Sources: Michigan's Mike Macdonald a strong candidate for Ravens defensive coordinator opening

With Wink Martindale and the Ravens parting ways late last week, John Harbaugh found himself with an opening at defensive coordinator.

To fill it, sources tell FootballScoop Michigan defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is a strong candidate to return Baltimore in the defensive coordinator role.

A deal could be in place as early as Friday morning.

Macdonald, who is a rising star in the profession at just 34 years old, spent the last year at Michigan as defensive coordinator, helping lead Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines to a Big Ten title and the College Football Playoff.

The Michigan defense was stingy and aggressive under Macdonald, and no performance was more impressive than the Wolverines defense in their big win over Ohio State with star defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson notching a whopping 15 quarterback pressures.

Before joining the staff in Ann Arbor, MacDonald worked his way up in Baltimore from an intern to a defensive analyst from 2014-16 before being named defensive backs coach in 2017 and linebackers coach from 2018-20.

Over the past few days, the Ravens have put in requests, and reportedly spoken with Saints defensive backs coach Kris Richard, Cowboys defensive pass game coordinator Joe Whitt, and Jags defensive line coach Joe Cullen, to name a few. In-house candidate Anthony Weaver, who coaches the Ravens defensive line, is also reportedly a strong candidate.

The opening would create a big hole at Michigan, where Jim Harbaugh would now be tasked with hiring a defensive coordinator for the second straight season. However, the Michigan program is on better footing than it has been in a long time and it will be an attractive job to some top candidates.

Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.