Michael MacDonald (born June 26, 1987) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the Seattle Seahawks of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

from 2022 to 2023. Macdonald attended the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, where he began his coaching career as a graduate assistant in 2010. He previously served as an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens and at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

Early life and education

Macdonald was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

in 1987. He attended Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia. He played baseball and football at Centennial but saw limited action as a senior due to injuries. He next attended the

where he studied finance at the

Terry College of Business The C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry College of Business is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. The business college offers undergraduate programs, MBA programs, specialized master's programs and ...

and graduated '' summa cum laude'' in 2010. He was a member of

Sigma Phi Epsilon Sigma Phi Epsilon (), commonly known as SigEp, is a social college fraternity for male college students in the United States. It was founded on November 1, 1901, at Richmond College (now the University of Richmond), and its national headquarte ...

and, while still a student at Georgia, he also coached high school football at Cedar Shoals High School in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

Coaching career

Georgia

In May 2010, he joined

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is a retired American football head coach, former player, and television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mater, ...

's coaching staff as a graduate assistant with the

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

program. He also served as a safeties and defensive quality control coach at Georgia from 2011 to 2013. In 2013, while coaching at Georgia, he earned a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

sport management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

Baltimore Ravens

Macdonald served on

John Harbaugh John William Harbaugh (born September 23, 1962) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). Previously, he coached the defensive backs for the Philadelphia Eagles and served ...

's coaching staff with the

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.

Michigan

In January 2021, Macdonald joined Jim Harbaugh's staff at Michigan, as the defensive coordinator of the Michigan Wolverines football program. In Macdonald's only season at the University of Michigan, the Wolverines posted a top 10 national defense, won the Big Ten Conference Championship, and played in the

College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...

. The team finished with a national ranking of #3.

Baltimore Ravens (second stint)

On January 27, 2022, Macdonald was re-hired by the

as their defensive coordinator under head coach

, replacing Don Martindale.

Seattle Seahawks

On January 31, 2024, Macdonald was hired by the Seattle Seahawks as their head coach to replace

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American football coach who is the head coach and executive vice president for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head football coach at USC from ...

. At the time of his hiring, Macdonald was the youngest head coach in the NFL.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Macdonald and his wife have been married since 2021.

References

External links

Seattle Seahawks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macdonald, Mike 1987 births Living people Baltimore Ravens coaches Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Georgia Bulldogs football coaches High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) Michigan Wolverines football coaches National Football League defensive coordinators Seattle Seahawks head coaches Sportspeople from Boston Sportspeople from Roswell, Georgia University of Georgia alumni