By Mazvita Maraire Posted on

Quick take aways from Mike Macdonalds combine interview

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald’s podium day at this year’s combine was on Wednesday. Macdonald gave some insight into the team’s Super Bowl-winning run, free agency, and the direction of the team.

MACDONALD  MADE SOME WORK-LIFE BALANCE DECISIONS

One change Mcadonald last year was the work-life balance. According to Macdonald, he spent more time at home  to create a better version of himself

A: “We’re trying to find more ways throughout the week for me to separate from football. And I just felt like, as a leader, that’s what I needed to do to be a better version of myself. … That was one of the things we decided to do, and it worked out great. It worked out great, it was more time at home, and a more refreshed, better version of myself in the office – hopefully people were more excited to be around me than maybe the year before.”

HOW MUCH WILL OFFENSE CHANGE WITH THE NEW OC?

 Former Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak accepted the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching job.   Macdonald hired former Niners tight end coach and run game coordinator  Brian Fleury to take his place.  Macdonald was asked how much change would be there in the Seahawks offense in the upcoming season.

“Well, we’re gonna be the Seattle Seahawks. And we’re gonna have a different evolution of our offense. And it’s gonna be built on the same principles, but how it comes to life and the exact plays that we’re gonna run? I can’t answer that yet; I don’t know the answer to that. I know how Brian’s (Fleury) gonna operate, (how) the staff’s gonna operate – I’m really excited to see how they make this thing come to life.

And so it’s gonna be a fun process to be a part of and sharpen each other as we start to get into some of these competitive periods. Again, like, we’re going back through the process. We’re back at kinda Stage One now, and we have to be disciplined enough to stick to our steps and our process and trust that the results are gonna be aligned with how we visualize our team being.”

MESSAGE TO THE TEAM

Repeating as Super Bowl Champions is a rarity in the NFL. Only ten teams have repeated as Super Bowl Champions.   The Kansas City Chiefs were the last team to repeat as Super Bowl Champions in Super Bowl LVII and Super Bowl LVIII.  Macdonald was asked what message he had for the team as they head off into the offseason and prepare for a possible repeat?

“Well, right now, it’s get away. Get your body right, get your mental right. Spend time with your friends and family. And then, have a great plan for coming back for the offseason. I don’t know exactly what we’re gonna say, but the principles of how we’re gonna operate are that we want to nail the daily goals and the daily standard about what we’re trying to achieve to become a championship team again.

It’s really gonna be that simple. How we build the offseason program, what we do daily – that’s gonna look a little bit different for a variety of reasons. But, how we do our business, how we integrate, how we attack schematically, how we put those together – all those things, they all stay the same.”

NEED FOR THE TEAM TO BUILD ON ITS EXISTING CULTURE

If the Seahawks are to continue their winning ways, Macdonald and his staff have to find a way to build on a solid foundation.

“I think we’ve laid a solid foundation. But I think something we have to do a great job of is evolving and not being complacent. … These things are so, like, fragile, you know? You’ve got to take care of it; you’ve got to attack it every day. The culture has to come to life every day in how you do things. We can’t just be resting on our laurels and saying, ‘Sweet, we created a good culture.’ We’ve got to keep building this thing.”

 COMBINE PROCESS REVEALED

One revelation Macdonald divulged was how the team settled on drafting Nick Emmanwori.  The process provided some insight into the collaborative effort between Macdonald’s coaching staff and GM John Schneider’s team.

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