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Mike Macdonald: "This Feels Like Home Already" · Seahawks Press Pass

0:00
Speaker 1: Exciting day. Welcome to Mike McDonald day.
0:06
Speaker 2: So much excitement, right That's that's the word.
0:11
Speaker 1: For right now. It's been a long process, but I'm
0:15
Speaker 1: so excited for.
0:18
Speaker 2: The former players, the current players, the players are future.
0:23
Speaker 1: Players that will be coming in, everybody in.
0:27
Speaker 2: The building, the twelves, the Seahawk community, I mean just everybody.
0:34
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's uh.
0:36
Speaker 2: The coaches, like the coaches that are be coming in
0:39
Speaker 2: here that we raised heart working on and everything. Just
0:42
Speaker 2: so excited for everybody because this is the future right here,
0:47
Speaker 2: this is where it's going.
0:48
Speaker 1: And I think you're gonna learn and getting to know
0:52
Speaker 1: Mike that you a special dude. And you know, the
0:57
Speaker 1: process was awesome.
0:59
Speaker 2: Obviously, want to think Jody, you know, for her her
1:02
Speaker 2: guidance and leadership. You know, we had a clear directive, uh,
1:06
Speaker 2: Chalk and Bert, everybody that was involved. We had nineteen
1:10
Speaker 2: people do our DEI training so that all the candidates
1:14
Speaker 2: could feel everybody in the in the building and know
1:17
Speaker 2: how important it is to all of us, uh and
1:20
Speaker 2: what it means to be supporting the new head coach
1:23
Speaker 2: and especially all the players because at the end of
1:26
Speaker 2: the day, it is all about the players and you know,
1:31
Speaker 2: I think about the process. I think about faith in people,
1:37
Speaker 2: and so my mom would always tell me, you know, Johnny,
1:42
Speaker 2: God helps those who can't help themselves, and.
1:46
Speaker 3: What a cool deal.
1:47
Speaker 2: Because wow, I can't even remember now the days were
1:51
Speaker 2: running together, but last or you know, Sunday before they played,
1:55
Speaker 2: I was at church and you know, people are probably
1:59
Speaker 2: looking at me like, wow, that guy's really you know,
2:01
Speaker 2: been sitting in a lot or something.
2:03
Speaker 3: That guy's praying his tail off right now.
2:06
Speaker 1: Because I wanted the Ravens to lose and I wanted
2:08
Speaker 1: the Lions to.
2:09
Speaker 4: Lose, and.
2:14
Speaker 2: So yeah, I uh, you know, it's kind of probably
2:16
Speaker 2: creepy for Mike, but a lot of we've been blessed
2:19
Speaker 2: to be around, uh over the years, a lot of
2:23
Speaker 2: talented people throughout the National Football League and a lot
2:25
Speaker 2: of connections, and you know, it was it was really
2:29
Speaker 2: cool to do all the research and and and I'm Mike,
2:32
Speaker 2: and I think I might have creeped his beautiful bride
2:35
Speaker 2: stuff out a little bit too. Where's Steph at there
2:38
Speaker 2: you go? Thank you so much for the leap of faith.
2:41
Speaker 2: We we've it's been quick, right, It's awesome, But yeah,
2:47
Speaker 2: the people, it's it's just really special for all the
2:49
Speaker 2: people and UH involved in and at the end of
2:52
Speaker 2: the day, it comes down to people in relationships and
2:54
Speaker 2: trust and and for this, it happened.
2:57
Speaker 3: Quickly with Mike.
2:57
Speaker 4: With Mike, I would say.
2:59
Speaker 2: Uh that you know what I've what I've learned from
3:04
Speaker 2: preparing for all this is that Mike is a is
3:07
Speaker 2: a learning networker, not a not a climbing networker. And
3:11
Speaker 2: there's a huge difference there. This has happened quickly for him.
3:14
Speaker 2: But when you sit down with him and you get
3:16
Speaker 2: to meet him, you understand why the whys of Wow,
3:20
Speaker 2: he knows that guy, he knows that guy. He knows
3:21
Speaker 2: this guy like I've been in the league for thirty
3:23
Speaker 2: some years and we know I've taught him the same people.
3:26
Speaker 2: And so that really stood out. And then through the
3:29
Speaker 2: process too, I listened to a podcast where a gentleman
3:36
Speaker 2: was saying, you know, it was a it was a
3:38
Speaker 2: hiring thing, and they got into hiring and you know this, and.
3:41
Speaker 3: That it didn't matter what industry was. It's it's all
3:44
Speaker 3: about who's.
3:45
Speaker 1: Changing the marketplace, who's going to change the marketplace.
3:48
Speaker 3: And it just hit me like, Okay.
3:50
Speaker 2: When we're interviewing all these people who's gonna change the
3:53
Speaker 2: marketplace and.
3:56
Speaker 1: The product is the product.
3:57
Speaker 3: He's done it, he's seen it. And that's why you
4:00
Speaker 3: use assistant coach of the year. Uh.
4:03
Speaker 2: You know, I've had two really strong feelings leaving Pittsburgh
4:07
Speaker 2: several years ago, like we will never ever look like
4:09
Speaker 2: that again. I think it might have been our first
4:13
Speaker 2: year or second year. I can't remember. It was not
4:15
Speaker 2: it was not cool.
4:16
Speaker 3: And leaving Baltimore this year and uh, that was not cool.
4:22
Speaker 3: I think.
4:25
Speaker 2: So on behalf of Jody Allen, Uh, and you know,
4:29
Speaker 2: all of the twelves and and uh, everybody that's near
4:33
Speaker 2: and dear to uh my heart in this building. I
4:36
Speaker 2: want to introduce Mike McDonald's is a new head coach
4:40
Speaker 2: of the Seattle Seahawks.
4:41
Speaker 4: So thanks John. Uh.
4:56
Speaker 5: This is a humbling, humbling feeling that I'm feeling right
4:59
Speaker 5: now and in front of everybody, and I want to
5:02
Speaker 5: especially everybody in the organization in the back is uh,
5:04
Speaker 5: this is pretty cool.
5:05
Speaker 4: Just it feels like we're in this thing together, you know.
5:09
Speaker 5: And and this is a responsibility that my wife and
5:13
Speaker 5: I we take, we take extremely seriously.
5:16
Speaker 4: We from Afar, you know.
