This is a special question and answer session featuring former Ravens defensive coordinator and new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.
There is still one week left until the Seattle Seahawks select former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as head coach.
As defensive coordinator, Macdonald returned the Ravens to familiar territory atop the NFL defensive rankings, and the 36-year-old quickly became a highly sought-after head coaching candidate.
For a new head coach, replacing Pete Carroll, who led the team to its first Super Bowl and a string of winning seasons and playoff appearances, is a daunting task. Is Macdonald up to the challenge? We will know soon.
In the meantime, I dusted off the 5Qs/5As game preview series for a special edition with Baltimore Beatdown editor and reporter Kyle Phoenix, who has a good look at Macdonald as a coach and locker room leader .
Appreciate!1.) Mike Macdonald took over from Wink Martindale, who had a good track record in Baltimore (or so I think) and built a well-deserved reputation for his many blitzes. Baltimore has been in the bottom half of the league in blitz rate in both seasons under Macdonald.
What other differences distinguish Macdonald’s defense from Wink’s? I think the biggest difference in what Macdonald did differently than Don “Wink” Martindale was his approach.
Wink said, “Live by the sword, die by the sword. » He was blitzing and trusting his coverage to hold off pass catchers for 2.5 seconds or make the run happen on time. Macdonald’s philosophy was more about what aggression means.
It was about the defense being in control. I asked him about his philosophy and what he took away from Martindale’s plan during his introductory press conference in Baltimore.
“Aggression will continue – absolutely – but I think you have to look through the prism of ‘What does aggression actually mean?’ It’s about keeping the offense off balance and knowing where she really stands.
“They strictly believe what they see,” Macdonald said. “Often it will come with pressure applied – it will happen. Often it can be false pressure, it can look like this cover and play like another.
They change stress points of zones and things like that and just try to create doubt at all times. You want to be the one pushing the limits, not the other way around .
So that aggression, that was something that… That’s a tenet of the Ravens organization: aggression. Macdonald is not afraid to use the sword. But he clearly understands when he doesn’t rush out of desperation.
