ESPN: Georgia Bulldogs announced their new head coach yesterday as…
University of Georgia graduate Mike Macdonald is reportedly set to be hired by the Seattle Seahawks as the team’s next head coach, making Macdonald the youngest head coach in the league and giving UGA its third graduate to be the head man for an NFL organization.
Macdonald, who most recently served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, got his start in coaching while a student at UGA when he was an assistant at Athens area Cedar Shoals High School. He graduated with a degree in finance and joined Mark Richt’s staff as a graduate assistant in 2010.
Macdonald spent four seasons at Georgia, moving from graduate assistant to defensive quality control assistant working with safeties in 2011. While coaching for the Bulldogs, Macdonald also earned a master’s degree in sport management.
“We were doing everything. We were setting up tables for dinner, you name it,” Macdonald told reporters about his time at Georgia prior to a meeting with the Bulldogs in the College Football Playoffs at the Orange Bowl in 2021. “Back then we didn’t have iPads, so we had the play books, and I remember just having a really rough relationship with the printer. But yeah, those were great days, man. Just learning from Coach Richt and Coach Grantham and Coach (Mike) Bobo and really just what makes an organization tick, how does it go, just being in on the ground floor, doing anything you can to help the team win was really valuable. They’re great people in that building, and it was great, great experience for us.”
After his time in Athens, it was on to the NFL for Macdonald (with a brief, one-season return to the NCAA level). He interned for the Ravens in 2014 before being promoted in 2015 and hired as a full time position coach in 2017. He worked with defensive backs and linebackers during his first stint in Baltimore before returning in 2022 as the team’s defensive coordinator. In between, it was a stop at Michigan for his first coordinator experience under the direction of Jim Harbaugh – brother of Ravens head coach John Harbaugh. The Wolverines won the Big Ten, posted a top-10 national defense and made the College Football Playoffs, finishing ranked No. 3 in the nation.
Macdonald now replaces Pete Carroll in Seattle after he spent 14 years as the head coach. He remains with the team in an advisory role.
Georgia’s previous NFL head coaches include John Rauch and Marion Campbell. Rauch, who won SEC Player of the Year during his career in Athens, coached for the Oakland Raiders (1966-1968) and Buffalo Bills (1969-1970), totaling a 40-28 record the included an appearance in Super Bowl II and the AFL Championship Game. Meanwhile, Marion spent a total of six seasons with the Atlanta Falcons (1974-1976, 1987-1989) and three with the Philadelphia Eagles (1983-1985). He holds a 34-80-1 record as a head coach.
Other coaches with Georgia ties on the move…
Macdonald isn’t the only Georgia graduate in the NFL coaching business however. While not a head coach, Thomas Brown did spend the past season as an offensive coordinator and interviewed for openings across the league. The former Bulldog running back (2004-2007) is expected to join the staff of the Chicago Bears as passing game coordinator.
Brown previously spent time on the staff in Athens under Richt as well, acting as the strength and conditioning coach in 2011 before leading the running backs in 2015. Brown also has time at Chattanooga, Marshall, Wisconsin, Miami (Fla.), South Carolina and the Los Angeles Rams on his resume prior to holding the offensive coordinator title for the Carolina Panthers in 2023.
As a player at Georgia, Brown earned Freshman All-SEC selection in 2004 after totaling 875 yards and eight touchdowns – amassing over 1,000 all-purpose yards. He topped the 100-yard mark four times that season and earned SEC Offensive Newcomer of the Year.
While his production tapered off, Brown remained a part of the running back rotation as he started all 12 games and led the team in 2005 before suffering an ACL injury in October of 2006. He split carried in 2007 with Knowshon Moreno, missing time that year as well for a broken collarbone.
