From Michigan to Baltimore

The very first series of the first game for Mike MacDonald as Defensive Coordinator at Michigan did not get off to a good start. Western Michigan drove 75 yards in 10 plays to tie the score at 7 after the newly revamped offense scored on their very first series. An unsportsmanlike penalty helped aid in the drive as well. Jim Harbaugh might have been wondering even just a little bit, how long this first-time DC with a revamped defense, whose future in Ann Arbor was partially resting on MacDonald, would take to get things back on track?

What was MacDonald thinking? WMU would score on their final possession of the game with Michigan leading 47-7, also a 10 play, 75 yard drive. In between however, the Michigan defense forced Western to punt 7 times in 8 possessions. After that first series, a critical one, MacDonald quickly adjusted and fixed any issues. That’s what good coaches do. He ended up having an impressive first showing in his new gig with the Wolverines. After Western, the schedule grew more daunting, yet the Michigan D did not relent and gave up no more than 17 points over their next 6 games.

MacDonald was tasked in taking over for Don Brown or “Dr. Blitz” as he has come to be known. Brown had a very successful run in his first three seasons as DC finishing in the Top 10 in all 3, Top 12 in his 4th. The last two seasons though showed decline especially in 2020, which played a role in their embarrassing 2-4 season cut short due to Covid.

The heavy reliance on man-to-man defense and the blitz did in the Wolverines in big games against more talented teams and they were exposed. The predictability of the defensive play calls, the lack of flexibility within the system and the top-down approach eventually wore thin and Harbaugh had to do something. He let Brown go, reached out to his brother John for advice in what would lead to the MacDonald hire off the Ravens staff. He also got back to his roots offensively in running the football. Those moves paid off to the tune of a Big Ten Championship for the first time since 2004 and their first trip to the College Football Playoffs.

MacDonald did not have time on his side coming in with just a few weeks before Spring Practice. He didn’t get to pick his assistants either, but he did have to coach them on the new defense. His communication skills were paramount in hitting the ground running with his new system. But that’s not all. The to-do list was ominous:

• Explaining his vision for the defense
• Encouraging player input
• Teaching situation football
• Opening all spots up on the defense without predetermining starters (which led to his find of David Ojabo)

Checking the boxes beside all of these tasks played a huge in MacDonald’s success. But it didn’t stop there for the new DC.

For the players, developmentally, MacDonald made sure the approach to winning football wasn’t just about learning a position. He demanded that his players see the bigger picture of the entire defense while understanding the other team’s offensive attack on any given Saturday. For a defensive back for instance, they would get to understand route concepts not just learning technique in chasing a guy around the field the entire game.

Schematically, MacDonald ran a 4-man front like Brown (although Brown had played some 3-4 at times early on) yet he played a lot more Zone, presented varied looks and backed off the blitzing. This also was a huge help to the offense as they got to face a lot more coverages in practice then they had before. Most assumed that MacDonald would play a 3-4 like the Ravens and continue to blitz at a high rate. Instead, he adapted and adjusted based on the players he had and their individual strengths.

In a USA Today piece in March of last year, MacDonald shared his philosophical approach:

“It’s hard for me to say that we’re gonna be a 3-4, per se. The thing about our defense that makes us unique is that it’s a series of concepts that we teach like, for example, there are things we teach our guys that there’s no call even involved with those concepts. We’re teaching this concept today, this concept tomorrow, we marry them together. There’s gonna be more of that and you marry it over time. Now that gives us the flexibility to build certain fronts, certain coverages and certain pressures that allows you to, one, for guys to do well what they do, and two, stop the offenses that you’re seeing.”

Macdonald’s plan is to marry scheme with the personnel, highlighting something of a greatest hits, as well, of what he’s learned from his previous stops.

While it certainly would have been intriguing to see how MacDonald would have adjusted after losing his two outstanding rush ends Aiden Hutchinson and David Ojabo in the 2022 NFL Draft, we’ll never know for sure. His inexperience as a DC could invite skepticism amongst Ravens’ fans. One could fairly argue that he could use more time at that level honing his craft.

That said, with MacDonald comes several positives working in his favor right off the bat. He came up through the Ravens organization, so he understands the culture and the way things are done. He knows the personnel, some of whom he coached, he has an existing relationship with the Head Coach. He knows the standard that is expected of the Defense. And perhaps most importantly, MacDonald knows the Ravens scheme.

While it’s fair to say that Don “Wink” Martindale was not as inflexible as Don Brown, we can take comfort in the understanding that MacDonald will not pigeonhole himself as a play caller. He will employ more Zone calls. He may go to a 4-man front on a more regular basis if he feels that might be best for the Ravens. That of course, will require a meeting of the minds. Harbaugh and GM Eric DeCosta will need to marry the approach to the proper personnel decisions as it could influence what the team does in free agency and the draft.

I also expect MacDonald to simplify things in order to mitigate the numerous blown assignments by the secondary, but by no means will they look basic. As he talked about and as evidenced at Michigan proper communication is vital to success.

It’s nice to see a young up and coming coach at one of the Coordinator positions for the Ravens, which has not happened before. None of us can predict the future and personnel decisions play a crucial role in the success of a team, but all the makings are in place for MacDonald to thrive in his new role.

And that is an important starting point in his first NFL DC role.

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