If Mike Macdonald\u2019s ascent to one of the NFL<\/a>\u2019s hottest coordinators and a legitimate head-coaching candidate feels meteoric, that\u2019s probably because he has never embraced the art of self-promotion.<\/p>\n The 36-year-old second-year Baltimore Ravens<\/a> defensive boss has consented to side media interviews in recent weeks largely because he wants to tout the chemistry and cohesion of his staff, not because he wants any more attention. He likes to call himself a \u201csteward\u201d of head coach John Harbaugh\u2019s vision and will point you in the direction of two dozen others who deserve praise for the Ravens\u2019 success.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s impossible to ignore Macdonald\u2019s impact on the AFC\u2019s top seed, which faces the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s conference championship game<\/a> at M&T Bank Stadium.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GO DEEPER<\/p>\n It’s only right Ravens have to go through Chiefs to earn Super Bowl trip<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Baltimore became the first defense in NFL history to lead the league in points allowed, sacks and turnovers. The Ravens followed up a landmark regular season by smothering likely Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud<\/a> and the Texans<\/a> on Saturday, keeping Houston\u2019s offense out of the end zone \u2014 its only touchdown came on a punt return \u2014 in a 34-10 divisional-round victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n After the game, Harbaugh called his defensive coordinator into the middle of the locker room for a game ball.<\/p>\n Macdonald pushed inside linebacker Roquan Smith<\/a> forward.<\/p>\n The thing is, Macdonald has never been afraid to put himself out there. Especially when it comes to football.<\/p>\n He was born in Boston but moved to Atlanta when he was about 7 years old. His father, Hugh, had discouraged him from playing the game. Hugh played on the non-varsity team at Army-West Point and worried about the injury risks. But Hugh returned home late from a business trip one night to find a helmet and shoulder pads on Mike\u2019s twin bed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next morning, I asked him, \u2018What\u2019s this?\u2019 He had decided to join the junior team,\u201d Hugh said. \u201cSo off he went.\u201d<\/p>\n Mike was neither the biggest nor fastest guy on the teams he played for, but there was no questioning his drive. Hugh filmed his youth games and the two would watch them together and break down plays. Mike became consumed with the game\u2019s nuances.<\/p>\n As a running back and linebacker, Macdonald\u2019s physical attributes wouldn\u2019t set him apart, but studying opponents\u2019 tendencies gave him a head start. When he got to Centennial High School, Macdonald would break down film of opponents and present his findings to his coach, Xarvia Smith.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen he first met me, he tried to tell me that we needed to go out to lunch and hang out together,\u201d Smith recalled. \u201cI was like, \u2018Mike, you are a player. You are my player. I\u2019m not hanging out with you.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cHe just always showed leadership. He always was prepared to show how good he was.\u201d<\/p>\n As a junior, Macdonald started getting stingers in his neck. His doctor advised him that he was at long-term risk if he continued to play through his senior year, but Macdonald wanted to go out on his terms. After the swelling around the nerves in his neck subsided, the doctor greenlighted him to play in the final game of the season. But on the last play of the last practice of game week, Macdonald heard a pop in his knee. He tore his ACL. There would be no one final game.<\/p>\n There would, however, be one last high school hurrah. About four months after surgery, Macdonald was sitting on the bench for the Centennial High baseball team. Macdonald\u2019s coach was initially too concerned for his safety to play him. Macdonald begged him to reconsider. In the team\u2019s second game, the score was tied in the last inning and Macdonald got the go-ahead to hit.<\/p>\n \u201cHe took two pitches and put the next pitch over the fence,\u201d Hugh said. \u201cHe looked like Kirk Gibson going around the bases, he had this big brace on his knee. It was quite a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Macdonald was a student at the University of Georgia when he called Smith looking for a favor. Smith had recently gotten the head job at Cedar Shoals High in Athens, and Macdonald wanted to know if he had an opening.<\/p>\n \u201cMike is probably one of the smartest people I\u2019ve ever met in my life,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI realized if he just learned how to work, he would be great at this.\u201d<\/p>\n Macdonald started running the defense for Cedar Shoals\u2019 ninth-grade team. They had six shutouts that year.<\/p>\n \u201cAn awesome experience,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cI went into the situation as a strategist. I liked identifying tendencies and anticipating plays. What I learned is you can take a person from A to B. When you do that, if he did something today that he couldn\u2019t do yesterday, that was incredibly rewarding. That\u2019s when I was hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n For two years, Macdonald dropped by the Georgia football offices on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, spending hours talking with video coordinator Joe Tereshinski and hoping somebody would appreciate his persistence. Macdonald was putting the finishing touches on a degree in finance \u2014 he graduated summa cum laude \u2014 when he ran into new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham at a Starbucks and took one final opportunity to state his case. Impressed, Grantham invited him in for a formal meeting, then told Macdonald there was a volunteer coaching spot available as long as he got into grad school.