Background and career
Michael Macdonald (born June 26, 1987) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He began his career with the Baltimore Ravens in 2014, serving as a defensive assistant. In 2021, Macdonald left the Ravens to become the defensive coordinator of the Michigan Wolverines. He rejoined the Ravens a year later as their defensive coordinator, a position he held from 2022 to 2023. Macdonald was named the head coach of the Seahawks in 2024 and led them to a victory in Super Bowl LX over his hometown New England Patriots in his second year.
Macdonald was born on June 26, 1987, in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up a fan of the New England Patriots. He attended Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, where he played baseball and football at Centennial. Macdonald played linebacker and fullback for the Knights, but frequently suffered stingers and eventually tore his ACL while practicing for what would have been his last high school game. Macdonald attended the University of Georgia, where he studied finance at the Terry College of Business and graduated summa cum laude in 2010. Macdonald is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and, while a student at Georgia, he coached high school football at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia.
In May 2010, Macdonald joined Mark Richt's coaching staff as a graduate assistant with the Georgia Bulldogs football program. He also served as a safeties and defensive quality control coach at Georgia from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, while coaching at Georgia, Macdonald earned a master's degree in sport management from the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia.
Macdonald served on John Harbaugh's coaching staff with the Baltimore Ravens for seven seasons from 2014 to 2020. He was hired as an intern in 2014 and was promoted to defensive assistant in January 2015, defensive backs coach in January 2017, and linebackers coach in January 2018.
In January 2021, Macdonald joined Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan as the defensive coordinator. In Macdonald's lone season at Michigan, the Wolverines posted a top-10 national defense, went undefeated at home, won the Big Ten Conference Championship, and played in the College Football Playoff. The team finished with a national ranking of No. 3 and a final record of 12–2.
On January 27, 2022, Macdonald was re-hired by the Ravens as their defensive coordinator under head coach John Harbaugh, replacing Don Martindale. In 2022, Macdonald led the Ravens' defense to only allowing 315 points in 17 games. Averaging just under 19 points per game, the Ravens' defense was ranked the fourth best defense in the league. In 2023, the Ravens' defensive unit improved under Macdonald as they only allowed 280 points in total on the season, the fewest in the NFL. The Ravens would advance to the AFC Championship Game, and despite losing to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Ravens held the Chiefs to just 17 points, marking the team's sixth consecutive game where they held an opponent to 20 points or less.