5:17
Speaker 5: We've we're East Coast folks, but you know, we've we've
5:20
Speaker 5: grown up on the East Coast, but we do have
5:22
Speaker 5: family out here in the area and we and we've
5:25
Speaker 5: we've seen this organization operate from afar and I've had
5:28
Speaker 5: nothing but respect for the ownership, especially John, how they've operated,
5:34
Speaker 5: Coach Carroll. The ability to compete for championships at a
5:39
Speaker 5: consistent pace, and how they play and the spirit of
5:44
Speaker 5: the players has been something that I respect a lot.
5:47
Speaker 5: And going through the process and meeting John and the
5:51
Speaker 5: leadership team, I think the first thing that really popped
5:55
Speaker 5: to me was the parallels of the organization that I've
5:58
Speaker 5: been working for for ten years and where I've really
6:00
Speaker 5: grown into the person and the man and the coach
6:02
Speaker 5: that I am today, And that was extremely appealing to me.
6:05
Speaker 5: And to hear John talk about people and how important
6:08
Speaker 5: that is was the driving force of of why we
6:13
Speaker 5: want to be here. And it is a leap of faith.
6:17
Speaker 5: But this is a special city and this is a
6:19
Speaker 5: great football city, man, and we got the best fans
6:22
Speaker 5: in the world, and I understand where this organization wants
6:28
Speaker 5: to go, and I feel like we're aligned on how
6:32
Speaker 5: we want to get there, and I'm just choose to
6:37
Speaker 5: go do it and there's no there's going to be
6:39
Speaker 5: no secrets, secret thing of you know, scheme or secret
6:43
Speaker 5: plays that are going to get us there faster. It's
6:45
Speaker 5: going to take a lot of hard work by finding
6:48
Speaker 5: the right people and doing it the right way, treating
6:51
Speaker 5: people the right way, building everybody up throughout the building.
6:54
Speaker 5: I want everybody to feel like they're a part of
6:56
Speaker 5: this mission. And it's going to take ll We got
7:02
Speaker 5: one day at a time, and it's that simple. It's
7:05
Speaker 5: one conversation at a time, it's one relationship of it,
7:08
Speaker 5: one relationship.
7:08
Speaker 4: At a time.
7:10
Speaker 5: And uh and I'm just you know, it's my wife
7:14
Speaker 5: and I have been talking just like because this feels
7:15
Speaker 5: like home already.
7:16
Speaker 4: You know, it just.
7:17
Speaker 5: Feels it feels like it feels like it feels like
7:19
Speaker 5: God put us in this position. We played for We
7:23
Speaker 5: prayed for clarity throughout this whole process, and it became
7:25
Speaker 5: very clear that this is.
7:26
Speaker 4: Where we're supposed to be.
7:28
Speaker 5: So we're just extremely excited to go along with the
7:31
Speaker 5: theme of just to get to work and to get
7:34
Speaker 5: to know everybody.
7:35
Speaker 4: I mean, this is the.
7:35
Speaker 5: Second day on the job. It feels like I've been
7:37
Speaker 5: here in two months already.
7:39
Speaker 4: You know.
7:39
Speaker 5: But uh, but I'm just really excited that it started already.
7:44
Speaker 5: You know, we've gotten to work, We've already contacted you
7:47
Speaker 5: know a lot of coaches that were very interested in talking.
7:49
Speaker 4: With But we'll talk about that in a minute.
7:51
Speaker 5: But before I take any questions, you know, I'd love
7:54
Speaker 5: to take some time and just and thank people that
7:56
Speaker 5: have helped us get it to this point.
7:58
Speaker 4: I've refaced already.
7:59
Speaker 5: But my my wife, Stephanie is absolute rock star.
8:03
Speaker 4: I love you.
8:04
Speaker 5: She's You'll get to know her in this city, will
8:07
Speaker 5: fall in love with her. She is a absolute rock
8:10
Speaker 5: star and a saint of a human.
8:13
Speaker 4: So thank you. My family.
8:16
Speaker 5: My dad, Uh, he is a. He is he is
8:20
Speaker 5: quite the he is a he's a great man. And
8:22
Speaker 5: he has taught me integrity, humility and determination and doing things.
8:28
Speaker 4: The right way and that will pay off in the
8:30
Speaker 4: long run. So thank you dad. My mom. Uh, my mom.
8:34
Speaker 5: Has taught me if you're gonna do something, you'd better
8:36
Speaker 5: do it right and uh and that stuck with me
8:39
Speaker 5: for a long time, So thank you mom. And my
8:42
Speaker 5: two heroes are my two older sisters, Maggie and Kate.
8:44
Speaker 5: Kate actually has lived here in the city for quite
8:47
Speaker 5: a while. She lives in Texas now, but I've been
8:50
Speaker 5: following their example my whole life and they're they're pretty
8:54
Speaker 5: incredible people.
8:55
Speaker 4: And thank you.
8:58
Speaker 5: The Ravens Organization is a special organization. There's a there's
9:02
Speaker 5: a lot of things that these two organizations share in common.
9:06
Speaker 5: And uh, I just be remiss not to just di
9:09
Speaker 5: mention some of those folks, starting with Steve Bashatti and
9:11
Speaker 5: his wife Friendnee Ozzie knew some I always tell the
9:15
Speaker 5: story that my first week is an intern, I was
9:18
Speaker 5: walking down the hall and and uh, Ozzie saw me,
9:20
Speaker 5: and you know, and that was pretty daunting for for
9:23
Speaker 5: a twenty something year old intern. And Ozzie knew my
9:26
Speaker 5: name and he and he took investment into me and
9:28
Speaker 5: my experience, and that is something that's something that will
9:31
Speaker 5: carry to this organization. We want everybody to feel vital
9:35
Speaker 5: and vital to the mission, and uh feel invested in
9:39
Speaker 5: And so Ozzie, thank you for for who you are
9:41
Speaker 5: as a person and and the and really the mark
9:45
Speaker 5: that you've left on this on this league. And then
9:47
Speaker 5: and and all the people in the Ravens Organization. Eric
9:49
Speaker 5: DaCosta first class, and really all the people in the
9:55
Speaker 5: Raven's organization. I's really it's hard to name everybody, but
9:58
Speaker 5: you guys know who you are and in contact with
10:00
Speaker 5: some of you.
10:01
Speaker 4: But those are relationships that we'll have for the rest
10:04
Speaker 4: of our lives.
