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Denver Broncos head coach Mike Macdonald.
For the Baltimore Ravens, there has been a feeling that a great coach — a Super Bowl-winning coach — was within their grasp and they let him go as they watched former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald reel off win after win as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Those feelings — and fears — became reality in Super Bowl LX as the Seahawks throttled the New England Patriots, 29-13, and Macdonald took his place among the game’s all-time greatest head coaches in just his second season.
It was a painful watch for a large chunk of Ravens fans who wanted the franchise to jettison former head coach John Harbaugh for Macdonald in 2024. Harbaugh was fired after an 8-9 season in 2025 after 18 seasons and 1 Super Bowl win for the Ravens.
The Ravens hired another former assistant, 42-year-old Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, as their new head coach on January 22.
Harbaugh was hired as head coach of the New York Giants.
“Mike Macdonald left the Ravens and won a Super Bowl,” The Ravens Realm wrote on its official X account. “Congratulations Mike, you deserve it all.”
There is a silver lining for the Ravens — if healthy they’re already being looked at as contenders in 2026 after they opened with the sixth-best odds to win Super Bowl LXI on Sunday, February 14, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, at 13-1.
Thrilling TNF Victory Had Ravens Pining for Macdonald
After a thrilling, 38-37 overtime win by the Seahawks over the Los Angeles Rams to improve to 12-3 overall late in the season and with the Ravens stumbling toward missing the playoffs, the longing for Macdonald seemed like it was at an all-time high.
“One of the biggest what ifs in Ravens history,” Locked on Ravens’ Kevin Oestricher wrote on X. “What if Mike Macdonald never went to the Seahawks?”
“Shoutout Mike Macdonald man,” The Ravens Realm wrote on X. “People were doubting that he’d do anything as a head coach. Sitting at 12-3 with the #1 seed. Ravens messed up bad.”
Macdonald Rise to Top of NFL Mountain
Macdonald spent the decade before he was hired as Seattle’s head coach before the 2024 season working for either current Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh or John Harbaugh.
He was a Ravens assistant from 2014 to 2020, starting as an intern and working his way up to a defensive position coach for defensive backs and linebackers before spending 2021 as the University of Michigan’s defensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh.
After guiding the Wolverines’ defense to a Big Ten title and the College Football Playoff, Macdonald returned for 2 seasons, including a virtuoso defensive effort in 2023 where the Ravens held opponents to 17 points or less in their final 6 regular season and postseason games, including an AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Minter also spent time as an assistant to Jim Harbaugh — which is a good sign for the Ravens — winning a national championship as Michigan’s defensive coordinator following the 2023 season.
Tony Adame covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Commanders, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos. A veteran sports writer and editor since 2004, his work has been featured at Stadium Talk, Yardbarker, NW Florida Daily News and Pensacola News Journal. More about Tony Adame
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