Congrats to former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. The Seattle Seahawks head coach has done it. In just his second year as an NFL head coach, he has already reached the top of the NFC.
Following a 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night, the Seahawks won the NFC Championship. They will be heading to the Super Bowl to take on the New England Patriots in a rematch of Super Bowl 49.
Macdonald is set to be the third-youngest head coach to ever appear in the Super Bowl, just behind Sean McVay and Mike Tomlin. That is an outstanding company to be in, and any Ravens fan will tell you he was obviously capable of this feat.
Ravens fans can’t help but wonder what could’ve been with Mike Macdonald
Even in such a short amount of time, fans knew Macdonald was special. He was truly dominant as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator from 2022 to 2023. His unit was third in points allowed per game in 2022 and first in that category in 2023. Pure excellence.
Many Ravens fans wanted Macdonald to take over as head coach after that 2023 season. It was almost the unanimous opinion of the fanbase at the time. However, Baltimore decided to stick with John Harbaugh, and the Seahawks didn’t wait much longer after their playoff elimination before pouncing on the opportunity to sign Macdonald.
It’s safe to say it’s paid off for Seattle. For Baltimore, though, it’s an all too painful memory. Harbaugh had just two more seasons at the helm. In 2024, his team fell short in the playoffs again, and in 2025, they missed the playoffs entirely. While the Ravens were taking steps back after losing Macdonald, the Seahawks were taking significant steps forward under his leadership. It was a major missed opportunity.
Ultimately, it was a mistake to keep Harbaugh and let Macdonald depart. Harbaugh was fired this offseason, and on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, Macdonald will be playing for a Super Bowl in a couple of weeks.
The Ravens made sure they didn’t make the same mistake twice. They hired Jesse Minter on Thursday, who took an eerily similar path that Macdonald took before becoming a head coach. There's no guarantee that it’ll work out the same way that it did for Seattle, but it’s a promising step in the right direction.