The coach of the defending Super Bowl champions, Mike Macdonald, attributes his remarkable success and profound peace under immense pressure to his unwavering faith in Christ.



The coach of the defending Super Bowl champions is crediting his faith in Christ for giving him peace under pressure, saying in a new interview that it carried him through the biggest game of his life and remains even more important in his daily walk.

Mike Macdonald guided the Seattle Seahawks to their first Super Bowl title in more than a decade last season, completing a remarkable turnaround that culminated in the best regular season in franchise history – all in just his second year as head coach. Seattle had failed to make the playoffs in two of the three seasons prior to his hiring.

He told the Sports Spectrum Podcast that Jesus is the foundation of his life.

“He's my Lord and Savior,” he said. “My faith right now is probably as strong as it's ever been. … I'm confident it's not because we've won – [but] it's because of the people we've been around and where they've led me with Him.”

That faith, he said, has changed his perspective on football. Victories, he said, are no longer the ultimate goal.

“Are we chasing hardware? Or are we chasing the relationships and the people, and our community and bringing people together? And it's pretty obvious on what He wants from us at that point.”

Macdonald recounted his faith journey, saying he grew close to Christ in high school under student pastor Darren Youngstrom before his faith somewhat drifted.

“When I started coaching, my faith wavered a little bit,” he told Sports Spectrum. “You know, your focus gets shifted a little bit in terms of your priorities, and that lasted a few years.”

He credits his wife, Stephanie, for helping lead him back to church and encouraging him to make Christ the center of his life again. Jesus, he said, never left.

“He's just right there waiting for me to come back.”

He also credits two former coaches he worked under – Mark Richt at the University of Georgia and John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens – for modeling what it looks like to lead with faith while coaching.

“Here are the guys that are running their organizations at a super high level, but made it very clear how important faith was to them.”

Macdonald says faith gave him peace as the Seahawks prepared last February to face New England in Super Bowl LX.

“You're anxious. You think of all sorts of things.”

His nerves began to calm when he listened to a sermon by Youngstrom, his former pastor, which reminded him that the outcome ultimately rested in God's hands, not his own. Then Seattle general manager John Schneider – sensing his nerves – placed a miniature Jesus figurine on Macdonald's desk, a simple reminder to keep his eyes on Christ.

“He just stuck it right there on my desk. And when I came back in, it's just sitting there like – Jesus just standing there, staring at me,” he said, laughing. “And so as I went through my process again and prayed and listened to Darren's message and thinking about the game – it was just … a clarity of like just, ‘It's not in your control. You've done all the things you need to do.’ Have faith in the process. Like win or lose, it's part of His vision for you.”

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