How Green Bay ‘Kids’ John Schneider, Eliot Wolf Built Super Bowl LX Rosters

John Schneider and Eliot Wolf talked to Packers On SI about growing up in Green Bay and what it means to get to the Super Bowl.

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider has his team back in the Super Bowl. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – On Sunday, the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots will play in Super Bowl LX. The championship rosters were built by a couple kids from Green Bay.

Eliot Wolf, who joined the Patriots in 2020 and was promoted to executive vice president of player personnel in 2024, is the son of legendary former Packers general manager Ron Wolf. John Schneider has been general manager of the Seahawks since 2010.

Both men grew up in Green Bay and got their starts in the NFL with the Packers.

“I lived in Green Bay for over 20 years, fourth grade through high school, and then right back right after college for 14 more seasons,” Wolf told Packers On SI last week when he was at the Senior Bowl.

“I still have tons of close friends there. You know, probably my closest friends in the world are there. Just coming up with the Packers, first-class organization that does everything right; that’s still the case. I just feel really blessed to have been part of that, not only the team but the community, for such a long time.”

Eliot Wolf watches Packers training camp in 2016. | Mark Hoffman-Imagn Images

Schneider got his start with Ron Wolf from 1993 through 1996, then came back to Green Bay from 2002 through 2009.

“It means everything,” Schneider told Packers On SI from the Super Bowl, “because I was born and raised in De Pere. I grew up a monster Packers fan and was super-blessed to get hired as an intern when unrestricted free agency was just starting.

“We didn’t have doctorates in sports administration and shit like they have now. So, that was kind of like my masterclass. For Ron to allow me to get in there with Ted Thompson and John Dorsey and Coach Holmgren and that whole staff – Dick Jauron, Andy Reid, Ray Rhodes, Sherm Lewis, Gil Haskell, (Jon) Gruden, that whole crew – that was like a master’s program.”

Two weeks ago, Schneider and Wolf shared similar thoughts as the final moments ticked away during their conference championship games.

After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the team Wolf helped build was finishing off the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2018.

“It seems surreal in some way,” Wolf said. “Just thinking where we were last year at this time vs. where we are this year at this time, and myself being incredibly proud of the players and the coaches and the scouts and everybody that made this thing happen.

“I remember when we won the Super Bowl in 2010 in Green Bay. I ended up feeling like I was happier for other people than I was for myself, which was pretty cool, because my goal my whole life was to win the Super Bowl. It had just occurred, and I just kind of found myself being so excited for Ted and Mike (McCarthy) and John Dorsey and all the people that kind of made it happen. And I had similar feelings this time around.”

About three-and-a-half hours later, Schneider’s Seahawks were running out the clock in their thrilling victory over the Rams in the NFC Championship Game.

“I was just thinking about all the people and all the hard work that went into all the coaches and the staff and, obviously, the players,” he said. “It’s a lot. I mean, it’s hard to win one game in the National Football League.”

John Schneider Gets Seahawks Back to Super Bowl

Schneider would know. Similar to the current Packers, the Seahawks were consistent winners who couldn’t get over the hump. They won the Super Bowl in 2013 and rallied past the Packers in the infamous 2014 NFC Championship Game to get back to the Super Bowl. In the 10 seasons from 2015 through 2024, Seattle had nine winning stories but never reached another conference title game, let alone the Super Bowl.

Finally, his team is back.

“Getting back to the Green Bay thing, I’d be working or playing in the yard and I couldn’t wait for the paper to come to see what the Packers were doing every single day to improve,” Schneider said. “So, we’ve really translated that to our process of, what are we doing every single day for the fans to give them a consistent, championship-caliber product?

“It’s an entertainment business and, as a kid, I wanted to know, and that’s what I’d want to know as a fan, and so now that’s kind of the way we approach it. We want our fans thinking we have a chance to be in this thing every year and that’s just what drives our whole organization.”

Schneider is one of the best in the business, but even he had moments of doubt that he’d ever get back to the Super Bowl.

