Mike Macdonald details personal struggles in Year 1 as Seahawks coach

Mike Macdonald has experienced immense success in his short time as the Seattle Seahawks’ head coach, guiding the franchise to a Super Bowl title in just his second season at the helm.

But the path to that point involved what he considers the most challenging period of his life.

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During an interview on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that was released Wednesday, the 39-year-old Macdonald detailed the “paralyzing” personal struggles he dealt with in the months after he was hired to replace Pete Carroll as Seattle’s head coach in January 2024.

“It was an extremely difficult time,” Macdonald said. “I’ve never felt like that in my life. Like, I was sick. I’d go home, I’d get in bed and I wouldn’t get out. I’d get in bed as soon as I got home. I wouldn’t get out of bed until I went to work. I’d be late going into work.

“In the weekend, I wouldn’t get out of bed all weekend. I’d just sit in bed. It was crazy.”

Macdonald, who was coming off a success-filled two-year stint as the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator, said his struggles stemmed from the weight of expectations he felt as a first-time head coach. At the time, he was the youngest head coach in the NFL.

“It was like paralyzing,” Macdonald said. “I’m a procrastinator, which I think has helped me do good work, because you feel like you’re kind of elevated when you need to go. But the tradeoff of that is, like, it was hard to move. It was even hard to get out of bed.

“I put a ton of pressure on myself, because I have massive expectations for what we’re trying to create. Like, it’s not good enough to not be the best. But that takes time to get there and it’s a process. … I just wanted to be right all the time, and I didn’t know what right was, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to be right.

“So I think that was the weight that I was carrying. It was a burden that I felt like I was holding because we weren’t where we wanted to be and I wasn’t clear on what to do. It can be a lonely, tough feeling.”

Macdonald and his wife, Stephanie, also were dealing with the sudden death of their 4-year-old dog, who suffered a seizure.

“There was a lot going on,” Macdonald said.

Bensinger asked Macdonald if he was dealing with depression.

“Is it depression? I don’t know, maybe,” Macdonald said. “I find it hard to self-diagnose depression. There’s serious cases of depression that are clinically diagnosed.”

Macdonald said he talked with Stephanie and his two sisters about his struggles. He also began prioritizing his health and a consistent routine.

“When I’m at my best, I’m in a routine,” Macdonald said. “But when I start getting out of whack and I don’t know what I’m gonna do next, then I start to get paralyzed, and then it’s like a downward spiral, because then you stop moving and your mental health isn’t as clear.

“If I could get some physical, personal wins, then I could just start stacking those things,” he added. “I’d take like two-hour-long walks. I’d call some of the players. But I needed to get out. So I’d work out, walk, try to eat better. I was drinking a lot.

“Yeah, that was probably the most difficult stretch of my life.”

Macdonald said things began to improve at some point during the 2024 season.

“I actually remember at one point going up to (general manager) John Schneider and being like, I feel like myself again,” Macdonald said.

After a 4-5 start to 2024, the Seahawks won six of their final eight games to finish 10-7. Seattle then rode that momentum into a 14-3 regular season in 2025, capped by the franchise’s second Super Bowl title.

“I joke with the coaches now, like, I was not a great leader my first year,” Macdonald said. “It sucks to say that, but I just fell short in so many different ways – like an awareness and a trust and a communication style. I just wasn’t the best version of myself. It’s not easy to say that, but it’s the truth.”

Macdonald is now the third-youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl and the first head coach to win a Lombardi Trophy as his team’s primary defensive play caller.

Since the midway mark of 2024, the Seahawks are 24-5 across both the regular season and postseason.

Macdonald and Stephanie welcomed their first child, Jack, in December 2024 and are expecting a daughter this December.

Asked whether he’s happy now, Macdonald responded: “I have joy. Am I always happy? I think I’m happy.”

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