Fresh off a Super Bowl victory, Mike Macdonald rejects the "run it back" mentality, instead fueling Seattle’s title defense with a focus on evolution and aggressive reinvention.
Since 2000, only two NFL franchises have repeated as Super Bowl champions: the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs, nearly two decades apart.
Fresh off a dominant 29-13 victory over the Patriots in Super Bowl LX ... head coach Mike Macdonald and the Seattle Seahawks are looking to become the third team to go back-to-back this century.
But Macdonald - who today oversees the rookies reporting to camp (with vets coming in on July 24) - isn't interested in discussing Seattle's upcoming season as a title defense.
The 39-year-old coach has sought advice from people who have won consecutive championships, but rather than attempting to recreate someone else's formula — or even repeating exactly what worked for the Seahawks last season — Macdonald wants his team to continue evolving.
"I have reached out to some people who have won back-to-back championships. And it's been great advice, but I think the thing that we learned last year is like, look, we want to do it our way with how we go about our business every day, and what's best for the Seahawks," Macdonald said in an exclusive interview with Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports.
"It's great to learn from other people, but by no means are we trying to copy other people's style or trying to do it that way," he continued. "The overarching thing is, it's the same destination, but the journey is completely different with a completely different set of people."
Macdonald's stifling "Dark Side" defense was the driving force behind the Seahawks' championship run, and while there were certainly some moving parts entering and exiting the building this offseason, Seattle should once again field one of the NFL's most dangerous units in 2026.
... but despite the expectations that come after hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, Macdonald doesn't view the upcoming campaign as a title defense.
"So to me, we're saying that instead of running it back or defending anything, we want to run our process forward," Macdonald said. "How do we be us and take the next version of us as a team forward, and do that every day?"
NFL history suggests Macdonald's approach may be the correct one.
The Patriots and Chiefs weren't able to defend their championships simply by recreating the previous season's roster, schedule or circumstances. Each title run required overcoming a new set of challenges that inevitably come with spending an entire year as the hunted ... instead of the hunter.
And the Seahawks will face those same obstacles in 2026.
If Seattle is going to become the first franchise since Kansas City to hoist consecutive Lombardi Trophies, Macdonald believes it won't be because the Seahawks successfully "ran it back."
It'll be because they found a way to become something even better.