“I’d be working or playing in the yard and I couldn’t wait for the paper to come to see what the Packers were doing every single day to improve. So, we’ve really translated that to our process of, what are we doing every single day for the fans to give them a consistent, championship-caliber product?”

Seahawks GM John Schneider

“Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That runs through your head, absolutely. Yeah, for sure, that runs through your head,” he said. “There’s certain things you doubt when you’re evaluating. Like I said, it’s hard to win one game in the National Football League, so to be able to do it in a manner where we haven’t had to totally tear it down and you’re not picking in the top three or something like that.”

So much has to go right to get to the Super Bowl, which the Packers know all too well. It’s up to the general manager to pick the right players, the coaches to put the players in the right position and the players to make things happen. But seasons also come down to injuries and bounces of the ball, things nobody can control.

As Schneider said, “The coaches are coaching, the players are playing, so I don’t really have much control over it. It’s kind of like putting it in God’s hands and rolling with it.”

That doesn’t mean Schneider has been content to let Jesus take the wheel. From 2010 through the start of the 2015 season, he had made more than 3,900 roster moves. That’s well over 4,000 now. It’s a “relentless” approach to roster building, as coach Mike Macdonald put it, with Schneider working nonstop to get just a little bit better.

“It’s just part of constant improvement and looking around the corner and trying to figure out how you can improve your roster,” he said. “And that’s 90 guys, it’s not just 53. It’s practice squads, trades, waiver claims, whatever you can do.

“That’s relying on a really, really talented scouting department and guys that are really pushing, working their tails off to basically, like, hey, find a guy that could be a diamond in the rough or just the next slight improvement at a position, or working their relationships with specific agents or getting our foot in the door at schools. It’s any way we can improve our roster.”

Eliot Wolf Leads Quick Patriots Turnaround

While Seattle had been consistent winners, New England had fallen on hard times. Without Tom Brady, the Patriots posted a losing record in four of their previous five seasons. In 2024, Wolf drafted quarterback Drake Maye. In 2025, he went on a shopping spree to surround his new coach, Mike Vrabel, with plenty of talent.

“I have to give a ton of credit to Coach Vrabel,” Wolf said. “Obviously, the players are the ones on the field doing it but, really, Coach Vrabel coming in here and taking control and instilling the culture, and guys that want to protect the identity and be a part of this thing and really galvanizing the team. And we had a strong free agency period this year where we added a lot of players that are good players on the field, but they’re also leaders and great people and were able to unite some of the guys that had been here.”

That was a worthwhile point with free agency and the draft on the horizon. This isn’t fantasy football or Madden. Great teams are just that – teams – not a collection of individuals. That was front and center as the Patriots spent almost $100 million more than any other team in free agency.

New England Patriots executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf discusses free agency in March. | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

“I think we’re not just trying to acquire talent, we’re trying to build a team,” Wolf said. “When you have core values that you stick to with the people that you bring in, I think that just makes it easier for everyone to trust the guy next to them.

“This is the ultimate team sport. When you’re able to trust the guy next to you, when you can hold the guy next to you accountable and know that he’s got your back and you’ve got his back, I think that’s incredibly important in this sport. And I think you see that from the two teams that are still playing.”

Schneider and Wolf are close, which makes this game especially meaningful to both. Earlier in the week, they had dinner together with another former Packers scout, Patriots senior personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith.

“He’s always been a resource for me and looked out for me in my career, and I can’t thank him enough,” Wolf said of Schneider.

Ron Wolf, the mentor to Schneider, Eliot Wolf and so many others, will be at the game.

“I never try to root for too many other teams, but Seattle is probably one that I have just because of John and the people that he employs there,” Eliot Wolf said, mentioning Seahawks assistant general manager Nolan Teasley and Seahawks vice president of player personnel Trent Kirchner.

“I really respect the way they do things. I think it’s kind of cool, too, just from my dad’s standpoint, both these teams are using kind of his scouting system. We certainly believe that it works and Seattle certainly believes that it works. And here we are, the two teams in the Super Bowl. So, I think that’s really awesome.”

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