Seattle Seahawks Coach Mike Macdonald Wants to 'Start Fast'

Head Coach Mike Macdonald wants the Seattle Seahawks to get ahead in football games early and close them out late.

Jul 27, 2024; Renton, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald talks to the media after training camp at Virginia Mason Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports / Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

The Seattle Seahawks have a new coach in Mike Macdonald, and even though he is the youngest in the NFL, he comes from one of the top coaching trees under Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh.

Macdonald, 37, was with the Baltimore Ravens from 2014–23 with a year off in 2021 at Michigan as the defensive coordinator. He's learned a lot from Harbaugh, and now he's looking to apply it with the Seahawks, especially when it comes to first quarters.

"We need to start fast, and you have to close the game out," Macdonald said after practice Tuesday. "Then you want to extend the lead in the middle. John Harbaugh said, 'The game is either going to happen one of two ways: either we're going to start the game with a lead or start the game behind.' How do you respond to those situations, and ultimately, how do you close games out? Situational football is obviously a big part of that; mentality, how you play the game. Again, those are all things that we're trying to train throughout this camp; that's why it's set up the way it is."

In six of the Seahawks' last seven games in 2023, they surrendered the first score. That certainly hurt them in some of those games, which is part of the reason why they ended up on the outside looking in for the playoff picture.

If the Seahawks can adopt this mentality and execute it, perhaps they will be on the right side of the playoff picture in the upcoming season.