UGA grad — whose coaching career began at an Athens high school— named NFL head coach
Mike Macdonald, who was a Georgia football graduate assistant under Mark Richt and an assistant coach at Cedar Shoals high school in 2008, was named Seattle Seahawks head coach on Wednesday.
Macdonald joins an exclusive list of Georgia graduates who have been named NFL head coaches, including John Rauch and Marion Campbell, who both played for the Bulldogs and served in a coaching capacity.
Macdonald, who did not play football at UGA but graduated from the school, worked for Richt's program from 2010-2013 before being hired into his first NFL opportunity with the Baltimore Ravens. Prior to his stint at his alma mater, Macdonald was the ninth-grade defensive coordinator at Cedar Shoals on Athens’ east side.
“That was probably the most fun I've had coaching probably up to this year,” Macdonald told the Banner-Herald in 2021. “I mean, that was a blast. Shoot, I remember Wednesday night mop nights. You wouldn’t know what guys would show up to practice sometimes.”
Background: From 'mop night' at Cedar Shoals High to Michigan Wolverines DC, the rise of Mike Macdonald
Macdonald had been with the Ravens since 2014, aside from a one-year stint at the college level in Michigan for the 2021 season. He was the Ravens defensive coordinator prior to being hired by the Seahawks.
As of Wednesday, Macdonald, 36, is the youngest active NFL head coach.
"What an honor," Macdonald said at the Seahawks' facility Wednesday. "We are super excited to be here. Just getting to know John and the rest of the folks, the reputation of this place, what drew us here was the people. That's why we're here, to bring a championship back to Seattle and the 12s.
"We're going to have a lot of fun, we're going to work our tails off, and it's going to be an incredible ride. We're going to be here for a long time, and we're going to win a lot of football games."
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Mike Macdonald, ex-UGA football GA, named Seattle Seahawks head coach
