Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald ready to start the season

Welcome back to Seahawks central head coach, Mike mcdonald joining us now and coach, uh, first year, first game as an NFL head coach. What are some of the emotions that are going through you right now? It's, uh, it's interesting, Paul, I mean, uh, people have asked me that throughout the week. Honestly, I'm worried about today's practice and whether or not we can execute our third down red zone game plan. So I'm sure it'll hit me on Sunday just being, I'll be able to take a deep breath and take everything in and appreciate the moment. But, uh right now, we're just kind of focused on the present, focus on today, uh, excited for Sunday, obviously, but there's still quite a bit of work to be done between now and then. All right. So over the last seven months or so, and, uh, you know, being a first year head coach, has there been a big surprise for you? What's been the biggest surprise for you? How fast the days go? I mean, uh, John Harbaugh had a phrase, the days are long and the years are short, uh, that I don't know if that's been my experience so far the days go by in a snap, you look up and you don't know where the day went. This, there's, uh, a lot of things going on and, um, it's been fun. It's been, we've had great people to work with but, uh, there is a lot that, that goes on on a given day, a lot of it's unexpected. So you gotta be able to, you know, move and shake and adjust and in real time. And, um, those are things that we're learning. But, um, it's, uh, it's been a great experience, but it's moved by super fast. That's interesting to hear you say that. And I gotta believe that opening at home has got to be a little bit more extra exciting than the opening of the road. Yeah, I mean, hopefully that'll, that'll be the case here as, as long as I'm the coach. So, um, just, just playing in front of our fans and, and being in our home city and, um, it's a huge advantage for us, obviously. So, uh, it's gonna be really exciting. It's gonna be an awesome atmosphere. All right, I find it interesting that you're naming your captains on a game by game basis and not season long captain. So, what went into that decision? Yeah, II, I wouldn't put too much stock in it. I mean, we have a lot of guys that we want to empower and, um, uh, you know, kind of give them a platform to, to lead the team on any given week. And, uh, reward guys are doing a great job that might not be able to have like the season long to sort of title. And, you know, there's a lot of, we have a lot of awesome veterans too that we're gonna, we're gonna lean on, um, throughout the, you know, the course of the season that we've, we've leaned on, you know, all the way from when, when we took over in February. So, uh, I wouldn't put too much stock into it, but it's an opportunity to build some young guys up. How about, uh, as, as far as the Seahawks team kind of goes into the season under the radar a bit? Um, do you prefer that kind of a role or would you rather go in with a target on your back? It's fine. It's just all that stuff. Just, it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't mean anything because what was the storyline? You know, the beginning of last year? Nobody has any idea. It just, it just doesn't matter. It's all, all that matters is, is what we do out on the field. Our guys know that. So whatever the storyline is, it's right where we need to be, uh, we'll welcome any and all scrutiny and, uh, we'll go, we'll go BS. That's true. I mean, I can ask you five more questions. You're like, I don't know, I don't know what's gonna happen. You know, it's just the way, the way you're gonna, this thing, it just has to, you take it as it comes. Um, you know, you, you, it's important for coaches to learn their players and players to learn their coaches and, and, uh, you know, you gave the guys a three day weekend over Labor Day weekend, kind of gave them away from football before the grind really starts for them. Um, you know, when you look at that, uh, that the relationship between player and coach, uh, the give and take, how important is that to have that kind of relationship, man. II, I don't, I don't know how you could do it any other way. I mean, we're where we want to be a connected unit, you know, 12 is one is, is important to us. And, um, yeah, I'm the c you know, we're the coaches, they're the players, but we're a team and we have to communicate as such, uh, respect one another. Uh, the players are the ones that may come alive. It's all about the players and, uh, we want to do what's best for them, which is in turn what's best for the team. So sometimes we need to push and, um, make them uncomfortable so they can, they can grow and sometimes, uh, whether, you know, whatever is driving the decision is, is the science, is it, uh, the body language? Is it the feedback, uh, is it intuitions you know, those things will drive some, some um some decisions that we make where we kind of, you know, lay off the, the, the pedal, so to speak. So um we're learning, you know, through that process and uh the guys have been great, you know, I think once you, once you show that you can have those interactions and have that communication, the guys start to the trust that they can, they can communicate with you and give you the feedback. And, um, it's kind of a given, you know, like I said, it's a give and take between, between everyone on the team. You know, I can just hear it as the over as the months went by and then conversations go and your, your sound bites go and the players start chiming in as they're walking by you. There's a real, a real relationship developed and an instant respect it seems like from both coaches and players. I hope so. I mean, iii I feel we feel that as a coaching staff, um I know this, we respect the heck out of those guys. I don't know if you ever lined up on a football field against, uh 11 pro other football players, but it's not an easy task. So, uh, you know, they got a tough job and to do it at a high level and to do it consistently is, is, is not easy. So we, we definitely understand where they're coming from however you know, we have a high standard here and we're, we're trying to be the best in the world. So, you know, we want, we want to push the envelope and make sure that, uh, you know, the standard is, is met, uh, every day we take the field. I know fans are looking forward to it. I'm sure the players and the coaches are looking forward to it. I'm fired up, man. I I just can't wait for the season to start. So, uh, thanks for sharing some time with us and, uh, good luck on Sunday, Ed. Thanks Paul.