How comfy is Devon Witherspoon in his 2nd Seahawks year? He calls his new coach ‘nerdy’

How comfortable is Devon Witherspoon settling into his NFL life at age 23, in just his second pro season?

Comfy enough to strut off the field Wednesday in Seahawks minicamp and taunt offensive players with the ball he insisted he intercepted off a Geno Smith pass he tapped to himself — while ignoring the NFL official who was ruling the cornerback didn’t stay inbounds in the back of the end zone and the pass was incomplete.

It wasn’t incomplete to John Schneider. The general manager who selected Witherspoon fifth overall in the 2023 draft smiled proudly as he watched the cornerback’s wowing play again on the video board astride the practice field.

Witherspoon is also comfortable enough just 14 months into his NFL career to call his new coach...a nerd.

The Pro Bowl cornerback as a rookie last Seahawks season was asked to describe new coach Mike Macdonald Wednesday.

“He’s cool people, man,” Witherspoon said of the NFL youngest head coach at age 36.

“But he’s different, though. He’s like...he a brain guy. I mean, he’s really smart and intellectual. So, it’s like, the way he builds defenses is not natural or normal around the league. That’s what makes him different.”

The News Tribune asked Witherspoon: Is he almost...nerdy?

“Yeah, nerdy, for sure. Nerdy, for sure,” Witherspoon said.

He laughed.

“But it’s in a good way, though,” he said. “And it’s in his own way. And I think that’s what makes him who he is.”

Macdonald had an answer for Witherspoon’s, um, energy.

“It’s great,” the new coach said. “I told him today I couldn’t believe he was the smartest football player of all time — and it’s only his second year in the NFL.

“He’s got an answer for everything.

“No, hey, be yourself. That’s who he is. We love him. He’s a great player already in this league. We’re really excited about him.”

A one-time basketball aspirant, Witherspoon played two years of football at Pine Forest High School in Pensacola, Florida. He was briefly taking classes and on the football team at Hutchinson Community College in Kansas. Then University of Illinois secondary coach Keynodo Hudson brought up to head coach Lovie Smith, the former coach of the NFL’s Chicago Bears, that the Illini needed to consider signing this ball-hawking, attacking cornerback.

Witherspoon signed a scholarship to play at Illinois. He starred there. Then Schneider and then-coach Pete Carroll drafted him onto the Seahawks last year.

But Witherspoon said he’s never had a coach quite like Macdonald.

“Nah, not like that. Not the way his mind works,” Witherspoon said of the Seahawks’ new coach and defensive maestro.

“His mind works different. For real.”

How are the mind and defense different from Macdonald, the Baltimore Ravens’ defensive coordinator the previous two seasons before Seattle hired him in January to replace the fired Carroll?

“The way he structured his defense, you’ll never know what he’s going to run,” Witherspoon said.

“One thing may look like something — and it’s completely not.”

That’s because of what Seattle’s offseason practices that ended Wednesday indicated are the signatures of Macdonald’s defenses: multiplicity and versatility.

How multiple?

Leonard Williams, the defensive lineman Seattle re-signed this offseason to a three-year, $64.5 million contract, how many different positions are you playing on Macdonald’s new Seahawks defensive front?

“They kind of have me playing six different spots,” Williams said Wednesday. “All the way from the zero (technique, over the offense’s center) all the way out (to end) on pretty much both sides.”

Devon Witherspoon’s role with Mike Macdonald

How is Witherspoon going to be used in his brainiac coach’s multiple schemes plus changing of guys in and out of spots at and after snaps?

The three organized team activities practices (OTAs) and two practices of the minicamp that ended a day early Wednesday (after Macdonald canceled Thursday’s final practice) showed Witherspoon’s role may differ from last year.

Last season, Carroll and then-defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt with secondary coach Karl Scott had Witherspoon starting games outside at left cornerback. On passing downs, he moved inside to nickel as the slot cornerback.

Inside and outside, he made the Pro Bowl with wowing plays and aggressive tackles belying his 6-foot, 185-pound size.

Macdonald had his team in 11-on-11 scrimmaging in OTAs and minicamp more than in Seattle’s offseason practices from recent springs. During them, Witherspoon was almost exclusively the inside, nickel cornerback against slot receivers. Tre Brown was the starting cornerback opposite right-side corner Riq Woolen every day this spring.

That’s consistent with how Macdonald played defense most often in Baltimore. Last season he had the Ravens in nickel, five-defensive back sets 79% of the time.

All the nickel, the changing, the confusing of offenses worked in OTAs and minicamp against quarterbacks Geno Smith and Sam Howell and the Seahawks’ offense. Smith and Howell threw five interceptions during 11-on-11 work in the final practice of minicamp.

On the first play of 11 on 11 Wednesday, Smith threw an interception linebacker Patrick O’Connell tipped into the hands of new starting safety Rayshawn Jenkins. Then Woolen picked off Smith deep down the left sideline on a pass DK Metcalf appeared to think would be inside instead of outside.

Howell threw interceptions to backup nickel Artie Burns, and on back to back plays to second right cornerback Michael Jackson and rookie weakside inside linebacker Tyrice Knight.

Those five picks don’t count the interception Witherspoon insisted he made on his sterling tip of Smith’s pass to himself in the back of the end zone during a red-zone scrimmage.

The Seahawks defensive players left Wednesday night for their six weeks off until training camp begins July 26 buoyed by where they are in Macdonald’s new system.

“Well, you watched the Baltimore tape from last year,” Witherspoon said. “So we plan on building on that and just trying to do a little bit better in our own style.

“It is going to be fun this year. Just wait on it.

“We’re starting to catch our swag with it, add our own little flavor to it. But we’re getting comfortable with it really fast, faster than what we thought we would.

“Yeah, we’re kind of getting it down pat now.”