Grading each NFL head coaching hire so far this offseason
By John Buhler
![Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Wolverines Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Wolverines](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_6000,h_3375,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/GettyImages/mmsport/229/01hnddjwnd75jvy8rad4.jpg)
Seattle Seahawks hired former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald
The Seattle Seahawks took their sweet time with this, but managed to make one of the better head-coaching hires of this offseason cycle. They ended up going with former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald shortly after his former team was eliminated from the postseason. Macdonald is a young 36 years old, but he stems from both Harbaugh coaching trees: Jim and John.
Is he too green for the job? I don't think that really matters, to be honest. What I like the most about this hiring by Seattle is they did not buy into the Dan Quinn hype. That would have been a recipe for disaster for both parties, as reaching into one's past is not a great way to solve any solution. It would have put Quinn in a familiar place, but is a pressure-filled spot. Macdonald should not feel any of this.
To me, the Seahawks landed a younger, up-and-coming defensive mind without all the baggage of a Quinn or another Pete Carroll disciple. Either the Seahawks re-invent themselves under Macdonald or they float off into irrelevancy somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. This feels like a low-risk, high-reward type of hiring, the kind that may work perfectly in the geographically isolated metropolis of Seattle.
Macdonald is a great coaching candidate, one that Jody Allen is not going to be ripped for hiring.
Grade: A