NFL analyst: Seahawks struck gold by zigging when others zagged

When the Seattle Seahawks decided to move on from Pete Carroll in January 2024, general manager John Schneider & Co. were tasked with finding the successor to the most successful head coach in franchise history.

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They could have searched for the next offensive savant – the next Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan. After all, that’s the direction most franchises tend to go when looking for a new head coach.

Instead, the Seahawks took a different approach. They hired a defensive wizard in Mike Macdonald – a mastermind defensive coordinator from the Baltimore Ravens whose cutting-edge scheme could counter the offensive brilliance of Seattle’s two biggest NFC West rivals.

And in going against the grain, Schneider & Co. struck gold.

In just two short years, Macdonald led the Seahawks back to the NFL mountaintop, guiding them to one of the most dominant seasons by a Super Bowl champion this century.

Along the way, Macdonald built a tight-knit culture that players and analysts alike have praised. He orchestrated a dramatic defensive turnaround, transforming the league’s 25th-ranked scoring defense into the league’s top-ranked unit in just two seasons at the helm.

And when he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in February, Macdonald made history as the first head coach to win a Super Bowl as his team’s primary defensive play caller.

During an appearance Monday on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, NFL analyst Ross Tucker marveled at the job Macdonald has done – and how the Seahawks zigged when others zagged.

“What they do schematically and some of the truly unique things that they do on that side of the ball, I call (Macdonald) the defensive McVay,” Tucker said. “I call him the McVay of the defense, because I really think … he’s dictating the offenses more than they are dictating to him.

“On some level, isn’t it good in life to zig a little bit when everybody else zags?” he added. “I mean, if every single team is trying to get the next McVay or just trying to pluck from the McVay/Shanahan tree, … at some point, if everybody’s running that offense, is it really going to be that special and creative and unique?”

Listen to the full Brock and Salk conversation with NFL analyst Ross Tucker at this link or in the audio player above. Tune into Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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