After spending the 2013 season as a scout for the New York Yankees, he served as Philadelphia's third base coach in 2014 and 2015, then became interim manager, following Ryne Sandberg’s resignation.

He was traded along with Don Stanhouse from the Rangers to the Montreal Expos for Willie Davis at the Winter Meetings on December 5, 1974.

After managing the minor league Hickory Crawdads and Lynchburg Hillcats in 2001 and 2002, Mackanin became the bench coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2003 season.

After Lloyd McClendon was fired, Mackanin served as the Pirates' interim manager for the last month of 2005, leading the team to a 12–14 record.

Narron had led the Reds in the first half of the 2007 season to a league-worst 51 losses, but during Mackanin's tenure, the team had a winning percentage above .500.

[3] On September 29, 2017, the Phillies announced that Mackanin would not return for the 2018 season, but would instead take on a front office role for the remainder of his contract.