The Seattle Seahawks are set to meet with Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald for a second time in two days regarding their vacant head coaching position, per Tom Pelissero.
After the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday, Seahawks brass met with Macdonald in Baltimore on Tuesday. A follow-up interview will take place on Wednesday, presumably in Seattle given Pelissero's vocabulary in his report.
The Seahawks have had their eye on Macdonald for several weeks since parting ways with longtime head coach Pete Carroll. Seattle held out to interview Macdonald until after the Ravens season had ended and reportedly would have waited until after the Super Bowl to do so had Baltimore made it.
Meeting with Macdonald on consecutive days doesn’t guarantee his hiring but it appears to be trending in that direction. Macdonald is also a candidate for Washington Commanders head coach having interviewed with them on Monday before meeting with the Seahawks.
Washington and Seattle are the only NFL franchises without a head coach and are interested in several of the same candidates.
Macdonald led a stout Ravens defense each of the last two seasons, finishing top 10 in total defense both seasons. Baltimore allowed the fewest points per game in 2023 after finishing with the third-best scoring defense in 2022.
Seahawks banking on Macdonald?
The Seahawks are bold in waiting this long to hire a new head coach. Wednesday marks exactly three weeks since the team announced Pete Carroll's 14-year tenure had come to an end yet they remain without a replacement for the franchise’s winningest head coach.
The rumors that Seattle is putting all of its eggs in the Mike Macdonald basket appear true. The Seahawks might find themselves in some trouble though if Macdonald doesn’t work out.
How will the other candidates feel if Seattle makes this hard of a charge at Macdonald only to turn back to one of them if the Ravens DC isn’t the right man for the job? Maybe they won’t care, or maybe some of them will take offense to being second choice.
While the Seahawks are very interested in Macdonald, they were also pushing for Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to be their next head coach. On Tuesday, Johnson informed Seattle and Washington – the latter of whom many expected to hire Johnson – that he is staying with the Lions in 2024.
That puts even more pressure on the Seahawks to make sure Mike Macdonald is their guy. If not, there will be plenty of upset fans in Seattle questioning why the Seahawks couldn’t secure either of their top two candidates.
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