The Seahawks have hired Mike McDonald as the ninth head coach in franchise history.
McDonald, who spent the past two seasons building one of the NFL's best defenses as defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, became the NFL's youngest head coach at 36 years old.
“What an honor,” McDonald said after he and his wife, Stephanie, were greeted by team staff upon their arrival at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center. “We're very excited to be here. Just getting to know John and the rest of the guys, the reputation of this place, what attracted us here is the people. That's why we're here, to bring the championship back to Seattle and the 12s.”
“We're going to have a lot of fun, we're going to do our best, and it's going to be an amazing ride. We're going to be here for a long time, and we're going to win a lot of football games.”
McDonald will take over the head coaching duties from Pete Carroll, who has held the title for the past 14 seasons, and will be tasked, as general manager John Schneider explained earlier this month, with helping move the franchise forward while also maintaining a positive culture within the team. Commercial franchise.
“We want to maintain our positive culture,” Schneider said. “Everything that's built here, everything's in this building. There's a lot of special people in this building. It's amazing to be on the phone with all these agents and people interested in this position, and to be able to explain to them like, 'Hey.' “There's a foundation here that's unbelievable.”
Under McDonald, the Ravens led the NFL in scoring defense, allowing 16.5 points per game, sacks (60) and finished tied for first in takeaways (31), becoming the first team in league history to rank first In all three of those categories. The Ravens also ranked sixth in yards allowed at 301.4 per game.
““I think he's the best (head coaching) candidate right now,” Ravens cornerback Patrick Quinn told reporters Monday. “I don't think anyone does it like him. Nobody cares like him. Nobody would do what he does. He won't rest until he gets everything right. Whoever gets it, if he leaves, they're going to get the best candidate out there. The guy is in “Everywhere is the best guy I've ever been around, both on a coaching level and on a personal level. He really cares and truly cares about the players and the people around the organization and the fans.”
“Alcohol enthusiast. Twitter ninja. Tv lover. Falls down a lot. Hipster-friendly coffee geek.”