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When Mike Macdonald took over as the Seahawks’ head coach in 2024, he was following the footsteps of the greatest coach in Seahawks history, Pete Carroll. The Seahawks, though, had become a team perpetually on the verge of the playoffs or an early-round exit, and they needed a new voice to try to ascend to the next level.
In his first season as head coach, Macdonald finished 10-7, but the Seahawks missed the playoffs. However, during that season, they established something invaluable to the team this year: A winning culture.
The Seahawks finished the season 4-1, and that has carried over into this season and is a significant reason why the Seahawks have the one seed, a bye week, and homefield advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Seahawks star linebacker Ernest Jones IV credited Macdonald with being the reason the Seahawks are in the advantageous position they are in. Seahawks.com provided the transcript of Jones’ praise of Macdonald.
“We’re here today as number one seed because of Mike. Not just the way he calls it, but the community that he’s building in that locker room,” Jones said. “We play for each other. We fight for each other. I’ve said this before, we got here to this point, and it started last year. It started through those ups and downs that we had last year when I came here. It started then, and we were able to pick it up this year and just keep rolling.”
The culture Macdonald has established with the Seahawks has brought the team together and made it for them to come to work.
Throughout the season, Mike Macdonald has been laser-focused on dealing with each game as it comes, rather than looking too far ahead. Still, now that the regular season has come to an end, and the Seahawks have accomplished their regular-season goals, Macdonald is more willing to self-reflect on the season.
Following the Seahawks’ win over the 49ers, Macdonald, at his post-game press conference, discussed taking pride in what the team has accomplished this season. Seahawks.com had Macdonald’s reflections.