10:05
Speaker 5: And there's some special people in that building and that's
10:07
Speaker 5: a special community, very similar to here. So I look
10:10
Speaker 5: forward to building those relationships with everybody in our building
10:13
Speaker 5: now and there'll be something that we'll be able to cherish,
10:16
Speaker 5: you know, moving forward, and finally, not finally, but with
10:20
Speaker 5: the Ravens, the Hardball family, Jim, Coach, Jack, Jackie, especially
10:26
Speaker 5: John and his wife Ingrid talk about taking a leap
10:30
Speaker 5: of faith and investing in some you know, young buck
10:33
Speaker 5: like me back in the day, and and having the
10:36
Speaker 5: having the guts to to give me opportunities over time
10:39
Speaker 5: and and put his name on the line and his
10:43
Speaker 5: investment in me, John Harps, I really appreciate that, and
10:48
Speaker 5: obviously we talked about it, but our relationship is very,
10:50
Speaker 5: very very special to me, and so thank you for
10:52
Speaker 5: your investment and my wife and I and then you know,
10:57
Speaker 5: moving here, moving here to Seattle, Jody Allen, I just
11:02
Speaker 5: want to thank her for trusting the process and empowering
11:06
Speaker 5: John to go through it having the patience, you know,
11:12
Speaker 5: to trust the fact that they were interested in me,
11:14
Speaker 5: you know. Thank you for hanging hanging in there hopefully.
11:16
Speaker 5: I was wishing that we had to wake a couple
11:18
Speaker 5: more weeks, but it did happen fast. But you felt
11:21
Speaker 5: like it was a first class operation, and her investment
11:25
Speaker 5: in this city and how much she cares about this
11:27
Speaker 5: team became very obvious to me, and I was that
11:30
Speaker 5: was very appealing.
11:32
Speaker 4: And then this man right here, John Schneider, I.
11:35
Speaker 5: Just I want to thank you for for how you
11:38
Speaker 5: how you do what you do, and the person that
11:40
Speaker 5: you are. And I know our relationship is very young,
11:43
Speaker 5: but when you feel a connection with someone and you
11:46
Speaker 5: feel like your values are aligned, that's a powerful thing.
11:49
Speaker 5: And so I think, I think we're going to make
11:51
Speaker 5: an amazing team and great, amazing partnership.
11:54
Speaker 4: And I'm really excited to work with you for a
11:56
Speaker 4: long time. So thank you.
12:00
Speaker 5: And then and the players both with at the Ravens
12:03
Speaker 5: and here and here in Seattle.
12:05
Speaker 4: Uh.
12:06
Speaker 5: I think my guys in the Ravens, we've we've talked
12:08
Speaker 5: to a couple of I'll reach out to you, you know,
12:10
Speaker 5: when my phone stops buzzing and the fire hose turns
12:12
Speaker 5: off a little bit. But uh, I hope you understand
12:15
Speaker 5: that this is why we do what we do is
12:17
Speaker 5: about the players. We're trying to build something special and
12:23
Speaker 5: the players are the ones that that that drive the
12:25
Speaker 5: bus and and.
12:26
Speaker 4: They lay it on the line.
12:27
Speaker 5: And and the guys in uh on our team last year,
12:30
Speaker 5: they did that. And I just really thank you and again,
12:34
Speaker 5: relationships man, and I'm just I'm I'm honored and humbled
12:38
Speaker 5: that I was able to coach you for the time
12:39
Speaker 5: that we had, and our relationships will last for a
12:42
Speaker 5: long time. And then our players here and the players
12:44
Speaker 5: that will be able to coach for the Seahawks. Man,
12:47
Speaker 5: I just hope you understand that you're the driving force
12:51
Speaker 5: behind everything that we do. And I can guarantee you this.
12:54
Speaker 5: You will get everything out of myself and our coaching
12:57
Speaker 5: staff every day and we will not stop until we
13:03
Speaker 5: will want to get to where we get okay.
13:05
Speaker 4: And I hope that's very clear to you.
13:07
Speaker 5: And you're the first thing that goes through our mind
13:09
Speaker 5: when we make decisions, and uh, that's the only way
13:12
Speaker 5: to do it. That's the only way to win. And
13:15
Speaker 5: I'm just very excited for the opportunity. Again, Thanks John,
13:18
Speaker 5: thank you for your time, and uh, we'll take questions.
13:21
Speaker 5: I guess John, there's so many different things, but being
13:24
Speaker 5: worth the wait. What was it before you ever met
13:27
Speaker 5: Mike that made this worth the wait? For the interview
13:31
Speaker 5: on the hut? Uh?
13:34
Speaker 2: You know the product really, you know, washing the film,
13:37
Speaker 2: feeling their feeling, their defense that day, being there in
13:41
Speaker 2: that stadium, and then all the relationships and thanks Jimmy,
13:46
Speaker 2: because there's so many people that really opened their hearts
13:50
Speaker 2: and and uh, they didn't have to they didn't have
13:52
Speaker 2: to share all the information with me if they did.
13:54
Speaker 2: And so it's all a few people, yes, no, everybody,
13:58
Speaker 2: tons of people in the league and you know, cheerleaders.
14:04
Speaker 2: We found out a lot of stuff and so uh,
14:07
Speaker 2: we were doing our due diligence and yeah, I just
14:11
Speaker 2: I would I would say that the background and then
14:14
Speaker 2: you know, wele you know, and scouting we call it
14:16
Speaker 2: checking boxes, right, and then you know, sitting down in person,
14:21
Speaker 2: we had a lot of great candidates. Guys did a
14:23
Speaker 2: great job and and people in this building felt them.
14:26
Speaker 1: And it's just a I don't know how to describe
14:30
Speaker 1: it other than it's it's a it's.
14:31
Speaker 3: A feeling, it's a connection. There's clarity.
14:35
Speaker 2: And then, uh, everything that everybody says about his great
14:38
Speaker 2: reputation came to life, Uh very quickly.
14:41
Speaker 3: It w it was, it was, it was very evident.
14:43
Speaker 2: And uh they drove all the way from uh Baltimore
14:48
Speaker 2: down a to uh to Dulles and jumped on a
14:50
Speaker 2: plane and came out here and the rest is history.
14:54
Speaker 5: Y'all.
14:54
Speaker 4: Do you use the phrase changing the market for?
