It’s about 10 minutes into my interview with Mike Macdonald, and I get the sense that the Seattle Seahawks head coach is a little bit geeky.
“Geek is a praise,” he stated. “I’ve been referred to as a soccer nerd.”
Macdonald, 38, grew to become the NFL’s youngest head coach when he joined the Seahawks final 12 months. He was additionally a straight-A pupil in highschool and graduated summa cum laude with a finance diploma from College of Georgia.
So it’s not an enormous shock that Macdonald embraces modern instruments and techniques.
In an interview with GeekWire earlier this 12 months at Lumen Discipline, Macdonald described his strategy as a hybrid of conventional soccer fundamentals and fashionable know-how.
“We’ve got a philosophy in Seattle: old fashioned principals, new faculty strategies,” he stated. “We’re going to construct on a robust basis, however no matter we will do to offer us an edge — we’re going to get after it.”
Due to superior monitoring and analytics, NFL groups have extra knowledge than ever — and it’s altering how the sport is performed. One clear instance: how coaches approach fourth down decisions.
“We’ve got a approach to measure the benefit you get for going for it on fourth down,” Macdonald stated. “Each staff has that.”
That knowledge can shift play-calling not simply on fourth down however all through a whole drive, Macdonald stated.
Macdonald doesn’t see analytics and intuition as mutually unique — as a substitute, he views knowledge as a decision-making software to help what coaches already know from movie, follow, and expertise.
“It’s a continuing steadiness,” he stated.
We spoke to Macdonald as a part of an occasion showcasing Microsoft’s partnership with the NFL, which now contains use of the corporate’s Copilot AI software program for scouting, permitting groups to get rapid insights by merely asking questions versus ready for analysts to crunch spreadsheets.
“Earlier info is best,” Macdonald stated.
Macdonald, who was beforehand the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator, final 12 months grew to become the primary coach in franchise historical past to succeed in 10 wins in his first season. He’ll attempt to prime that mark because the Seahawks kick off their 2025 season subsequent month.
We ended our chat with a little bit quick-hit Q&A.
Mac or PC? “I had a PC in faculty. I switched to Mac. However ever since I’ve been working in soccer, I’ve been on a PC.”
Favourite online game: “Madden. I’ve stopped enjoying the final couple years, however I really like Madden. Beloved NCAA again within the day. MVP Baseball 2005 was an amazing sport.”
Favourite app: “Textual content message app. I get extra textual content messages now, holy smokes.”
What ought to GeekWire readers find out about you? “I’m an open ebook on these items. I feel it’s cool to be into stuff that’s high-tech, data-driven. You’re telling me you’re good and also you’re looking for edges and looking for new frontier — that’s cool to me. It seems like a profitable method.”
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