What Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said when interviewed by Joel McHale

RENTON - In the roughly three months since the Seahawks won the Super Bowl, Mike Macdonald has often been asked one simple question - has becoming one of 36 coaches to ever accomplish that feat changed him any?

"It hasn't, Macdonald said Wednesday. "I'm the same guy. I feel the same, which is great."

The setting in which Macdonald spoke those words showed that life is unquestionably changing around him.

Macdonald was featured for an hour Wednesday on a SiriusXM Front Row broadcast conducted with host Joel McHale at the VMAC in Renton in front of about 30 or so SiriusXM subscribers --- the kind of added media attention now coming both his way and that of the Seahawks in the wake of the Super Bowl win.

Last year, Sirius held a similar show with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and actor Bryan Cranston.

Receiver Cooper Kupp and tight end AJ Barner were also guests for segments.

The hour will debut on SiriusXM NFL Radio (channel 88) at 3 p.m. Thursday with additional air dates through the weekend and available anytime on demand on the SiriusXM app.

That the event was hosted by McHale - a Mercer Island native turned actor and comedian who also was a walk-on football player at UW in the early ‘90s and has since earned a rep as one of the first fans of all Seattle sports teams - makes clear the tone.

McHale opened by telling Macdonald he attended the Super Bowl with his 18-year-old son and at the end "cried to a point where I disturbed myself," letting the coach know "you're in my will now."

That led to a question of whether Macdonald had bought himself anything in the wake of the Super Bowl win and Macdonald noting that some other coaches at the recent league meetings asked him if he got more money for winning the title.

"I was like ‘none,'" Macdonald said to laughter. "We make no extra money. Eventually it's going to pay off, I suppose but …'"

To which McHale cut in "John Schneider (Seattle's general manager) please bring out the wheelbarrow."

Macdonald played along throughout.

At one point he noted that it's beginning to look as if the Seahawks won't have an international game this season but said "Hard Knocks is enough," a reference to the NFL Films-produced documentary series that will feature the Seahawks during training camp this year.

"They are going to come I believe later in the spring to kind of get the lay of the land and then it will be off and running," Macdonald said, before poking fun at his buttoned-up image. "They picked a charismatic coach to follow. Must-see TV."

During Kupp's appearance the conversation turned to his beard and whether he's ever shaved it. Kupp said he did trim it some once last year but that it came back "with ferocity" so for now he's letting it be.

"In order for me to grow a beard I'd actually have to take Cooper's beard and stick it on my face," Macdonald responded. "I've tried (to grow one). It's not pretty."

Kupp noted that he brought his love of pho to the Seahawks locker room last season and got a few teammates hooked on it, as well.

"You know it's good pho if it comes from a strip mall," Kupp said, to which McHale quickly interjected "boy, that could have gone a real different direction."

Barner's turn featured an inevitable question about the fur coat he wore to the Super Bowl parade.

"That thing's retired until hopefully we get to bring it out (for another parade)," Barner said.

Through the laughs were also some moments of reflection and insight.

Here are a few:

Macdonald is getting used to getting recognized

Macdonald, who barely 27 months ago was a 36-year-old assistant known in NFL circles but not much outside of those, turned a question from an audience member on whether he's had any unique opportunities arise in the wake of the Super Bowl into an answer on how it took until after the game to understand what it all meant.

"I don't think you realize like the vastness of what we did (until later)," he said. "Like we were so focused on our process, who we want to become, what we had to do every day, what was best for the team. There were a lot of things going on throughout the season. You get to the Super Bowl, you are almost surprised at like how big it is and the impact that you have on people.

"It shows itself because everyone now, like I can go anywhere and people have recognized me. It's new for me, so it's going to take some getting used to. But behind that is, ‘oh wow, like we really reached a ton of people and that's why we do it.'"

Macdonald said it began to hit him at the parade.

"I didn't know what we were in for," he said. "Everything happened really kind of fast and all the sudden. … It was beyond our wildest dreams. (It was) almost kind of a bummer, like my expectations weren't high enough on how awesome that was. (It was) probably the highlight after the Super Bowl.''

Super Bowl was never a stated goal

One serious answer from Macdonald about how the team approaches trying to win another Super Bowl led to another Barner-influenced moment of levity.

Macdonald noted that the Seahawks "actually never talked about the Super Bowl last year (as a goal), believe it or not. We just never did."

"Maybe coaches (never did)," Barner said to laughter.

Macdonald continued: "We never got in front of the team and said like ‘this is our goal.' It was always ‘how do we become the team that we aspire to become (which is) a championship-level team?' And then you have faith that the results are going to fall in line with who you become. But if you start thinking about winning another championship, that's like disrespecting the process of the things you have to be able to do."

Macdonald has ‘best job in the world'

As McHale's "wheelbarrow" comment alluded to, it's more than possible that Macdonald gets a contract extension or adjustment at some point this offseason in the wake of the Super Bowl win. He signed a reported six-year deal when he got the job, reportedly at roughly $9 million a season.

That's not even close to being among the top 10 highest-paid coaches, according to Sportico, which reported that Kansas City's Andy Reid is the highest-paid coach at $20 million a year with Chicago's Ben Johnson and Minnesota's Kevin O'Connell tied for 10th at $13 million a year.

Not that it appears to be an issue for Macdonald, who in an answer to what is the best part of his job said he thinks, "I have the best job in the world, period."

"There's nothing else you could ask me to do that I would rather do than have this job in this organization. The best part of my job is just working with our people - that's what I look forward to. I love coming into the building every day. It's not just our coaches, (it's) our staff, our security people. It's just when you feel like you're aligned toward this common goal, man, is that so much fun. Because now were solving problems together. Then when things go wrong you still feel like, ‘Hey, this person has my back. We're aligned in this thing.' That's when it's fun.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 11:34 PM.