RENTON, Wash. — Mike Macdonald being the youngest head coach in the NFL was a common anecdote after the Seahawks announced his hiring, but the 36-year-old's maturity and depth of experience shined in his introductory press conference Thursday.
"Just so excited for everybody, because this is the future right here," general manager John Schneider said while speaking to media at the team's headquarters in Renton. "This is where it's going. And I think you're gonna learn in getting to know, Mike, that he's a special dude."
Macdonald is half the age of his predecessor but impressed Schneider and the Seahawks' brass with his connections around the sport. Schneider described Macdonald as a "learning networker, not a climbing networker."
“It doesn’t matter old you are," Macdonald said in an interview with KING 5's Paul Silvi. "Is your approach to connect and to understand and to teach? And, ultimately, do the players feel like you are trying to make them better and be put in positions to succeed? I think it’s helpful being younger, but I think it’s more of the approach."
Early in their careers, football coaches frequently jump from school to school or team to team trying to ascend the ladder of the profession. Macdonald is unique because he spent almost a decade with the same organization, the Baltimore Ravens, steadily working his way up the coaching ranks.
Macdonald did leave the Ravens for one season, joining Ravens head coach John Harbaugh's brother, Jim, as the defensive coordinator at the University of Michigan. After helping guide the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff, Macdonald returned to Baltimore as the defensive coordinator.
He told reporters at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center he sees plenty of similarities between Baltimore and Seattle in his limited time with the Seahawks' staff.
"Meeting John and the leadership team, the first thing that really popped to me was the parallels of the organization that I've been working for 10 years, and where I've really grown into the person and the man and the coach that I have today," Macdonald said Thursday. "And that was extremely appealing to me."
Macdonald is unquestionably a departure from the last hire the Seahawks made in Pete Carroll, an experienced and highly successful head coach with NFL head coaching experience.
However, the press conference made Schneider's passion for Macdonald's potential evident and obvious. His age will be a regular talking point among pundits, but Macdonald appears poised to take the reins of a brand new era for the franchise.
“We are trying to build something that is real here," Macdonald said. "Success is real and it’s not easy. You’re going to have conversations that are not easy but I think if you’re coming from the right place of compassion and truth and I think people realize that. That’s how you can build relationships to get the best out of your people.”