Mike Macdonald On His Defensive Mindset

Macdonald credits everyone from past Ravens defensive coordinators to other defensive gurus like Rex Ryan and Jim Johnson with helping shape his views on defense, but more than any one specific scheme, the key to his defense in Seattle will be, Macdonald said, the ability to adapt, both to what opposing offenses are doing, and also to the personnel he is coaching.

“It’s adaptable, but we’re always going to be aggressive in how we want to do it,” Macdonald said. “People ask about our blitz rates and all that, that’s not important to me; it’s about putting yourself in positions to win the down, affecting the quarterback, putting your guys in position to have success.”

Macdonald doesn’t know exactly what his defense will look like in Seattle because he still needs to get to know the players he’ll be working with. But regardless of the specifics heading into the season, one thing Macdonald made clear is that the defense needs to be flexible enough to adapt to the different talented offenses Seattle will face.

“The offenses out there are too good to run three things and just say, ‘Hey, we’re going to beat you,'” Macdonald said. “Philosophically, we’re all in this thing together, and the players need to know that we’re trying to put them in advantageous positions, so we’re constantly trying to give them little margins of advantages. And if you’re not doing that, then what are you doing as a coach? Whether it’s through technique or fundamentals or communication or scheme. The system that we run is built on concepts that are adjustable and we can layer it together. We’re not going to get there overnight, it’s going to be a process, but we have we have, we understand what that takes. The cadence will vary based on how fast the guys can pick it up, and what they can do. So the spirit of how we play and the principles of how we play, what you’ve seen on the tape in Baltimore will be the same, but I can’t guarantee you the schematics will be the same here, because we’re not sure what we’re good at yet.”