14:55
Speaker 5: How does Mike to do that.
14:57
Speaker 3: He's a disruptor. He's changed it.
14:59
Speaker 2: He's he's you look at their product, live their defense,
15:01
Speaker 2: you know, you look at you know, the the Ray,
15:04
Speaker 2: the Ravens organization.
15:07
Speaker 3: You know. Ozzie and I and now Eric as well.
15:10
Speaker 2: We always used to, you know, joke with each other like,
15:12
Speaker 2: you know, we have a spy in our draft room
15:14
Speaker 2: or something, because they keep picking all the players we
15:16
Speaker 2: wanna pick, and vice versa. And Ozzie would send me
15:19
Speaker 2: attacks or Eric would send me a text like you know,
15:21
Speaker 2: I'm like dang it, you know, like d he took
15:23
Speaker 2: our guy or whatever. And we've always just joked about that,
15:26
Speaker 2: and it's a great organization. So when you're when you're
15:28
Speaker 2: when you're hiring somebody.
15:29
Speaker 3: I mean you look at the background. That means a lot.
15:31
Speaker 2: So you know you're talking about a great organization. You
15:34
Speaker 2: talking like the the Ravens and and uh John Harbaugh,
15:37
Speaker 2: the Harpball's and you know Jim and and then Michigan,
15:41
Speaker 2: I mean.
15:43
Speaker 3: Fantastic.
15:44
Speaker 6: Yn't know you see the football Documen's offense there?
15:46
Speaker 4: What if how like I was a person.
15:48
Speaker 1: As a leader, commit to you the journey service, everything.
15:51
Speaker 3: Was published, many effort.
15:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, we weren't talking like you know, schematics and you
15:55
Speaker 2: know moving you know, shipped in Uh.
15:56
Speaker 3: The coaches talking to your coach, spet like this and that.
15:59
Speaker 3: But we didn't even get into that. It was uh communication, leadership, clarity. Uh.
16:03
Speaker 3: I think that's you know it jumps off. We put Mike. Uh.
16:07
Speaker 2: I talked to several people that interviewed him already and
16:10
Speaker 2: they're like, wait till you look at look.
16:11
Speaker 3: In this guy's eyes.
16:12
Speaker 2: Man, he's he's he's there, he's present, he's on it
16:15
Speaker 2: and uh and he and he was, and everybody in
16:18
Speaker 2: that room felt it happened.
16:20
Speaker 3: Sorry is that Bob?
16:21
Speaker 6: Sorry you said it happened you you said it happen
16:25
Speaker 6: to past.
16:25
Speaker 1: What Look you tell us about the process when you
16:27
Speaker 1: guys first make contact and kind.
16:28
Speaker 3: Of how that all went well.
16:32
Speaker 2: Uh, Patrick Mahomes was doing his thing, and I apologize again.
16:34
Speaker 2: I've apologized to him several times. Uh, so to be
16:38
Speaker 2: able to you know, sending her slip. You know, we
16:41
Speaker 2: went through our our we went through our situation what
16:43
Speaker 2: like I don't know, it feels like several months ago now,
16:46
Speaker 2: but uh, then we got through that process and then
16:49
Speaker 2: there's a lot of things in the league office you
16:51
Speaker 2: need to take care of.
16:53
Speaker 3: Mike and the Ravens, and in the Niners did.
16:56
Speaker 4: Such a great job they had the first seed, so
16:58
Speaker 4: uh you.
16:58
Speaker 2: Could always speak to those individuals until that Monday. So
17:03
Speaker 2: you know, we went through a job description that needs approval,
17:09
Speaker 2: all of our DEI training, and then organizing ourselves.
17:13
Speaker 3: Uh you know, what are we looking for with the
17:15
Speaker 3: clarity of our.
17:16
Speaker 2: Questions and uh you know, how are we gonna you know,
17:20
Speaker 2: find the answers as quickly as we can. So we
17:22
Speaker 2: were unable to interview Mike on Monday. So you know,
17:28
Speaker 2: like I said, we're just really hoping that we'd be
17:29
Speaker 2: able to you know, the Lions lost and the Ravens lost.
17:34
Speaker 3: It wasn't personal at all.
17:35
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was, but no, we'd be able to, you know,
17:40
Speaker 2: fly to We had planned place to to fly to Detroit,
17:43
Speaker 2: flu Detroit on Monday night or Monday afternoon. Flew to
17:49
Speaker 2: Baltimore Monday night, had our interview with Mike uh at
17:55
Speaker 2: nine o'clock on Tuesday morning and he rushed it and
18:01
Speaker 2: uh yeah, we flew back here and it was on
18:06
Speaker 2: Tracy and I picked uh Steph and wake up at
18:09
Speaker 2: the airport and had a grade event when like most says,
18:13
Speaker 2: we chopped it up a little bit, you know, hung
18:16
Speaker 2: out for a while and it was just it was
18:18
Speaker 2: just natural, easy, clear, like what Baltimore.
18:22
Speaker 3: Had won when was playing a superpol why would you
18:27
Speaker 3: have waited and the congratulations? UF? You mean what did
18:30
Speaker 3: had waited in you had to wait for a lot
18:32
Speaker 3: in the Super Bowl?
18:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, the reputation was was really strong, So I mean,
18:37
Speaker 2: I can't tell you like one hundred percent like, but
18:39
Speaker 2: the reputation was so strong we didn't we didn't have
18:42
Speaker 2: to get there, So I don't have to answer that
18:44
Speaker 2: question cause we didn't have.
18:45
Speaker 4: To get there, Mike, you know, you.
18:47
Speaker 5: You obviously had talked to other teams through this process,
18:49
Speaker 5: and in greets you're what about the conversation with John
18:52
Speaker 5: made you feel like this was the right off of
18:54
Speaker 5: your feet up. Well, like I said, there were opportunities
18:57
Speaker 5: to talk with UH with teams before then, understanding that
19:01
Speaker 5: possibly was interest, but given the timeframe and when that
19:05
Speaker 5: opportunity would come. But our mentality going in was this,
19:08
Speaker 5: what's going with an open mind and if there's a
19:10
Speaker 5: great opportunity that with a great partnership that feels like
19:13
Speaker 5: it's the right thing, then that'd be something you wanted
19:15
Speaker 5: to pursue.
19:16
Speaker 4: And then we had some great conversations throughout the process.
