Flowery Branch, Georgia — The Atlanta Falcons announced on Friday that they have concluded a virtual interview with Mike Macdonald for the role of head coach.
This is the first completed interview in Atlanta’s search to replace Arthur Smith, who was fired on January 8.
The 36-year-old defensive coordinator has a strong track record of calling plays for the University of Michigan and the Baltimore Ravens over the last three seasons. Macdonald has become a well-known name throughout this hiring cycle.
According to NFL standards, interviews with employees from other clubs must take place virtually before to the completion of Divisional Playoff games on Sunday, January 21. If the employer club has a Wild Card bye, virtual interviews must take place before the Wild Card games end. If the employer club is a Wild Card participant, virtual interviews can begin three days after the Wild Card game and must be completed before the Divisional Playoff games.
Beginning Monday, January 22, clubs may conduct in-person or virtual interviews with candidates employed by other NFL clubs whose seasons have ended, but they are not permitted to conduct initial interviews with candidates employed by clubs competing in the Conference Championship Games until the end of the employer club’s season.
Let’s find out more about the person the Falcons are contemplating as the 19th head coach in franchise history.
Interview date: Friday, January 12.
Current position: Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator.
Highlights from the resume:
Baltimore Ravens, 2014-20: Macdonald began his NFL career as an intern. After a year, he was elevated to defensive assistant for the next two seasons. In 2017, Macdonald was the Ravens’ defensive backs coach before moving on to coach the linebackers for the next three seasons.
Michigan, 2021: Macdonald returns to college football as a defensive coordinator at Michigan.
Baltimore Ravens, 2022—present (second stint): He returned to the Ravens as a defensive coordinator, a position he has held since.
Macdonald graduated from Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia, and went on to the University of Georgia. While attending college at Georgia, Macdonald coached high school football at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens. Following graduation, he continued at Georgia as the Bulldogs’ safeties coach and defensive quality control assistant before joining the Ravens in 2014.
Why he’s a candidate: Macdonald is a key member of the Ravens, who are the AFC’s top seed heading into the playoffs. During the 2023 regular season, his Ravens defense was first in scoring, first in takeaways, and sixth in total yards allowed. Baltimore finished 13-4. The Ravens defense ranked in the top ten in all of those categories the previous year, demonstrating Macdonald’s ability to command a defense.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Macdonald is in high demand, with the Falcons and five other clubs asking interviews with him as part of their head-coaching search.
The Falcons are looking for someone to elevate a good group to serious and consistent competition for division crowns and postseason wins. Macdonald has been a member of a winning organization that excels at accomplishing just that.
Macdonald stated on Thursday that he has learned a lot from Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and the culture he helped develop in Baltimore, and that he will apply those lessons to any role he takes with another franchise. That would be a plus for a Falcons team aiming to establish a period of consistent success.
“The person that he (Harbaugh) is, and the leader that he is, you just have great role models that you look up to and that are high integrity (and) high character individuals and just phenomenal leaders,” Macdonald said on the team’s website. “So they are easy to follow. If and when that occasion arises, you will undoubtedly desire to emulate their actions.
Strikes against: Macdonald is only 36 years old and has only three years of experience as a coordinator. That may work against him, but choosing younger head coaches has been increasingly popular in recent seasons.
