concern with not just young coaches but inexperienced and incompetent coaches for the top job. Buyers remorse on the LA Chargers hiring Staley a few years ago when they had no reason to hire him
Staley had spent a total of four years in the NFL, only one as a coordinator, and his college experience before that wasn’t even in major conferences. MacDonald has spent the better part of a decade with a well run organization, and he’s put on a show as a coordinator after his year coordinating at Michigan. He’s a very different candidate than Staley was.
I think MacDonald would be an outstanding choice. A young guy who will bring the same energy that Carroll brought but brings new ideas to a defense that needs it. They have some nice offensive pieces, I am sure there will be OC candidates who would look very favorably at the job.
I think this is the best job in the cycle, even more so than Atlanta. Seattle could be really, really good next year.
I’d guess he gets this job, and I think he will do well. There are plenty of pieces there to field an elite defense right out of the gate. Pete Carroll’s dinosaur defensi’ve philosophy just wasn’t taking advantage of it.