Under new head coach and defensive expert Mike Macdonald, the Seattle Seahawks will play with a state-of-the-art defensive plan in autumn.
What separates new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald? Analyst dives in
As the defensive coordinator in Baltimore, the 36-year-old Macdonald had great success with his scheme. He oversaw a defense that in 2023 became the first in NFL history to lead the league in points allowed per game, sacks, and takeaways. Before that, he served as the University of Michigan’s defensive coordinator for the 2021 season, helping to build a defense that helped the 2023 Wolverines win a national championship.
How will Macdonald’s defense appear when the Seahawks play? Commentary on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk was provided by former NFL quarterback Brock Huard.
“Just a blur,” Huard, a football analyst for FOX, remarked. A haze. It appears to be Michigan. You must view this plan over there. Find out from Michael Penix, the former quarterback for the UW Huskies, how it felt to try to attack that approach. It was one that could truly change and evolve from week to week.
The distinctive degree of positional adaptability and interchangeability present in Macdonald’s concept was expounded upon by Ted Nguyen of The Athletic in an article published last week. Because of his ability to continuously mix up his fronts and pressures, opposition attacks find it difficult to predict the precise source of pressure. It also lets him modify and customize his defensive strategy for every opponent.
Huard stated, “We will be discussing a different defensive attack week to week.” “It won’t just be the same plan of action, week after week. Week by week, that opponent and quarterback ought to find it difficult to prepare for this Seahawk defense.
“(The Seahawks) have got enough personnel on their D-line and in their secondary to be able, week to week … to take away the strength of your team and make you beat them left-handed,” he added. “That’s the beauty of this, and that’s what I’m really excited to watch this season.”
Better communication and organization
Huard also is excited about the potential for improved communication and organization in Macdonald’s defense.
As Nguyen detailed in his article, Macdonald doesn’t actually use many different defensive fronts. But due to the flexible nature of his scheme, he’s able to run all sorts of pressures out of those limited fronts, which makes it complex for offenses to decipher. Huard and others have referred to this as an “illusion of complexity.”
“It’s simple for the defense to remember,” co-host Mike Salk added. “It’s complicated for the offense to sort out.”
According to Nguyen, Macdonald teaches and organizes his blitzes in a unique manner. Nguyen explained that most teams base their demands on distinct defensive fronts, whereas Macdonald bases them on patterns. As a result, players end up understanding the complete pressure pattern rather than just their specific tasks. This allows them to better comprehend what their colleagues are doing, and it eventually allows them to interchange positions and provide pressure from a wide range of players and locations on the pitch.
“Mike Macdonald’s system is one where everybody has to learn what to do,” Huard stated. “Mike is teaching it at all levels so that everyone understands what everyone else is doing. It’s why (defensive end) Dre’Mont Jones is currently exercising, doing drops, and learning to cover a little bit, because guess what? You may be required to do so in a few of these artificial stresses, blitz looks, and illusions of complexity. It simply involves and engages everyone – everyone – in the defense.”
Huard is hopeful that will cut down on the frequent miscommunication issues that have plagued the Seahawks’ defense in recent years.
“(We) should never hear communication issues,” Huard said. “Never again should we hear Tre Flowers after the game talking about communication issues, Quandre Diggs talking about communication issues, guys on the D-line talking about communication issues. That should be eliminated from the vernacular. That should be done, should be over, because everybody’s gotta learn every component of this scheme, and that’s what they’re doing now. … Everybody sure seems to be bought in and working their butts off at the VMAC.”
