By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Mike Macdonals is building a foundation built on trust and intergrity and it’s working

After a humbling  31-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Mike Macdonald knew his team was at a crossroads. The loss to the Bills evened the Seahawks’ season record to 4-4. The Seahawks started the season  3-0 with wins over Denver, New England, and Miami. The wins were followed up with three consecutive losses to Detroit, the N.Y Giants, and San Francisco. The loss to the Bills followed a win over Atlanta. Sending mixed signals as to whether Macdonald’s message is reaching his team.

 Up next was a crucial NFC West match-up with the Los Angeles Rams. To outsiders, a win over the Division Rivals would affirm that the Macdonald building process resonated.  Before the Rams game, Macdonald pointed out at the opportunity awaiting his team.

“ There’s an opportunity here to really take a next step and get a win where we can put ourselves in a great position to go get another win. Still, there’s a lot of football to be played, but definitely a win puts you in a lot better position, said Macdonald .’It kind of furthers the story that you’re trying to develop as a football team throughout the season.”

A SHIFT IN PERFORMANCE

There is a saying which says that you learn more about a person or, in this case, coaching staff and team in bad times than you do in good times. Against the Rams, the defense showed a marked improvement over its performance in the Bills, although the result was the same. In the 20-26 overtime loss to the Rams, the Seahawks yielded 68 net rushing yards,  the lowest numbers since the 65 yards yielded in the Dolphins game.  In the Bills game, the defense gave up 164 rushing yards. A subtle change that would pay massive dividends down the road was the insertion of Ernest  Jones IV as the starting linebacker in the Bills game.

SEASON CHANGING TRADE

 The team traded Jerome Baker for Jones on October 24th, three days before the Bills game. Jones recorded a team-high seven tackles. In the loss to the Rams, Jones recorded six tackles, one behind  Tyrel Dodson’s team-high seven tackles. Dodson would be waived on November 12th and replaced by rookie linebacker  Tyrice Knight.

After the loss to the Rams, Macdonald was steadfast, resolute, and clear when asked about whether his vision and plan for the team had changed.

“You keep stringing good weeks and good practices together, and all of a sudden, the confidence builds, and you start to see some results on Sundays, and that’s where we’re going as a football team,” added Macdonald.   With those prophetic words, Macdonald and the team headed into the bye week.

SHOCKER IN THE BAY

The first game after the bye week was a second game with the San Francisco  49ers, who were looking to complete the season sweep. A 20-17 upset win over the Seahawks surprised many, but not Macdonald and his players.

“ I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s all 11 (players). It’s how we gameplan, the things that we want, how we work stuff throughout the week, how we iron out the rules, create clarity for our guys, how we get the call in fast, how we communicate it, set the front, how we play blocks up front, how we play the second/third level, “ said Macdonald who indeed sounded like an old LP  wobbling around the turntable.

It’s how we tackle, all those things go into having success on Sundays. When you do it the right way and you stack those plays and you stack those reps, I think that gives the guys a lot of confidence going in and being able to execute.”

In all truthfulness, Geno Smith’s game-winning 16 yards and another bend significantly boosted the team’s confidence but didn’t undo the defense’s effort to shut down a potent Niners offense.

SEASON SWEEP OF THE  CARDINALS

A dominating  16-6 win over the Cardinals stretched the Seahawks’ win streak to two games and moved them into first place in the NFC West. In the win over the Cardinals, the defense recorded five sacks, the second-highest total of the season. When asked about the defense’s dominating performance, Macdonald again pointed to building confidence through trust and clarity.

“ You give them clarity and if you’re together then you’ll have confidence. In order to have confidence, you have to have clarity. You have to have done it on the field, you have to play with anticipation. You have to know what to do. You got to trust the guy next to you. So it’s kind of all the things, but I’d say clarity drives that whole thing,” said Macdonald.

The Seahawk’s defense and offense came to life with clarity and trust in the win over the  Jets. After the victory over the Jets, Macdonald and his  Stephanie welcomed son  Jack David on Tuesday, December 3rd.  With his wife in labor on Monday, assistant head coach  Leslie Frazier subbed in for Macdonald during the coach’s weekly press conference.  Frazier was asked what were some of Macdonald’s unique leadership skills.

“It starts with your leadership. Mike (Macdonald) has done a really good job of building the culture here and really getting the guys focused and really getting their mindset where it needs to be able to go on the road and overcome some of the things that we overcame yesterday,” said Frazier referring to the teams win over the Jets.

 The life-changing event undoubtedly brought the team closer and another dominant win over the Cardinals to complete the season sweep.

A CONFIDENT AND DETERMINED  TEAM

With four regular-season games left, the Seahawk’s playoff future is in their hands.  Three games against NFC Central foes  Green Bay Packer,  Minnesota Vikings, and Chicago Bears will be followed up by a season finale with the LA Rams at SoFi stadium.  Following the win over the Cardinals, Macdonald was asked how he has built a solid foundation with his team and coaches.  Broken record or not, Macdonald’s messaging regarding trust and integrity has not wavered from his first day on the job.

“I’d rather use the term integrity. Hey, we’re going to do what we say we’re going to do and what we’re going to be about, and we’re going to back it up to our actions,’ said Macdonald. “So I think just as a coach and as a leader and the players too, having conversations where you’re creating an environment where you feel like you’re heard and you’re valued and you’re making the decisions that are best for the team, and that kind of decision criteria is consistent on what’s driving on what you’re doing on a per decision basis. Hopefully—and I think this is true—that the guys respect that, and that builds trust as you’re consistent over time.” 

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