Mike Macdonald Deserves NFL Coach of the Year

In his second season, Seattle’s coach turned sustained progress into dominance and left little room for debate.

Mike Macdonald did not catch lightning in a bottle. In his second year as head coach, he proved last season was the foundation, not the peak. What followed was a campaign strong enough to make him the clear choice for NFL Coach of the Year.

Macdonald led the Seattle Seahawks through the toughest division race in football and won it. The NFC West demanded weekly precision, physicality and adaptability. Seattle delivered all of it and finished on top, earning the No. 1 seed in the NFC. That outcome reflects preparation and consistency over an entire season, not a hot stretch.

The Seahawks also finished tied for the most wins in the league with Denver and New England. Securing the top seed while sharing the league’s best record only sharpens the case.

Preseason expectations still shape the conversation. Even entering his second year, Macdonald faced skepticism about whether Seattle could take another step forward. The Seahawks were viewed as competitive, not dominant. Macdonald erased that gap as much as any coach in the league.

The clearest case sits on his side of the ball. Seattle’s defense was the best unit in the NFL. It dictated games, shut down elite offenses and finished strong in critical moments. It played with speed, discipline and trust.

That does not happen without coaching. Players knew their assignments. Adjustments showed up from week to week. Mistakes did not linger. When opponents adapted, Seattle adapted faster.

The competition for Coach of the Year is real. Mike Vrabel, Liam Coen, Ben Johnson, Kyle Shanahan and Sean Payton all delivered outstanding coaching seasons. Each maximized talent, navigated injuries or schemed at an elite level. None of that should be discounted.

What separates Macdonald is the totality of the job. He did not inherit a finished product or lean on one side of the ball while surviving on the other. He won the league’s hardest division, tied for the best record, secured the conference’s top seed and built the NFL’s best defense while still shaping a clear identity. The degree of difficulty was higher, and the margin for error was thinner.

Coach of the Year is about impact as much as excellence. Macdonald combined both. He followed a strong debut season with an even better one, outperformed expectations again and controlled games in the most demanding situations.

That is what excellence looks like in the NFL.