<\/p>\n \u201cI took out a loan and went to work,\u201d Macdonald said.<\/p>\n Macdonald worked at Georgia for four seasons, the first as a volunteer assistant and the next three as a grad assistant. He broke down film, worked on game plans and helped run the scout team in the ultimate football education.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have guys that are really sharp and can communicate well and are hard workers and put their nose down and get to work, you can see where a guy is going to have a chance to move up in the world,\u201d said Mark Richt, Georgia\u2019s football coach at the time. \u201cYou want confident people and you want guys who you believe are trustworthy. I think there is a real comfort level with Mike and the type of person he is. He checked all of the boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n Then he almost walked away from the profession altogether. At 26, Macdonald became \u201cdisillusioned\u201d by the job. His time as a grad assistant expired in 2013. Some of the politics had gotten to him, and some of his relationships had become draining.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole glamor of being a football coach was wearing off,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cI didn\u2019t really believe in the process and the people that I was around. I didn\u2019t see the benefit of what I had fallen in love with before.\u201d<\/p>\n There were opportunities for him. Macdonald had a finance degree and a master\u2019s in sports management. Hugh had always encouraged Macdonald and his two sisters to have a plan and then make sure every decision was geared toward that plan. Hugh wasn\u2019t against a career in coaching, but the business world can be awfully lucrative for somebody with Mike\u2019s intelligence and savvy, and Hugh wanted to make sure football was the best place for his son\u2019s talents.<\/p>\n \u201cI figured I was going to go see the world and start working,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like it was the right thing to do when it was happening, but I just felt kind of forced to do it. I didn\u2019t want to take a job at Wherever State and go across the country recruiting Johnny. It wasn\u2019t on the trajectory that I wanted it to be on.\u201d<\/p>\n He accepted a $60,000 job in Atlanta working at KPMG, one of the country\u2019s \u201cBig 4\u201d accounting firms. He had already signed a contract when he got a call from the Ravens. The previous year, he had applied for a scouting internship with Baltimore. That wasn\u2019t a great fit, but Harbaugh was starting a coaching internship program in 2014.<\/p>\n Macdonald informed KPMG that he would no longer be joining the firm.<\/p>\n Harbaugh has each of his assistants present a different aspect of the week\u2019s game plan to the team. It\u2019s good exposure and experience for young coaches and creates a sense of accountability for everyone on staff.<\/p>\n As a twenty-something whose playing career ended in high school, Macdonald felt some initial apprehension about stepping in front of a room of NFL veterans.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember thinking, Terrell Suggs is back there<\/i>,\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cWhy in the world would he listen to anything I\u2019m saying?<\/i>\u201d<\/p>\n But those game week sessions in front of the likes of Suggs, a former defensive player of the year, helped Macdonald find his voice. If he believed in the process, he didn\u2019t need to worry about presenting himself in a certain way.<\/p>\n \u201cI think you come to the realization of, \u2018OK, I\u2019ve put a lot of work into this thing and I think I have something (Suggs) can benefit from,\u2019\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cIf I\u2019m trying to be some guy that I feel like he\u2019d resonate with, that\u2019s not going to work. It\u2019s hard to be that person all of the time. Just be yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GO DEEPER<\/p>\n The Ravens’ historical dominance, and what other coaches can learn from John Harbaugh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n That first year in Baltimore, Macdonald shared an office with fellow Ravens interns Chris Horton and Eugene Shen. They broke down plays, worked on projects and helped out the coaching staff. A decade later, Horton leads the Ravens\u2019 special teams and Shen is the senior vice president of football strategy for the Washington Commanders<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe talk about it all the time, where we\u2019ve come from to where we are now,\u201d Horton said. \u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing process of putting your head down, going to work and those things will pay off for you.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2018, Harbaugh interviewed Macdonald, then a 30-year-old linebackers coach, for the defensive coordinator job after Dean Pees retired. Harbaugh ultimately hired Wink Martindale, but the opportunity to interview ultimately strengthened Macdonald\u2019s conviction.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a great experience to go through and say, OK, if I were to do it, what would it look like? What are your ideas?<\/i>\u201d Macdonald said. \u201cIt makes you organize your thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n He continued to prepare himself for an opportunity. He and fellow assistant Jesse Minter watched film together and practiced calling the game, constantly reviewing different offensive schemes and discussing the defensive response.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could tell right away how sharp this dude was,\u201d said Minter, now the defensive coordinator at Michigan. \u201cSome people do the job that they have and do a good job, and other people do the job that they have and do a good job while at the same time always preparing for the next job mentally.