Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald new youngest head coach in NFL, passing Jerod Mayo and ending Sean McVay’s 7-year run

Earlier this offseason, new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo overtook Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay as the youngest coach in the NFL. Mayo is a mere 30 days younger than McVay, and his reign as the league’s youngest coach lasted considerably less time than McVay’s did. 

Mayo was named head coach on Jan. 12, 2024, and it took until just Jan. 31 until new Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald took Mayo’s spot atop the list. Macdonald, 36, is about eight months younger than Mayo. He was most recently the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, who just lost in the AFC title game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Interestingly, Macdonald and Mayo replaced the two coaches who were previously the two oldest coaches in the NFL. Former Seahawks coach Pete Carroll held that title for quite some time, and after he parted ways with Seattle, Bill Belichick was the oldest head coach in the league for about 24 hours until he and the Patriots parted ways. 

Now, instead of Seattle having the NFL’s oldest coach and New England having the second-oldest, the Seahawks have the league’s youngest coach and the Patriots have the second-youngest. Macdonald and Mayo are two of the eight current head coaches aged 40 or younger.

Mike MacdonaldSeahawks6/26/8736 Jerod MayoPatriots2/23/8637Sean McVayRams1/24/8637Kevin O’ConnellVikings5/25/8538Shane Steichen Colts5/11/8538DeMeco Ryans Texans7/8/8439Zac Taylor Bengals5/10/8340Mike McDaniel Dolphins3/6/8340

McVay had held the mantle as the youngest coach in football for so long, that the last time he wasn’t the youngest coach in the league was back in 2016, when the league’s youngest coach was … Adam Gase — who was then in his first season with the Dolphins. He ended up getting three years in Miami and two more with the New York Jets, but hasn’t coached in the NFL since.

Clearly, the Patriots and Seahawks are hoping for something more along the lines of McVay’s track record than Gase’s. And the recent results of these other young coaches are encouraging on that front: McVay has been to two Super Bowls and won one; Taylor has been to a Super Bowl; Steichen and Ryans led incredible one-year turnarounds this season; McDaniel has built one of the best and most explosive offenses in the league; O’Connell has exceeded expectations in Minnesota.

One difference that is worth noting between Mayo and Macdonald and many of those other young coaches, though, is that they are all offensive coaches and Mayo and Macdonald are a defensive coaches. Ryans is the only other coach on the above list whose focus is defense. Bringing offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik over with him from San Francisco and then landing C.J. Stroud in the draft played a significant role in Ryans’ first-year success. That highlights the importance of Mayo and Macdonald’s upcoming OC hires, as well as the Patriots’ choices with the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft, and of the Seahawks’ upcoming decision on how to handle the future of their quarterback room with Geno Smith, Drew Lock, and potentially a draft pick, trade target, or signing.