THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Coach Mac opens up on early struggles with Seahawks

"I’ve never felt like that in my life. I was sick. I’d go home, I’d get in bed, and I wouldn’t get out. I’d get in bed as soon as I got home; I wouldn’t get out of bed until I went to work. 

"I’d be late going into work ... I wouldn’t get out of bed all weekend. I’d just sit in bed. 

"It was crazy. Yeah, that was probably the toughest, most difficult stretch of my life, honestly."

— MIKE MACDONALD

Astonishing.

The notion of a nationally known, celebrated coach admitting he was caught in depression is a shock.

Coaches who win the Super Bowl don't fall into emotional darkness.

And if they do, it remains a secret.

The admissions at the start of this column, however, are not the memories of a disturbed 12-year-old.

They are unbelievably recent.

Macdonald was very ill during the 2024 football season, his first in charge of the Seahawks.

Obviously, he hid it well from the outside world, since some very good reporters saw Mike in just about every situation.

They were no doubt shocked by these admissions, which came to light in an episode of "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," which debuts this week.

BENSINGER is an award-winning journalist and host who can nudge personalities into discussing their personal lives.

He won an Emmy for a gripping interview of Mike Tyson.

Macdonald obviously chose to open up on the show, and didn't object to the painful subject matter or the fact that his demons would become public right at the start of football season.

Mike didn't hold back on any phase of his troubles, either.

“I was not a great leader my first year,” Macdonald said during a segment of the episode that focused on the 2024 season. 

“It sucks to say that, but I just fell short in so many different ways — like in awareness and in trust and in communication style. 

"Just wasn’t the best version of myself. Yeah, it’s not easy to say that, but it’s the truth.”

Macdonald was in both personal and professional whirlwinds during that 2024 season.

He was just 36 when the Hawks chose him to succeed club icon Pete Carroll.

The Seahawks won their first three, slumped and rallied to finish 10-7 — but missed the playoffs via a tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, life was anything but calm at home, with Mike's wife Stephanie learning she was pregnant with their first child (son Jack was born last December) and the sudden death of the family dog.

"There was a lot going on," Macdonald said.

The young head coach felt the heat, blamed himself for a lot of the team's problems — and simply hid out in bed.

A LOT of coaches, plus managers and CEOs in other professions, no doubt have felt the same awful squeeze that made Macdonald so miserable.

Most of them (almost all, if we're going to be honest) say nothing about their troubles.

They certainly don't open up to a national reporter.

The common response is to turn even further inside, making it even harder to shake true depression.

Macdonald certainly handled things the wrong way that year, suffering as the Seahawks didn't reach the goal (which was totally unrealistic) that he had aimed for them.

“I put a ton of pressure on myself, because I have massive expectations for what we are trying to create,” Macdonald said. 

“There was a burden that I felt like I was holding because we weren’t where I wanted to be and I wasn’t clear on what to do. It can be a lonely, tough feeling.”

It surely can be.

Mental health professionals will tell you that Macdonald's ultimate course — telling the world about his sickness — is the path to recovery.

Hiding in bed only makes the world seem even darker.

Seahawks fans can now go beyond rooting for another Super Bowl.

They can now take the coach's life lesson to heart.

Mike gave us all something.

EMAIL: [email protected]

Longtime journalist Steve Cameron writes "The Cheap Seats" for The Press three times each week.

National Mental Health Hotline: 866-903-3787