The Seattle Seahawks are running a much, much tighter ship these days than they did during the Pete Carroll era. If their surprisingly sharp start to the season and 3-0 record wasn't proof enough, today we have another inside anecdote about how rookie head coach Mike Macdonald is transforming this team into a contender through discipline.
According to an account by Brady Henderson at ESPN, Macdonald has brought over a famously-difficult conditioning test from the Baltimore Ravens that players have to pass in order to start camp. Apparently the Baltimore model is having them run six 150-yard shuttles. If they don't finish that in the allotted time, then they have to start all over again.
It's a brutal slog, and when some players couldn't hack it, Macdonald got "pissed" enough to chew them out individually. Apparently he even told one he'd have been cut on the spot if not for the guaranteed money in his contract.
ESPN on Mike Macdonald's reaction
"Macdonald was pissed," a source close to a player said... Macdonald chewed out the players individually, according to a team source and a source close to a player, and then brought up the issue in front of the rest of the team in order to drive the point home: You owe it to everyone else to show up in shape. He told at least one of the players that he'd have been cut on the spot if not for the guaranteed money in his contract, another source close to one of them said."
