Reports: Seahawks coach candidate Macdonald in Seattle for 2nd interview

Jan 31, 2024, 8:33 AM | Updated: 10:44 am

Seattle Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald...

Defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald of the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 31, 2023. (Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)

(Todd Olszewski/Getty Images)

Seattle Sports

Update 10:44 a.m.: The Seattle Seahawks will reportedly hire Mike Macdonald as head coach, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Click here for the full story.

The Seattle Seahawks met with head coaching candidate Mike Macdonald for the first time on Tuesday, and the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator is now in Washington state for a second interview.

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First reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Macdonald is being brought in to meet with top Seahawks brass on Wednesday in Seattle a day after the two parties met in Baltimore. The Seahawks have already had second interviews with a number of candidates, and Macdonald is now the latest to join the fray.

“Now, he’s going through the expanded process they did with other candidates,” Pelissero said of Macdonald.

Macdonald, 36, has been one of the hottest names in this year’s coaching cycle, and he’s considered a favorite to become the Seahawks’ next head coach. Macdonald’s Ravens had the best defense in the NFL in 2023, finishing first in points allowed, takeaways and sacks.

Macdonald has been with the Ravens as a defensive assistant under head coach John Harbaugh for all but one year since 2014. His one year away from Baltimore was as defensive coordinator at Michigan in 2021 under John Harbaugh’s brother Jim, who is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Seahawks had reported interest in Macdonald for quite some time, but couldn’t officially interview him until Baltimore was eliminated from the playoffs. That’s because of the timing in which the Seahawks parted ways with former head coach Pete Carroll, as well as new NFL rule changes that limited how teams can talk to coaches of teams in the playoffs. Because the Ravens had a first-round playoff bye and the Hawks parted ways with Carroll on Wednesday, Jan. 10, Seattle was not allowed to talk to Macdonald until Baltimore was eliminated, which happened on Sunday in the AFC Championship.

The Seahawks are one of just two teams, along with the Washington Commanders, without a head coach. The Commanders have also interviewed Macdonald, and they’ve also had three interviews with former Seahawks and current Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is one of a handful of known candidates to have had two interviews with Seattle for its head coaching vacancy. Many thought Quinn would take over with the Seahawks due to his familiarity with the team and front office, as well as his previous head coaching experience.

If the Seahawks go with Macdonald, they would be hiring a first-time head coach to succeed Carroll, the winningest and most accomplished head coach in franchise history. Carroll’s teams made the playoffs 10 times in 14 years, including five NFC West titles, two Super Bowl appearances and one championship.