19:19
Speaker 5: But like I, like I said, when we started talking
19:23
Speaker 5: about vision and how we wanted to play and the
19:26
Speaker 5: direction that we felt like that I felt like how
19:30
Speaker 5: I'd like to take the team, and how that parallel
19:35
Speaker 5: that what they saw, it just became very clear that
19:39
Speaker 5: the thing that you were looking that was the thing
19:41
Speaker 5: that you're looking for.
19:42
Speaker 4: So that's it. Just it made sense at that point.
19:45
Speaker 6: Mike, you're known for your defense. Obviously it's been phenomenal
19:48
Speaker 6: your last three years as a coordinator, but I think
19:50
Speaker 6: a lot of people are curious about your offensive philosophies.
19:53
Speaker 6: You played for a two guys that like to run
19:55
Speaker 6: the ball a lot. Is it fair to say that
19:57
Speaker 6: that's kind of your offensive philosophy as well. Do you
20:00
Speaker 6: feel kind of differently about that from John and Jim.
20:03
Speaker 5: Yeah, the percentage of when you run the ball and
20:05
Speaker 5: how much and all that like, that's that's all adjustable
20:08
Speaker 5: to me. It's gonna mirror art football team. But we're
20:11
Speaker 5: gonna be a physical football team. We're gonna have answers.
20:15
Speaker 5: We're gonna try to be explosive and really do it
20:18
Speaker 5: and build it around the players that we have. We're
20:20
Speaker 5: going through the process right now. Who's gonna be, you know,
20:23
Speaker 5: helping design that and ultimately calm play. So to have
20:26
Speaker 5: a specific answer for you what it's gonna look like.
20:28
Speaker 5: I can't do that now, but that'll come into focus
20:30
Speaker 5: here sooner then later, Like.
20:34
Speaker 7: You mentioned, and folks for you to have to stay
20:37
Speaker 7: with you already moved the home.
20:39
Speaker 4: Well, I had a great job. We had a great
20:42
Speaker 4: job in Baltimore.
20:43
Speaker 5: I'm in you're you know a lot of like I
20:45
Speaker 5: met reference earlier, there's a lot of great people there.
20:48
Speaker 4: Loved our players.
20:49
Speaker 5: And you know, you're gonna always have a chance to
20:51
Speaker 5: be successful. So we have a lot of you know,
20:54
Speaker 5: family on these coasts and things like that. So moving
20:57
Speaker 5: out west and being and moving away from those folks,
20:59
Speaker 5: you know, to lead the faith.
21:01
Speaker 1: Mike your motto and welcome to Seattle. First off, thanks, Second,
21:04
Speaker 1: you had a motto.
21:05
Speaker 3: In Baltimore, play like a raven.
21:07
Speaker 1: Do you transfer that to Seattle?
21:08
Speaker 3: Play like a seahawk?
21:09
Speaker 1: And what exactly does that.
21:10
Speaker 3: Mean to you?
21:10
Speaker 5: No, we're not gonna We're not gonna translate that, but
21:13
Speaker 5: what what the spirit of that is. We'll come over
21:16
Speaker 5: and we'll be abill manifest that, you know, as if
21:19
Speaker 5: we have conversations with the coaches and and and John
21:22
Speaker 5: and try to get our vision, you know, aligned and
21:26
Speaker 5: moving forward, and obviously get input from the players as well.
21:29
Speaker 5: What's important to them, what kind of what do they
21:31
Speaker 5: want to see when when we turn on the tape.
21:33
Speaker 5: So there's no there were now kind of translate that
21:36
Speaker 5: saying over now and you obviously think calling plays for
21:39
Speaker 5: Baltimore in Michigan in the last three years, it's not
21:41
Speaker 5: something that you still plan on.
21:42
Speaker 4: Doing now, your head coach.
21:44
Speaker 5: Yeah, right now, right now, the plan is I'll become
21:46
Speaker 5: the plays now depending on who the defense coordinator is
21:50
Speaker 5: and when.
21:52
Speaker 4: When that becomes that. Ultimately, I'm the head coach of
21:55
Speaker 4: the football team, so I want to coach the football team.
21:58
Speaker 5: And right now, the best way that we can win is,
22:01
Speaker 5: in my opinion, is for me to call the plays.
22:02
Speaker 5: And then when it becomes obvious that someone else is
22:05
Speaker 5: ready to go and we see it the same way,
22:07
Speaker 5: then then we'll make that will make that change.
22:09
Speaker 1: What like coach just when this you know, new head
22:11
Speaker 1: coach chair would be taken over the.
22:13
Speaker 3: Team that won two three four games in the private.
22:15
Speaker 1: World, what about this ross or do you like that
22:18
Speaker 1: you're taking over.
22:19
Speaker 3: Team at one nine?
22:19
Speaker 4: Yet that's they were almost family playoff of that that is.
22:22
Speaker 3: The Craftice does.
22:24
Speaker 4: Uh yeah, that was definitely uh a part of it.
22:28
Speaker 5: We you know, we we we went against Seattle this
22:30
Speaker 5: year and uh, there's a lot of great players on
22:33
Speaker 5: this team. I mean, he's We've done a great job
22:34
Speaker 5: of of uh draft ins that it's a young core
22:38
Speaker 5: and so uh we got a great opportunity to to
22:40
Speaker 5: build these guys and and and build a really competitive team.
22:43
Speaker 4: Uh sooner than later. What as your standpoint you talk
22:46
Speaker 4: about the importance of players.
22:48
Speaker 1: What stood up to you when you interviewed for this job.
22:50
Speaker 6: About the players you're gonna get an area.
22:52
Speaker 4: On the fens.
22:53
Speaker 5: Where did you think this get Steed?
22:56
Speaker 4: Well, there's a combination.
22:57
Speaker 5: There's a couple of you know, you were watching the
22:59
Speaker 5: the defense on a lot of crossover tape throughout the season,
23:01
Speaker 5: so you realize that there's a lot of talent there.
23:03
Speaker 5: And there's obviously guys that have great reputations that are
23:05
Speaker 5: on the on the team as well.
23:07
Speaker 4: Don't know a lot of them personally, so I'm interested
23:10
Speaker 4: about who they are as people and and uh kind
23:12
Speaker 4: of what drives them there. And then there's a lot
23:14
Speaker 4: of guys, you know, like Spoon, guys that we did
23:17
Speaker 4: you know, did on that.
