The list of teams interested in the ascending young coach continues to grow.
It seems with each passing day since the 2023 regular season came to a close, a new head coaching vacancy opens up, and the interest in Baltimore Ravens Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald to potentially fill them increases. On Thursday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Chargers are the latest teams to request permission to interview the young rising star.
Falcons requested to interview Ravens’ DC Mike Macdonald for their HC job, per source. Falcons, Titans, Commanders, Panthers and Chargers have requested Macdonald.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 12, 2024
Macdonald was expected to be one of the hottest names in this year’s hiring cycle along with Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson and thus far, his market has been scorching hot as Falcons and Chargers mark the fourth and fifth teams that have requested to interview him since Monday, joining the Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers, and Tennessee Titans.
The 36-year-old is still just in his second season designing and calling plays for a dominant Ravens defense that features a unique blend of ascending young talent and experienced veteran players, several of whom are having career years. Although interest in potentially acquiring his services is extremely high, during a press conference Thursday, Macdonald told reporters that he’s solely focused on helping his current team and players improve when he’s in the building and conducts other business regarding his future beyond this season playoff run on his own time at home away from the facility.
Ravens DC Mike Macdonald said the key to balancing his job and the interest for head coach openings is compartmentalization.
Macdonald said he has spoken to teams about their vacancies remotely when at home. pic.twitter.com/cq7hYNxwnH
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 11, 2024
“This is the first time I’m going through it, so not a lot of experience to draw off of, but the way the schedule sets up, you just have to deal with the way it’s structured,” Macdonald said. “So, right now this week, there’s a lot of work that we’re getting done here in the building, not necessarily for future opponents – there’s some back work being done behind the scenes – but our focus right now with our guys is to try improve and really stay sharp and ramp up and make sure we’re on our ‘A’ game come next weekend. So, when we’re here, that’s what we’re focused on and then fortunately, I can try to compartmentalize it and work on the Zooms and things that happen at night, and I’m doing those at my house.”
Macdonald isn’t the only Ravens assistant that the Atlanta and Los Angeles have their eyes on to potentially fill their head coach vacancies. Earlier on Thursday, the Falcons reportedly requested to interview Associate Head Coach and Defensive Line Coach Anthony Weaver and on Tuesday, the Chargers requested to interview Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken.