How Mike Macdonald is guiding the Seahawks post-Pete Carroll - ESPN

RENTON, Wash. — When Mike Macdonald was hired by the Seattle Seahawks this past offseason, he brought the Baltimore Ravens' notoriously tough conditioning test with him.

Several NFL teams make players pass one at the start of training camp in order to practice, and the versions vary by team. This one requires them to complete six 150-yard shuttles, with a time limit on each leg that differs depending on position groups. Not finishing any of the six legs in the designated time means failing the test and having to start it over.

«Never want to do it again,» Seahawks wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. said. «It's deadly.»

It might have been predictable that a few young players would fail such a difficult test, requiring them to start camp on the non-football injury list until they could pass. But to the Seahawks' new head coach, it wasn't acceptable.

«Macdonald was pissed,» a source close to a player said.

Macdonald chewed out the players individually, according to a team source and a source close to a player, and then brought up the issue in front of the rest of the team in order to drive the point home: You owe it to everyone else to show up in shape.

He told at least one of the players that he'd have been cut on the spot if not for the guaranteed money in his contract, another source close to one of them said.

If it wasn't already clear to the Seahawks that Macdonald has a different leadership style than his predecessor, Pete Carroll, then that moment left no doubt.

The Seahawks' decision to move on from Carroll in January changed the organization's power structure, with longtime general manager John Schneider now holding final say over personnel decisions as well as oversight of the coaching staff. When Schneider and