Mike Macdonald learned valuable lessons regarding his media approach

Published September 23, 2026 07:32 PM Despite his immense success in a short time with one of the 32 most coveted jobs in football, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald is still learning.As it relates to his recent sit-down with Graham Bensinger, Macdonald has learned that nothing is off the record unless both sides to the conversation agree that it is. Macdonald also has learned to assume that every mic is a hot mic, and that every camera is capturing images.He’s also learning to be careful about who he trusts, and about when and where he lets himself get comfortable.More broadly, Macdonald is learning why Bill Belichick behaves the way he does. If you say as little as possible, the chances of saying something you come to regret will be minimized.Earlier this week, Macdonald was asked about his decision to submit to interviews in the aftermath of winning the Super Bowl. “If someone’s interested in talking and you feel like it’s an honest process, then why not?” Macdonald told reporters on Monday. “I don’t have a long relationship with Graham [Bensinger], but I was really impressed with how they did their business. There are other podcasts that you had prior relationships with folks, and I respect the work that they do, and we have prior relationships that you want to honor. It’s probably that simple.”As the owner and operator of a media outlet, I’ll never complain about coaches, players, and others from the NFL universe providing compelling content. Plenty of it comes from the press conferences to which coaches are required to submit. When they stray beyond that, they need to be careful.Careful about what they say. Careful about who they say it to. Careful about who they trust.As to Bensinger, he won the battle of capturing a compelling sound bite. He may have lost the broader war, however. By possibly operating under the premise that it’s better to seek forgiveness than to request permission — and by clinging to the technicalities of invoking off-the-record protection — Macdonald surely won’t be inclined to sit down with him again. And, if Macdonald does, he’ll be far more guarded.Others may have similar trepidations about submitting to interviews and/or allowing themselves to be charmed into getting too comfortable.For Macdonald, he got way too comfortable. One source not connected to either the Seahawks or Broncos deemed it “reckless.”Complicating matters for Macdonald is that he now reports to ownership that didn’t hire him. And while winning is ultimately all that matters, early impressions matter, too. And it’s one thing for outsiders to question Macdonald’s judgment and discretion. If Vinod, Neeru, and/or Neal Khosla feel a little differently about Macdonald after this incident, it could come back to haunt him if/when the wins aren’t as consistent or convincing.