The Seattle Seahawks hit some turbulence earlier this season, losing five of six games to fall to a 4-5 record.

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But just as the season was in danger of slipping away, Seattle appeared to find its stride under first-time head coach Mike Macdonald.

The Seahawks have since rattled off three straight wins and surged atop the NFC West to 7-5, sparked by a dramatic midseason turnaround on defense. After sitting near the bottom of the league in most defensive categories over the first half of the season, Seattle has held each of its past four opponents to 17 offensive points or fewer in regulation.

It took some time, but it’s the type of dominant defense many hoped for when the Seahawks tabbed Macdonald as the successor to former longtime head coach Pete Carroll this past January. Macdonald came to Seattle with a reputation as one of the league’s brightest defensive minds after his recent success as the defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens and Michigan Wolverines.

“Mike Macdonald can coach defense,” ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano said Tuesday on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. “I think that was obvious to everybody in his last couple of stops in Baltimore and at Michigan before that. But it makes sense that it would take a little while, right? It’s a new scheme and guys have to learn it and their place in it – what exactly is expected, not just conceptually, but game to game, play to play.

“So the idea that it would have gotten better in the second half of Macdonald’s first season makes complete sense. And I think that’s what’s happened.”

But as Graziano said, a head coach’s impact goes far beyond just one side of the ball.

“Seattle didn’t hire him just because he could coach defense,” Graziano said. “They hired him because they thought he was going to be a really good head coach.

“And I know (from) talking to people in that building toward the end of training camp and beginning of the regular season, they were fired up (from what) he had shown them in terms of his command of the building – his ability to be decisive and clear and coherent with his vision in meetings and in conversations with people around the building. They were fired up. They felt like, ‘Yes, we got the right guy.’”

At 37 years old, Macdonald is the NFL’s youngest head coach. Naturally, his age and reputation as a defensive guru have prompted comparisons to Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay.

McVay, who was just 30 he became the Rams head coach in 2017, is regarded as one of the top offensive minds in the game. He has led the Rams to five playoff berths over the previous seven seasons, including two Super Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl title.

“Yes, (Macdonald) is the youngest coach in the league,” Graziano said. “So was Sean McVay. And that’s a high standard to hold someone to, but that’s obviously the hope – to hit a home run on that level. Sean McVay did not succeed as head coach of the Rams just because he’s a great play caller and a great offensive play designer. He succeeded because he is the center of that building. He is the one that communicates the vision for the team, and he got everybody to buy in right away.

“And if Mike Macdonald is doing that – and there are reasons to believe that he is – then I think the Seahawks’ fan base has reason to be excited about the future with him as their head coach.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2 to 6 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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