23:18
Speaker 5: We evaluated throughout the draft, and the guys were really
23:20
Speaker 5: excited about but you know, obviously weren't able to be
23:22
Speaker 5: picked when we were picking in Baltimore. Mike, can you
23:25
Speaker 5: tell us about the origin of your defense, how it
23:27
Speaker 5: came together or what did it do pros? Yeah, this
23:31
Speaker 5: is interesting answer from you know, from if John Harbaugh
23:34
Speaker 5: is listening. But it's it's it's it's something that we
23:37
Speaker 5: that we built in Baltimore with the coaches that we have,
23:40
Speaker 5: and you're gonna draw inspiration from things that you think
23:43
Speaker 5: is from schemes and people that you feel like are
23:46
Speaker 5: doing some cool stuff out there and have answers for things.
23:49
Speaker 4: And I think going to college and having being able
23:52
Speaker 4: to reach.
23:52
Speaker 5: Out to a lot of different programs and there's a
23:55
Speaker 5: lot a lot of different programs throughout the country that
23:57
Speaker 5: I really respect and coaches that were really helped, you know,
24:00
Speaker 5: translating the game to college, and I think what that
24:02
Speaker 5: did is it streamlined a lot of the things.
24:04
Speaker 4: That we were trying to do at the pro level.
24:06
Speaker 5: And so it is it's just a constant evolution of
24:10
Speaker 5: kind of the the basics the fundamentals that that Rex
24:13
Speaker 5: Ryan and Jim Johnson's have done, you know, twenty twenty
24:17
Speaker 5: five years ago, and then all the great coordinators that
24:19
Speaker 5: we've had in Baltimore that we've been able to evolve
24:21
Speaker 5: the scheme and ultimately, you know, the coaches that we
24:24
Speaker 5: had last year, we decided, you know, we took it
24:27
Speaker 5: a certain direction given the players we had, So I'd
24:29
Speaker 5: say it's adaptable, but we were always going to be
24:32
Speaker 5: aggressive on how we want to do it. You know,
24:33
Speaker 5: people ask about our bootz rates and all that. That's
24:36
Speaker 5: not important to me. It's about putting yourself some positions
24:38
Speaker 5: to win the down, affecting the quarterback, putting your guys
24:41
Speaker 5: in position to have success. Like you have such a
24:43
Speaker 5: unique background, How did you get attracted to the defensive
24:46
Speaker 5: side of the ball in the first place.
24:47
Speaker 1: Why was that where your talents went.
24:50
Speaker 4: That's a great question. I don't know really the answer
24:52
Speaker 4: to that.
24:52
Speaker 5: I think, well, initially when I got the internship in Baltimore,
24:55
Speaker 5: they told me I was gonna be on offense, and
24:56
Speaker 5: I showed up and they said I was gonna be
24:57
Speaker 5: on defense. That's probably the easiest question to answer, but
25:01
Speaker 5: I think it just fits my mentality. Frankly, you know,
25:03
Speaker 5: it's uh offensive guys. You know sometimes sometimes it isn't
25:07
Speaker 5: really we don't get along too well, but you know,
25:12
Speaker 5: but yeah, I just started started started when I coached
25:15
Speaker 5: high school football at Ceedar Scholtz and had affinity for
25:18
Speaker 5: the linebacker position and it went from there.
25:20
Speaker 6: John, you mentioned the the Baltimore game and not wanting
25:23
Speaker 6: to feel that way again kind of.
25:24
Speaker 3: Up to feel was there something you saw.
25:26
Speaker 6: In him or in how he how they played and
25:28
Speaker 6: all that that they could.
25:29
Speaker 2: Did you know it really stuck out to you that
25:31
Speaker 2: they had all over Yeah, they talking as I mean,
25:33
Speaker 2: there's a feeling that we all we all went there
25:36
Speaker 2: and felt it right. But uh, in talking to the players,
25:38
Speaker 2: you know, several several of the offensive players really.
25:41
Speaker 3: Wh what was that? That just happened? Right? And you
25:45
Speaker 3: know I talked to try to.
25:47
Speaker 2: Pick the players' brains, you know, here and there throughout
25:49
Speaker 2: the season, and that totally stood out and I I
25:52
Speaker 2: forget you know.
25:56
Speaker 4: Which player was?
25:57
Speaker 3: And but they they said to the who was that?
25:59
Speaker 6: What was that was that?
26:01
Speaker 3: You know, they don't A lot of players aren't, like,
26:04
Speaker 3: you know, who's a coordinator over there? What was that
26:05
Speaker 3: all about? For?
26:07
Speaker 6: Like, uh, you're obviously replacing a legendary coach here to
26:10
Speaker 6: be Carol And then he's wondering.
26:12
Speaker 5: Have you cross passed with Jim Mudch and you develop
26:15
Speaker 5: any tight relationship with him?
26:16
Speaker 1: And how do you go about kind of uh injecting
26:18
Speaker 1: your own.
26:19
Speaker 6: Personality in style and philosophy and a place when there
26:22
Speaker 6: was some of who's there?
26:23
Speaker 3: For ones?
26:23
Speaker 4: He was Yeah, I've never met never met Pete.
26:27
Speaker 5: Uh, I've always admired from far he's got a I
26:29
Speaker 5: have a tremendous amount of respect for him as trackers.
26:32
Speaker 4: Probably a Hall of Fame coach.
26:36
Speaker 5: You know, Pete has a great personality, but it's his
26:38
Speaker 5: and its authentic to to who he is as a person.
26:41
Speaker 4: I think that's why.
26:43
Speaker 5: The players resonate with him and how he had why
26:45
Speaker 5: he has such a great reputation, and he's and his
26:47
Speaker 5: track record is what it is. Uh. I have a
26:49
Speaker 5: different personality, you know, and you'll get to know me.
26:52
Speaker 5: But my plan is to be myself every day and
26:54
Speaker 5: you're just gonna.
26:55
Speaker 4: Get me, you know.
26:56
Speaker 5: So I it's not a it's not a facade that
26:58
Speaker 5: there's no alter agendas or anything like that. But it's
27:01
Speaker 5: all about what's the best interest for the team, what's
27:05
Speaker 5: the best interest for the players, and how we can
27:08
Speaker 5: be successful. And I gotta there's a sense of humor
27:11
Speaker 5: in there, I promise you know. Some people like it
27:13
Speaker 5: more than others, but uh uh, it'll come out and
27:16
Speaker 5: and but it's just if you're trying to be somebody
27:18
Speaker 5: that you're not.
