At 6:30 PM on Sunday, February 8th, Super Bowl LX will kick off, and the Seattle Seahawks head coach, Mike Macdonald, will face his original hometown team, the New England Patriots.
Macdonald spent his early years in Scituate, MA, before his family relocated to Georgia. Nevertheless, Macdonald maintains his ties to the South Shore by including Scituate on his Facebook and LinkedIn profiles.
Diehard Seahawks fan SHS senior Finn O’Connor is aware of Macdonald’s Scituate roots. O’Connor said he hopes to send a video to Macdonald, wishing him the best in the Super Bowl and encouraging him to visit Scituate: “He should honestly go to the Scituate High School field and play some ball. Then he should go to the Harbor and see some of the beaches and even get some ice cream at Dribbles.”
SHS senior Cole Laivins, a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, recalled, “The Pats broke my heart back in the 2017 AFC Championship game, so I am not a big Pats fan at all.” SHS senior Grayson Loeffel, a Chicago Bears fan, simply stated, “I hate the Patriots.”
Several SHS students suggested sending Macdonald a picture of an SHS football helmet, but Loeffel exclaimed, “We should send him a video of all the SHS graduates who went to the University of Michigan because he’s from Scituate and also was the defensive coordinator at Michigan.”
Many students said they would love to see Macdonald visit Minot Beach and Scituate Harbor during the summer. After a day at the beach, Macdonald could take his family to TKO Malley’s, where NFL stars have been spotted before. (Macdonald might even run into Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth, who reportedly visited Scituate.) If Macdonald is seeking a classic Scituate dining experience, he could order a gold-finger pizza at TK’s, a lobster roll from Miss Emily Food Truck, or a sandwich from Maria’s Subs.
SHS assistant principal William Luette, who is originally from New Jersey, believes we should send Macdonald an anchor or a picture of a Scituate Sailors shirt. Luette noted that the Patriots helped him out when he coached football at Sandwich High School. As for his Super Bowl rituals, Luette said, “I plan to stay at home, have a fire, like always, and make my buffalo chicken dip.”
Clearly, the Scituate community is ready for the big game — and a homecoming visit from Mike Macdonald. Of course, the Seahawks will need a lot of good luck on Sunday because the Patriots certainly won’t make it easy for them.