Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald joins 'The Insiders' for exclusive interview on June 13

Another beautiful week for mini camp on the shores of Lake Washington. Those beautiful throwback uniforms too on the Seahawks quarterbacks, Geno Smith, Sam Howell, newly arrived PJ Walker as well. Now six weeks ahead for the entire team, including their new head coach, Mike McDonald, to refresh a little bit, which I'm guessing Mike hasn't had a whole lot of opportunities to do over the past five months. Happy to have Mike McDonald here with us right now. How are how are you doing here, Mike? It's been a long road from the playoff run with Baltimore to taking the job to moving to going through the spring here. How you holding up and how are the 2024 Seahawks looking? Yeah, Tom, I'm not sure what you're talking about, man. This has been a walk in the park, you know, fed a lot of lot of time to take a breather. And, you know, we, we, we ended camp yesterday. So it was nice to have a sleep in a little bit, hang out with the wife this morning. I had the pleasure of taking my dog out to the bathroom and feeding him this morning. So that that was a nice change up. And to be a normal, normal human being. How about that? So I feel like a normal being. Absolutely. You told me back in March, we just saw your quarterbacks that even after you acquired Sam Howell in the trade, Geno Smith was your starter. Take me through how Gino has adapted through the course of this spring to a new offense with Ryan Grubb, Of course, a lot of the same teammates there. And how does Sam Howell and PJ Walker, for that matter, fit into the bigger picture of your team for 2024? Well, they've done a great job. And anytime you're entering new systems into the equation, especially an offense, new officer coordinator, you try to have to you kind of kind of build all those fibers to develop those relationships, understand the systems, understand how we want to operate on a day-to-day basis. And then all the way going, you know, just in and out of the huddle and, and how we want to communicate with one another. And then on top of that, you know, trying to play the most difficult position in sports. So it's a tall task, but it's a process. And I think we're excited about where we're at right now going into camp. But yeah, they're doing a great job. I mean, Gino's, you know, he's like I've said before, it's the tip of the spear for us offensively. And I mean, I've said this, but I mean, he's such a such a hard worker, man. It's hard, hard not to fall in line behind him for the rest of the offense. And then and then with Sam and PJI mean they're they're right there. You know, I think we're really excited about our room. A lot of lot of experience, you know, in the in the second and third quarterback position. So we got a lot of confidence in those guys, and I think we're off a pretty good platform right now to launch into train camp. Talking about Ryan Grubb, first of all, you had to pull off a Houdini act to get him. He goes from Washington to Alabama for like a week, and then somehow you get him back to the Pacific Northwest. We know what he's done at the college level in the numbers that the Huskies put up last year in terms of what this looks like at the NFL level, what should we be expecting? Well, I think it's the evolution of his system and then, you know, blending that with some other experiences we have on our staff. But you look at Ryan's track record, I, I just, I loved how his, his scheme along with Kalin has evolved over the years and adapted to the people that they had. And I mean, and it's not the same. It's not the same, you know, plays that they've been running. It's been different based on the different programs they've been in and the systems that they need to be able to put their players in position to succeed. So that was one of the, you know, the trademark things that was, you know, compelling from my point of view. And then just his overall attitude and his and his ability to kind of adapt and you know, have have kind of a growth mindset on, on how we want to build our systems and build around our players and especially our quarterbacks. So he's doing a great job. And I think our, our system is, you know, it's just, it's just the beginnings. We're in baby steps mode right now. I think of where this thing can go, but it's exciting time. DK Metcalf is a guy who obviously has had a lot of productivity. I'm sure he's aware of all the big money that other receivers are getting out there in the NFL. I'm sure he wants to get the ball a lot in this office. Just take me through how DK looks. First of all, I'm guessing big and extremely muscular, but also how he fits into the picture, what you want to be as a team. Well, I can tell you this, we want to get DK the ball a lot too. So we share that that sentiment for sure. But it's, it's, it feels different now when, when 14's out there. He is a big, imposing, fast, powerful receiver man. And you know, we're really excited about it. And I think, you know, we've, we've talked about it really since, you know, we, we got here in February plans for him and Tyler and Jackson and and Noah and our backs and what, what, what it kind of look like and how we can move guys around and make, make DK, you know, a moving target for defenses where they, you know, they have to account for him at all times. But it's going to be hard to find him. And so now that, you know, now we're here, we're all here in the same building and getting camp. And, you know, we got a good runway here going into this season to to see how this thing's going to manifest itself. But yeah, we want to give him the ball as much as possible, for sure. The defense obviously is your baby. You got a big piece in the first round of the draft with Byron Murphy. How has he looked so far and how is that side of the ball coming along through the spring here? He he looks again. We're in we're in underwear right now. You know, so it's it's tough to tell there's I mean, you're looking at the explosiveness, explosiveness, the athlete, the mentality on a day-to-day basis. All that stuff is what we expected even more so so really excited about Byron, but we'll see when the pads come on. But I mean that this is the reason why why we drafted him in those types of situations. And then just the depth that we have at D line. I mean, you know, guys can play in different spots. We're kind of, you know, we're on record talking about that, but I think there's not as much pressure on like a first round rookie to come in and be the bell cowl down in and down out where now, you know, maybe his reps might be a little bit more limited early where he can be have a little bit more of a pack of more of a punch, you know, a per play basis. So excited about Byron. But as a defense as a whole, I think I think you just feel the confidence of the group growing on, you know, day-to-day. And that's what's most exciting for me. And we said going to this whole process, we wanted to build a kind of a launch point from when we came back and training camp and, and be confident in the things that we're doing. And I think the guys believe in what we're coaching. And it's just been fun to see them respond and and, and make plays out there. I hope you're going to get to do more than just let the dog out, let them light up the fire hydrants in the neighborhood. You get in the way here. You doing something before camp? Yeah, we're going to. We're going to take a few days to get to get away, my wife and I, but it's, you know, I'm excited. Like people just say, hey, July 5th is the day in Seattle where you need to be here for the rest of the summer. So we're going to take advantage of Seattle and and all the things asked to offer. We're going to get outside. We're really, really excited about sticking around and and kind of, you know, exploring the city. So it'll be fun before you know it, man, I'll be out there and renting, seeing you in training camp. So enjoy this little bit of time off. Mike, thanks a lot for coming on the show, man. All right, looking forward to seeing you. Not too soon though, Tom, We'll take take take our time, OK, and.