27:19
Speaker 4: It's just it's one it's exhausting, and two people see
27:22
Speaker 4: right through it.
27:23
Speaker 3: What a.
27:26
Speaker 6: Stamps you have, John, this is your first head coaching opportunity.
27:30
Speaker 6: What are the what are the greatest lessons when you
27:33
Speaker 6: learn for teach of those guys that you feel the
27:35
Speaker 6: best prepared for this.
27:38
Speaker 4: I'm glad you asked that question. That those guys are
27:43
Speaker 4: some of the most authentic competitive people I've ever been around.
27:47
Speaker 5: And the players know when when it's real, and they
27:50
Speaker 5: love their players and they have their players backs, and
27:53
Speaker 5: they're willing to do whatever it takes, you know, put
27:55
Speaker 5: them in a position to succeed. And sometimes it's it's
27:58
Speaker 5: tough love, but it's it's telling them the truth, being respectful.
28:04
Speaker 5: They go about it two completely different ways, but they
28:06
Speaker 5: end up in the same spot.
28:08
Speaker 7: Mike, why are your sisters face and hearing?
28:12
Speaker 3: Well?
28:12
Speaker 4: Uh, they're just incredibly courageous people have had, uh just
28:22
Speaker 4: a great effect on me.
28:23
Speaker 5: Just you know, they're they're bolder than me and they're
28:24
Speaker 5: four and six years older than I am, and uh,
28:27
Speaker 5: anyone with older siblings.
28:28
Speaker 4: They're always looking up to them and how they do things.
28:30
Speaker 4: But talk about people that have taken.
28:32
Speaker 5: Leaps of face throughout their career and careers and with
28:34
Speaker 5: their families and who they are.
28:36
Speaker 4: As people, and it's just uh m hm. It was
28:41
Speaker 4: just it's just easy. You know, you're just chasing them
28:43
Speaker 4: and I love them. They're they're pretty awesome.
28:46
Speaker 7: Why you've risen through the ranks and accomplished all you've
28:49
Speaker 7: had such a short amount of time.
28:51
Speaker 4: What's the biggest thing you've learned that's allowed you to
28:54
Speaker 4: have enjoyed the success.
28:55
Speaker 3: That you've had so far.
28:58
Speaker 5: Yeah, when I hear people tell me you've risen really fast,
29:01
Speaker 5: it just makes me a little uncomfortable because that's not
29:03
Speaker 5: really the goal.
29:04
Speaker 4: You're You're you're trying to use.
29:06
Speaker 5: You're trying to be in the role that you are
29:08
Speaker 5: to help the team the best you can, and ultimately,
29:12
Speaker 5: as your roles and your responsibilities increase, you know, the
29:15
Speaker 5: ability to do that becomes is greater, you know.
29:18
Speaker 4: So I think I think that's the mentality you have
29:22
Speaker 4: to have.
29:22
Speaker 5: And the more the more you're in this in this
29:25
Speaker 5: business and you're and you're and you're around these great
29:28
Speaker 5: people in the competition, so you realize.
29:30
Speaker 4: That there's no way it can be just you.
29:33
Speaker 5: It's just there's so much it's it's there's so much
29:36
Speaker 5: power in the effort of the group and kind of
29:39
Speaker 5: unlocking the people around you, and so the whole goal
29:42
Speaker 5: is about empowering those folks and and trying to bring
29:45
Speaker 5: the best out of them. And then ultimately, you know,
29:47
Speaker 5: as an organization, that's that's really where you go when
29:49
Speaker 5: that's how you go far. You know, it's together.
29:53
Speaker 4: You being a players coach.
29:56
Speaker 5: And many former players have described as the for that
30:00
Speaker 5: mindset and entirely to the organization.
30:05
Speaker 4: I you know, I it's not.
30:06
Speaker 5: I haven't actually heard i'm a player's coach that often,
30:08
Speaker 5: so that's a little surprising to me. But I I
30:11
Speaker 5: I just like I said, I think it's about generating
30:14
Speaker 5: their relationship with them, constant communication, telling them the truth,
30:20
Speaker 5: tell them would love.
30:23
Speaker 4: And I think it's a consistency that you have.
30:25
Speaker 5: To have where again, the players will know, so they'll
30:29
Speaker 5: know if whether we're consistent or not in our approach,
30:32
Speaker 5: and uh, whether we have their backs.
30:34
Speaker 4: Now there's we're.
30:35
Speaker 5: Gonna tell them the truth and there's gonna be a
30:36
Speaker 5: standard here about how we're gonna play. But everybody's gonna
30:39
Speaker 5: understand that from day one. And uh, and ultimately, I
30:42
Speaker 5: think why where you have success as the players start
30:44
Speaker 5: to hold each other accountable as well, cause they understand
30:46
Speaker 5: what the standard is as well so, but I think
30:50
Speaker 5: if you're consistent and you're honest, uh, I think they
30:53
Speaker 5: respect that.
30:54
Speaker 7: Mike, you're twenty twenty twenty twenty Blutgorias go down to
30:59
Speaker 7: mission and then you go back why and what did
31:02
Speaker 7: you learn from that that experience to help.
31:05
Speaker 5: You well, talk about where I, you know, going through
31:09
Speaker 5: your career. I ultimately I did want to be a
31:10
Speaker 5: defensive coordinator at some point and and it was a
31:13
Speaker 5: great opportunity to do that, you know, for a coach
31:15
Speaker 5: that I are a person that I really.
31:16
Speaker 4: Respected in Jim and how he and how he ran
31:19
Speaker 4: his program and.
31:22
Speaker 5: M it just I mean, it was it was the
31:25
Speaker 5: University of Michigan, you know, and that's big time football,
31:28
Speaker 5: and and they were hungry to win. And what I
31:31
Speaker 5: learned when I showed up is we had we had
31:33
Speaker 5: some awesome people in that building, some great players.
31:36
Speaker 4: I don't know Mike most here, but but Mike was
31:39
Speaker 4: part of that. And they were hungry to win. And
31:42
Speaker 4: that was a lot.
31:43
Speaker 5: That was an awesome experience to build, bring people together,
31:47
Speaker 5: generate a common.
