The Seahawks have gone from the hunter to the hunted, but for Macdonald, it's back to square one for his team.
Make no mistake about it, Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald knows the task at hand for his team.
Fresh off winning the Super Bowl, Macdonald's roster has changed with a handful of players leaving in free agency (just two starters, though), and a new offensive coordinator.
The winds of change have blown through the franchise.
But beginning the 2026 offseason as Super Bowl champs now means the Seahawks, who were the hunter last season, are now the hunted.
Every week, they will get their opponents' best shot because everyone wants a chunk of the champions.
But how the franchise approaches what will be a different season, at least mentally, is going to be fascinating.
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And it all starts with Macdonald's messaging.
Speaking at the NFL annual meeting, Macdonald made it very clear that his team isn't "defending" the title it won last season -- it's a clean slate.
"That's not a thing," Macdonald said via the team's official website. "We're not defending anything. I've already talked to some of the guys about it, and they're great. The guys are awesome, and they know what we need to do. We're work through those things, it's not like you have the definitive meeting—no, it's, this is our mentality on how we want to approach it.
"We'll work through it. It's not just me saying it, our coaches have an influence, and we'll figure out ways for guys to talk—we'll do walk and talks or whatever—we'll figure out ways for the guys to really make it their journey again so we can all be on the same page moving forward."
Getting motivated to climb the NFL mountain again after you have just done it for some, is a herculean task, and we have heard the term "Super Bowl hangover" mentioned a lot.
But we get the sense that under Macdonald's guidance, there will be no shortcuts or liberties taken this offseason or in games.
That's just not how Seattle is wired.
Yes, the 2026 season will feel different as the current NFL champs, but Macdonald is hellbent on making sure everyone is pulling in the right direction.
And if they are, the chase for back-to-back is officially on.