Mike Macdonald runs his opening press conference back for a touchdown

“I can guarantee you this, you will get everything out of myself and our coaching staff, every day…”

Mike Macdonald is here, and Seattle Seahawks fans are loving it. And why shouldn’t we be? After wrapping up his first press conference as the new head coach, it sounds like he is saying all the right things. Obviously, there is a big gap between saying the right thing and doing the right thing, but the attitude that Macdonald brings with him is undeniable. One particular thing that caught my ear initially was that he identified the ability of the organization to “compete for championships at a consistent pace….” This clearly points to the culture that the Seahawks have built, and even though it is now under new leadership, the track record of success continues to pay off. Coupled with this, he also mentioned the similarities in organizational culture between the Seahawks and the Baltimore Ravens, who have similarly enjoyed a consistent level of success over the last decade. He put himself on the spot and made the following promise (transcribed by me as close as possible):

“I can guarantee you this, you will get everything out of myself and our coaching staff, every day, and we will not stop until we wanna get to where we get, and I hope that is very clear to you.”

I can dig that. But that is not all! Below are some of the other notable tidbits and highlights from the presser, with all transcribed quotes (not including the tweets pulled from the official Seattle Seahawks team website press conference update, unless otherwise noted.

Speaking to his offensive philosophy, Macdonald had the following to say:

“We’re going to be a physical football team. We’re going to try to be explosive and build it around the players that we have.

“The percentage of when you run the ball and how much and all of that, it’s all adjustable. To me, it’s going to mirror our football team.”

He went on to speak to his defensive philosophy, indicating that he is not averse to handling defensive playcalling until he feels comfortable passing this off, if necessary. Ultimately, though, he wants a physically dominant defense, and stressed that he is flexible schematically, but we can expect to see some significant changes this coming season (as should be expected).

“When it becomes obvious that someone else is ready to go, when we see it the same way, then we’ll make that change.”

When asked about Pete Carroll, he had a very positive (if somewhat interesting) response:

While Macdonald has not yet met former head coach Pete Carroll, he called him a “Hall-of-Fame coach.”

More importantly, though, he won’t try to be like Carroll. “I have a different personality.

“My plan is to be myself everyday. You’re just going to get me.”

With regard to the current QB situation, which is nebulous to say the least, Macdonald did his part to speak positively to Geno Smith.

Macdonald mentions speaking with Geno Smith after this year’s Week 9 game in Baltimore, saying he had “great respect for him.

“We’ve played against Geno. He’s a really good player. I’m pretty sure he’s at the Pro Bowl right now.

“We’re going to build around the quarterback. You’ve got to.”

The topic of Offensive Coordinator came up, and he responded by suggesting that NFL experience in calling plays isn’t necessarily a prerequisite for the position, for what that is worth. Below are a few tweets from media and analysts with other quotes and reactions.