31:48
Speaker 4: Goal, and just go chase it every day. And that's
31:50
Speaker 4: what we're gonna do here.
31:52
Speaker 6: Waves guys, described your your philosophy as flexible and adaptable.
31:57
Speaker 6: When did that become the most important thing you and
32:00
Speaker 6: why is that the identity.
32:02
Speaker 3: Of your infense?
32:04
Speaker 5: Well, the offense is out there are too good just
32:06
Speaker 5: to run three things and just say, hey, we're gonna
32:08
Speaker 5: beat you, you know. So as a philosophically, again, I
32:13
Speaker 5: think we're all in this thing together and the players
32:17
Speaker 5: need to know that we're trying to put them in
32:19
Speaker 5: advantageous positions. So we're constantly trying to give them little
32:25
Speaker 5: margins of advantages. And if you're not doing that, then
32:30
Speaker 5: you know what are you doing as a coach, whether
32:31
Speaker 5: it's through technique or fundamentals, or communication or scheme. So
32:37
Speaker 5: the system that we run is built on concepts that
32:39
Speaker 5: are adjustable and we can layer it together and you know,
32:42
Speaker 5: we're not going to get there overnight. It's going to
32:44
Speaker 5: be a process, you know, but we have we have
32:46
Speaker 5: we understand what that takes, and the cadence will vary,
32:51
Speaker 5: you know, based on how fast the guys.
32:52
Speaker 4: Could pick it up and then what they can do.
32:55
Speaker 4: So it's not gonna it'll the the spirit of how
32:57
Speaker 4: we play and the principles of how we play.
33:00
Speaker 5: What you've seen on the tape in Baltimore will be
33:02
Speaker 5: the same, but I can't guarantee that the schematics will
33:05
Speaker 5: be the same uh.
33:07
Speaker 4: Here, because you know, I just we're not sure where
33:09
Speaker 4: we're good at yet more.
33:12
Speaker 3: Obviously, you're the defensive coach. That's your special to do.
33:15
Speaker 1: The State Quarterback Driven League. Pree your thoughts in the
33:18
Speaker 1: state of the quarterback.
33:19
Speaker 3: World, Jenia Smith, you know at.
33:21
Speaker 1: This earlier and how that played in your decision.
33:24
Speaker 3: To take your support.
33:25
Speaker 5: Yet, well, we've played against you know, he's a really
33:27
Speaker 5: good player. I'm pretty sure he's a the Pro Bowl
33:29
Speaker 5: right now, you know. But we're gonna build around the quarterback.
33:34
Speaker 3: You got to.
33:35
Speaker 5: Just like we said on defense, we've built the system
33:37
Speaker 5: around the players on defense, We're gonna build it around
33:39
Speaker 5: the players on offense. And the most most important player
33:41
Speaker 5: is the is the QB. So we'll see how the
33:44
Speaker 5: whole situation shakes out over time.
33:47
Speaker 4: But excited to get to meet those guys, Drew, I mean, uh,
33:51
Speaker 4: I'm there.
33:51
Speaker 5: I've talked to Geno briefly after our game and told
33:53
Speaker 5: him much I respected him, not anticipating I'd see him
33:55
Speaker 5: in six months.
33:57
Speaker 4: Or three months or how along with it. It's been,
33:58
Speaker 4: But yeah, I just really excit.
34:00
Speaker 5: I had to meet the rest of the guys, you know,
34:02
Speaker 5: especially especially the qbs and get to know them to
34:05
Speaker 5: kind of see them make some ticks so we can
34:06
Speaker 5: start to build the system around them.
34:07
Speaker 6: Mike, in regards to your offensive coordinator, is it important
34:10
Speaker 6: to find somebody who has called plays in the NFL?
34:14
Speaker 6: Does that even matter on the on the list of.
34:17
Speaker 3: Things that you want from an OC.
34:20
Speaker 5: It's not near the top of the list. We're looking
34:22
Speaker 5: for the right the right person to come in here
34:24
Speaker 5: and build this thing. So we want someone that's open
34:26
Speaker 5: minded as a growth a growth mindset that can connect
34:29
Speaker 5: with their players and uh and build build a system
34:33
Speaker 5: you know that's that's unique to Seattle Seahawks, that's gonna
34:36
Speaker 5: live here for a long time, and he's gonna be
34:37
Speaker 5: the one spearheadn't it.
34:39
Speaker 1: How close were you work to taking that job at KPMG.
34:43
Speaker 5: Well, I initially signed the letter and then, uh didn't
34:46
Speaker 5: feel right when I did it, But I did sign it,
34:47
Speaker 5: and then and then when up you know the story.
34:50
Speaker 5: But when Baltimore called it, I called the recruiter and
34:52
Speaker 5: said thanks, but no thanks, because you realize you can't
34:55
Speaker 5: work at KPMG anymore, right, And I was like, I
34:57
Speaker 5: think I'm okay with that.
35:00
Speaker 4: Where do they stand?
35:01
Speaker 1: Last question?
35:03
Speaker 3: What was the question?
35:04
Speaker 1: But wh where do they stand on?
35:06
Speaker 5: Oh?
35:07
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, uh, this is the funny stort.
35:08
Speaker 5: We we you know, we went met everybody initially in
35:11
Speaker 5: the uh eight, you know, in the entryway. Yesterday we
35:13
Speaker 5: literally walked upstairs and we went to work on staffing.
35:16
Speaker 3: So isn't a tour yet?
35:17
Speaker 5: Yeah. I I couldn't say where the indoor is, so
35:20
Speaker 5: I guess that's full disclosure.
35:21
Speaker 1: Locker room.
35:22
Speaker 4: I got no chance.
35:23
Speaker 1: Michael. You think it's gonna be the biggest challenge for you?
35:25
Speaker 4: Taking on hey, pushing responsibility to got it?
35:28
Speaker 3: Do you used to come with that?
35:29
Speaker 1: And meeting this transition up the lotter.
35:31
Speaker 5: There's gonna be a lot of challenges. I mean, we're
35:33
Speaker 5: we're we're gonna have adversity, and what's the biggest one.
35:37
Speaker 5: I can't answer that, but I I just know that
35:39
Speaker 5: if we're gonna take the approach we have every day
35:42
Speaker 5: and attack it head on, then you know we'll be
35:44
Speaker 5: able to get through it.
35:45
Speaker 4: Thank you everybody, Okay, thank you guys.