Mike Macdonald showed everyone who he was long before the Seahawks even won Super Bowl LX. During the 2025 draft, he wore a blue, gas-station-style work shirt, and it was not just for show. It was to signal the gritty, no-frills culture he wanted to build in Seattle. That mindset paid off when Uchenna Nwosu’s late touchdown in Santa Clara ended a 12-year title drought. And now the same disciplinary blueprint is catching the spotlight of others, especially a particular NFC South team.

NFC South’s Atlanta Falcons are trying to follow the Macdonald path by hiring a former Jim Harbaugh assistant, LaTroy Lewis. The latest transfer news places Lewis as an assistant defensive line coach. He had joined the program in January as a defensive line coach but decided to cut short his NCAA coaching career and leave for the NFL side. But how exactly are the Falcons hoping to replicate Mike Macdonald’s success through Lewis?

It comes down to their time at Michigan. Both Mike Macdonald and LaTroy Lewis were graduate assistants under Jim Harbaugh at Ann Arbor. Macdonald served at the position in his only season at the program in 2021 and won the Big Ten Championship. After that season, Macdonald returned to the Baltimore Ravens as a defensive coordinator for a second tenure.

After Macdonald left, Lewis joined Michigan in 2022. Under Jim Harbaugh, Lewis helped Michigan to win the National Championship in the 2023 season. After two seasons with the Wolverines, Lewis moved to Toledo as a defensive line coach, where his defensive unit helped the program rank fourth nationally in points allowed at 13.3 per game. That got UConn’s interest, but unfortunately for them, the Falcons secured his services instead.

The decision was really simple for the Falcons. Lewis matured and polished his craft under Harbaugh, and then the way he impacted the defensive line at Toledo showed that Lewis could be a rising coaching talent. In a way, his story gives a similar vibe to Macdonald’s, which helps explain why the Falcons view him as a potential long-term addition.

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Can you really blame the Falcons for pursuing the Macdonald blueprint, though? What Mike Macdonald did for the Seattle Seahawks in his second season is just incredible. One of the youngest head coaches in the NFL led the Seahawks to a ten-game win streak that saw them clinch both the NFC Championship and the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl win also saw him become the third-youngest NFL coach to win the Lombardi Trophy, an incredible feat that can not be ignored.

For LaTroy Lewis, this comes as a chance to shine at football’s biggest stage, just like how Macdonald did. With his experience and guidance under Harbaugh and his proven ability to coach during his Toledo stint, Lewis will now take his coaching abilities to the professional ranks. While there is still time for that, let us look at how LaTroy Lewis reached here in the first place.

Mike Macdonald-blueprint LaTroy Lewis’ playing and coaching career

While the narrative makes it seem like LaTroy Lewis and Mike Macdonald are very similar, the reality is the opposite. Both coaches had a collegiate playing career; however, Macdonald did not play in the NFL due to injuries. Lewis, on the other hand, played three seasons at the professional level, playing for the Las Vegas Raiders, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, and Houston Roughnecks.

After getting his contract terminated by the Roughnecks in 2019, Lewis retired from playing football. Instead, he focused on his coaching career, starting at Akron as a graduate assistant the following year. He continued hopping on other programs at the same position at South Alabama and Wake Forest before becoming a graduate assistant at Jim Harbaugh-led Michigan. Three seasons later, he got a shot at an advanced coaching position at Toledo, where, as aforementioned, he led the Green Wave to defensive success under Vince Kehres.

It shows the resilience that Lewis has built over the years. Even after his playing career ended abruptly, Lewis remained focused on the sport, offering insight off the field when he could no longer contribute on it.