Seahawks' Mike Macdonald expands on mindset about potential Super Bowl repeat

For an article published on May 26, ESPN's Brady Henderson noted how Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald told his players throughout the offseason that they should embrace a "run it forward" mentality instead of a "running it back" mindset as it pertains to possibly repeating as Super Bowl champions. 

During a recent conversation with Doug Farrar of Athlon Sports, Macdonald expanded on that philosophy. 

Mike Macdonald: Seahawks are not "defending anything" despite Super Bowl victory

"We’re going to have a lot of new people joining us from other teams who lost some great players," Macdonald explained. "So to me, we’re saying that instead of running it back or defending anything, we want to run our process forward. How do we be us and take the next version of us as a team forward, and do that every day? I don’t think that our process or our viewpoint about who we want to become, or how we get there, changes because of the Super Bowl or what we evolved to in terms of what we did every day and what our mentality was because it was the end of the season. I think you keep that same mentality of what we’re trying to achieve every day. Even though now it’s the 2026 season, it’s all the same thought process about how we want to be us as Seahawks. And there are going to be different challenges that we’re going to face along the road. We know that going in, but in no way are we saying that we’re defending anything."

Macdonald likely understands that the Seahawks and at least two of their NFC West rivals could beat up on each other during a handful of contests this coming season. A Los Angeles Rams team that was already viewed by some as a championship contender got that much better when it acquired superstar pass-rusher Myles Garrett from the Cleveland Browns in June. The San Francisco 49ers are coming off a trip to the playoffs and have put their latest injury crisis behind them. While the Arizona Cardinals aren't all that scary, on paper, they want "to surprise a lot of people this year."  

As of Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Rams as the overall betting favorites at +550 odds to win Super Bowl LXI in February 2027. The Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens were tied at +1000 odds, while the Seahawks were fourth on the list at +1100 odds. 

Mike Macdonald received helpful advice about pursuing a Super Bowl repeat

Farrar mentioned that the Seahawks are attempting to become the 10th team and ninth franchise to repeat as Super Bowl champions. While speaking with Farrar, Macdonald shared that he "reached out to some people who have won back-to-back championships" about what should and shouldn't be said to Seattle players ahead of the upcoming campaign.

"And it’s been great advice," Macdonald said, "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. 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. The overarching thing is, it’s the same destination, but the journey is completely different with a completely different set of people."

That journey will begin for the 2026 Seahawks when they open the season with a Super Bowl rematch against the New England Patriots on Sept. 9.