Mike Macdonald makes surprise admission about start of Seahawks tenure

Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks is widely seen as one of the top young coaches in the NFL after he guided the club to a Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots earlier this year. 

It seems like Macdonald wasn't always confident he would succeed in his current role. 

Mike Macdonald went through an "extremely difficult time" after becoming head coach

As shared by Brady Henderson of ESPN, Macdonald admitted during a summer interview for the "In Depth With Graham Bensinger" program that was released on Wednesday that "it was paralyzing" and "hard to move" in the months after he was hired as Seattle's head coach in January 2024. 

"It was an extremely difficult time," Macdonald explained. "I've never felt like that in my life. I was sick. I'd go home, I'd get in bed as soon as I got home. I wouldn't get out of bed until I went to work. I'd be late going to work. In the weekend, I wouldn't get out of bed all weekend. I'd just sit in bed. It was crazy. But is it depression? I don't know. Maybe. I find it hard to self-diagnose depression. There's serious cases of depression that are clinically diagnosed."

According to Henderson, Macdonald did not confirm that he has been diagnosed with depression. Previously, Macdonald served as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Under his leadership, the 2024 Seahawks went 10-7 but nevertheless missed out on qualifying for the playoffs. Seattle then won 17 of 20 games last season from Week 1 through Super Bowl LX.

"It's not good enough to not be the best," Macdonald said about the pressure he felt after he became a first-time head coach. "But that takes time to get there, and it's a process, and if you're not willing to take it incrementally and take some punches along the way because you made decisions quickly -- I just wanted to be right all the time, and I didn't know what right was, and I put a lot of pressure on myself to be right. That was the weight I was carrying. There's a burden that I felt like I was holding because we weren't where we wanted to be, and I wasn't clear on what to do. That can be a lonely, tough feeling."

How tough things got for Mike Macdonald during his struggles

During the interview, Macdonald acknowledged that he feels he "was not a great leader my first year" with Seattle and also "wasn't the best version of myself." He expanded on that second part while discussing how he coped with the stress he felt. 

"If I could get some physical, personal wins, then I could just start stacking those things," Macdonald said. "But I'd take two hour-long walks. I'd call some of the players. But I need to get out. So I'd work out, walk, try to try to eat better. I was drinking a lot. That was probably the toughest, most difficult stretch of my life, honestly -- that first few months."

Per Henderson, Macdonald revealed that he "was feeling like himself again" by the end of the 2024 campaign. 

"Um, I have joy," Macdonald responded when asked if he is happy following his team's Super Bowl victory. "Am I always happy? Um, I think I'm happy."

Under Macdonald, the Seahawks opened the 2026 season with a 13-10 home win over the Patriots. 1-0 Seattle will next play the 1-0 Arizona Cardinals this coming Sunday.