The biggest change the Seattle Seahawks made this offseason had nothing to do with their roster, a talented but underperforming group. Head coach Pete Carroll was dismissed after a successful 14-year run as the face of the franchise, opening up a massive hole at the top of the organization.
General manager John Schneider has moved up to replace him as the boss when it comes to personnel matters. As for the action on the field, former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald will be taking Carroll's place. He is an offshoot of the Harbaugh brothers, having worked for John in Baltimore and Jim at Michigan.
Macdonald may be a relative unknown to the average NFL fan, but his quick success with the Ravens defense made him the most sought-after defensive head coach candidate this hiring cycle. Schneider was willing to wait to get him and once the Ravens were eliminated from the playoffs the Seahawks landed their guy.
While he had his flaws, Carroll is a hard act to follow. That said, every indication is that Macdonald knows what he's doing and players have responded very well to his unique coaching style, which corner Devon Witherspoon has described as nerdy in a good way.
It may be difficult to quantify what a new coach and a fresh scheme bring to the table, but for what it's worth other nerds are expecting good things. Here's what Sam Monson at Pro Football Focus told Seattle Sports radio about Macdonald's defense.
"The last few years, the sort of in-vogue defense has been that Vic Fangio defensive scheme. I think the (Macdonald) one that’s coming in now is going to be (the in-vogue one) the next couple of years, and the Seahawks are going to be right on the cutting edge with essentially the primary architect of that defensive scheme as their head coach... it’s just gonna enhance the play of everybody along that defensive front, because of the way they coach defense. They essentially allow everybody to just play quickly and kind of meld the pressure looks with the formation, and just let everybody go out there and play football without having to think about it.”
Monson also said Macdonald's scheme will get the most out of the key players on Seattle's defense. That includes Witherspoon and Riq Woolen on the back end and Leonard Williams and Byron Murphy II up front. If those four fundamental pieces are on point and the rest at least aren't a total liability this should be a vastly improved unit in 2024.
As far as shematic changes go, we'll have to wait until to September to actually see them in action. Based on what we saw in Baltimore fans should expect a lot more post-snap movement to disguise coverages, which was a sore lacking point on the tail end of Carroll's tenure as head coach. A dramatic improvement against the run will also have to be part of any successful takeover for Macdonald. The Seahawks have ranked in the bottom three in rushing yards allowed two years running.
Even an explosive step forward might only make this Seahawks defense average compared to the rest of the league, though. Fans should keep their expectations reasonable in Year 1, especially since Macdonald had turned the Ravens defense into the league's best by a wide margin by the beginning of his second season calling the shots.
