After a full day preparing his players for the playoffs as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, Mike Macdonald goes home and shifts his focus to his potential future roles.

The coach, who has helped the Ravens become one of the best units in the league despite dealing with numerous injuries, has drawn the attention of NFL front offices searching for their next head coach.

At 36, Macdonald has been a coordinator for only three years and an NFL coordinator for two. All three years were spent working for a Harbaugh. Macdonald started as a coaching intern for the Ravens before working his way up to position coach for John Harbaugh. He then became Jim Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator at Michigan before returning to the Ravens as their defensive coordinator in 2022.

Macdonald has no experience interviewing for head coaching jobs in the NFL and has had to learn how to balance everything with his current team in the midst of playoff preparations.

“The way that the schedule’s set up, you just have to deal with how it’s structured,” Macdonald said. “So right now, this week, there’s a lot of work that we’re getting done in this building. ... So, when we’re here, that’s what we’re focused on. And then, fortunately, I can compartmentalize it and then work on the Zooms and things that happen at night. I’m doing those at my house.”

The NFL restricts in-person interviews until the week after the divisional playoff round.

According to NFL Network, Macdonald has received a request to interview for the Ravens’ closest NFL neighbor, the Washington Commanders, who fired Ron Rivera after the regular season ended Sunday. ESPN reported that the Tennessee Titans and Carolina Panthers also requested to interview him.

If Macdonald stays with the Ravens, he is not guaranteed the same success because there are numerous stars, including tackle Justin Madubuike, inside linebacker Patrick Queen and outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney, headed to free agency. The Ravens do not have the salary cap space to sign all of them, especially with seven of their free agents listed on PFF’s rankings of the top 100 free agents.

Although he would be losing a young talent and an innovative mind, John Harbaugh said this is “great.”

Two other coaches, offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver, are receiving interest. Monken, like MacDonald, also has interest from the Panthers, along with the Los Angeles Chargers. Weaver is also up for the Commanders job and has received interview requests from the Atlanta Falcons. Thursday, the New England Patriots parted ways with Annapolis native Bill Belichick, which means there will be another opening in the NFL.

Monken deferred the conversation about his interviews until “a proper time,” because his focus is on this week. However, he said the interest in the staff says a lot about the organization, from the coaches to the players.

Harbaugh is not surprised his staff is drawing attention.

“I’ve said it many times. I think we have the best coaching staff in the world, and I love our coaches,” Harbaugh said. “I love the jobs they do. We have a bunch of coaches that are going to be coordinators, and they’re going to be head coaches, on this staff. They’re going to be very successful for a long time. It’s just a great staff. So, any opportunities that they get, I support, and I’m excited for them to have those opportunities.”