Seahawks GM Prayed for Ravens to Lose to Interview Macdonald: ‘This Is Heathen S–t’

Paul KasabianFeatured Columnist IIAugust 6, 2024

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Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider wanted to interview ex-Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald for the team’s open head coaching position so much that he prayed at mass for the Ravens to lose to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

“This is heathen s–t,” Schneider told Jeff Howe of The Athletic.

Due to NFL rules, the Seahawks would have needed to wait until after the Super Bowl to conduct an in-person interview with Macdonald if the Ravens beat the Chiefs. That would have led to Schneider waiting two more weeks, certainly an unideal situation for a team flipping to a new chapter following the successful Pete Carroll era, which ended on Jan. 10.

But the Ravens lost, and Mcdonald, who was receiving rave reviews during the coaching cycle, was interviewed two days later.

A day after that, Macdonald was the next Seahawks’ head coach.

“He absolutely crushed his interview,” Schneider told Howe. “The first part of it, two hours felt like 20 minutes. It was just a really clear, purposeful, great plan. He nailed it.”

Now Macdonald will begin to see that plan through, with an eye on Week 1, when the Seahawks host the Denver Broncos on Sept. 8.