\u201d<\/p>\n When Michigan had a defensive coordinator opening after the 2020 season, Harbaugh pitched Macdonald to his brother, Jim, thinking Macdonald was then ready to be in that role. He was proven correct. In Macdonald\u2019s one season in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines had a top-10 defense, turned the tables on Ohio State, played in the College Football Playoff and produced three top-45 defensive draft picks.<\/p>\n When the Ravens and Martindale parted ways in January 2022, Harbaugh brought back Macdonald, believing the time was right. Minter replaced him with the Wolverines.<\/p>\n Things didn\u2019t get off to an auspicious start. When the Ravens blew a three-touchdown lead<\/a> to the Miami Dolphins in Week 2 that season, ESPN analyst Rex Ryan, a former Baltimore defensive coordinator, said the \u201cnew hot-shot coordinator is terrible.\u201d But by season\u2019s end \u2014 and after a trade that brought Roquan Smith over from Chicago<\/a> in the middle of Smith\u2019s second consecutive All-Pro campaign \u2014 the Ravens defense was playing at a high level, finishing eighth in the league in defensive DVOA.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been significantly better this season, shutting down some of the game\u2019s top offenses. Smith calls Macdonald a \u201cwizard\u201d for his ability to identify weaknesses and exploit them.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s something we\u2019re not comfortable with, he\u2019ll throw it out. If there\u2019s something we\u2019re not comfortable with but we want to work on, he\u2019ll try to simplify it and make it to where it does work for us,\u201d said inside linebacker Patrick Queen<\/a>. \u201cHe\u2019s very thorough in everything he does.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the constantly blitzing, physically pulverizing Ravens defense of yesteryear. This group\u2019s aggression is more controlled and calculated, relying heavily on deception and each player embracing his role on a given play. It is versatile, multiple and creative, a beautiful harmony of scheme and personnel being studied and admired at both the college and professional levels.<\/p>\n Macdonald believes strongly in the players being accountable to one another. He has his 355-pound nose tackle drop into passing lanes and his 190-pound cornerback blitz. He has onrushing linebackers set picks to give defensive linemen free runs at the quarterback. He preaches total buy-in, but you won\u2019t see him admonishing a player on the sideline. Instead, he generally stands stoically, his eyes either trained on the field or peering down at his call sheet.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s a perfect combination of what you play and how you play,\u201d Minter said. \u201cI think a lot of coaches lose that. For some people, it\u2019s all about scheme. For some people, it\u2019s all about effort and fundamentals. But having been in Baltimore, to me, it\u2019s a perfect combination.<\/p>\n \u201cYou often hear the term, \u2018Play like a Raven.\u2019 That means 11 guys on the field playing together.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n GO DEEPER<\/p>\n How Chiefs, 49ers, Lions and Ravens exorcised demons to reach conference title games<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Macdonald has had five head-coaching interviews already and is awaiting a second with the Atlanta Falcons<\/a>. Ravens fans are so concerned they might lose him that they have taken to social media to jokingly impugn him so other organizations stay away. Macdonald cracked a smile when asked about those attempts, saying his wife Stephanie has passed along some of the funnier ones.<\/p>\n Then after a quick grin, his game face returned.<\/p>\n He\u2019s never going to be the first guy in the room to tell a joke. His idea of breaking the tension in meetings is dropping a line from a Jim Carrey comedy. Those are often met with quizzical looks from players, such as cornerback Brandon Stephens<\/a>, who chuckled thinking about his coach\u2019s \u201ccheesy, lame jokes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a little bit of a football nerd,\u201d Minter said. \u201cAnd I mean that as a compliment.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe self-promotion is overrated.<\/p>\n One of the signature performances for Macdonald\u2019s Ravens defense came in Baltimore\u2019s heavyweight clash against the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>, who host the Detroit Lions<\/a> in Sunday\u2019s NFC Championship Game. Both teams entered 11-3, but the Ravens forced five interceptions in the Christmas night tour de force, with Marcus Williams<\/a> putting the finishing touches on the 33-19 victory<\/a> by picking off San Francisco\u2019s Sam Darnold<\/a> in the game\u2019s closing minutes.<\/p>\n Macdonald stomped around the sideline and wildly slapped the hand of defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, an outburst notable because it was so out of character.<\/p>\n (Illustration: Sean Reilly \/ <\/em>The Athletic; photos: Todd Olszewski, Fred Kfoury III \/ Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"go-deeper\"\/](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.theathletic.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/22043512\/GettyImages-1948538004-1024x683.jpg\")
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\n In his lone season at Michigan, Mike Macdonald led a top-10 defense on a team that earned a College Football Playoff appearance. (Robin Alam \/ Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"go-deeper\"\/](\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/cdn.theathletic.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto\/app\/uploads\/2024\/01\/22235756\/GettyImages-1953301959-1024x683.jpg\")
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