On Saturday night, two candidates for the NFL’s Coach of the Year award entered Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, with the NFC’s No. 1 seed on the line.
The San Francisco 49ers headman, Kyle Shanahan,
stood on one sideline after somehow propelling an injury-riddled 49ers team to a 12-4 season. On the other was the Seattle Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald, only in his second season, needing another win to cap off the best regular season in his franchise’s history.
What followed wasn’t just an unexpected dominating win. It was a clincial-esque discention of the Seahawks’ vaunted rival on their own turf, the culmination of two years of Macdonald building an elite defensive machine capable of stopping even the best offensive minds in their tracks.
That machine ranks near or at the top of every category in the league, from allowing the fewest points per game at 17.2 to holding opponents to an average of -0.11 EPA per play according to RBSDM.com. What makes it more impressive is the players Macdonald was able to accomplish those league-best feats with.
While the team has stars like defensive linemen Demarcus Lawrence and Leonard Williams, the back-end of the defense features some of Macdonald’s best coaching of his career.
Look no further than the defensive hero of Saturday night’s game, linebacker Drake Thomas, who had been a practice squad staple until being thrust into starting action due to injuries this season. Thomas has been nothing short of great in his role under Macdonald, stepping up alongside linebacker Ernest Jones IV to build a stable second level and total 96 tackles this season.
Thomas is just the tip of the iceberg; Macdonald elevated cornerback Josh Jobe and safeties Coby Bryant and Ty Okada to career years as a part of his dominant defense. His most impressive work might be the ability to take the raw, but freakishly athletic second-round pick, Nick Emmanwori, and turn him into the defensive equivalent of a cruise missile, which cannot be stopped.
Defense is just one side of the ball, and Macdonald had his first season at the helm of the Seahawks undone by a frustrating and, at times, miserable offense. Faced with hiring his second offensive coordinator, Macdonald didn’t miss hiring former New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak.
Behind Kubiak and quarterback Sam Darnold, the Seahawks offense vaulted from being a basement dweller to living in the league’s penthouse. The Seahawks boasted one of the league’s best scoring offenses, a dominating offensive line for the first time in a decade and a wide receiver who was on pace to break a record thought untouchable. Kubiak has to be doing something right to be receiving head coaching interest, right?
Last season, Kevin O’Connell of the Minnesota Vikings took home Coach of the Year after a 14-3 season with Darnold at the helm. The difference between O’Connell and Macdonald is that the Seahawks’ star unit helped the team grab the No. 1 seed, while the 2024 Vikings floundered when the lights were their brightest.
Maybe the voters aren’t much for precedent, which can happen, and it’s not like other coaches don’t have impressive resumes. Despite facing a weaker schedule than the Seahawks, Shanahan deserves credit for winning 12 games with extended starting time for Mac Jones, and Liam Coen brought back hope to Jacksonville and the AFC’s No. 3 seed. However, feel-good stories aren’t what the award is for, and Macdonald’s defense never showed the flaws those coaches’ offenses did.
The only serious opponent to Macdonald is New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, who turned his team from a disaster into a Super Bowl contender in one season. Yet, Vrabel had a much easier path ahead of him, playing the easiest schedule in the league, not to mention he was gifted a franchise quarterback in Drake Maye.
The Seahawks were far from the worst situation in the NFL when Macdonald took over, but turning a team that was boiling in its own mediocrity back to the heights of its heyday should not be overlooked. If the Coach of the Year award is truly about the best coaching job, there was none better than Macdonald in 2025.
