'Expecting To Win!' Seattle Seahawks Have 'Championship' Mentality Under Mike Macdonald

Even after a coaching change, the Seattle Seahawks expect to compete next season.

Dec 11, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

On paper, it's easy to overlook the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC playoff picture.

After all, the Seahawks are coming off a 9-8 season and arguably got worse thanks to their free agency departure. Additionally, Pete Carroll is gone after a 14-year run in Seattle, giving way to new head coach Mike Macdonald, the youngest coach in the league at just 36 years old.

In the Seahawks building, though, confidence in the team remains very high. Even though he's entering his first season as a head coach, Macdonald expects his players to compete with everything they've got every time they take the field.

Jan 7, 2024; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7). / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

"We are going to line up every week expecting to win, and if you do that you are going to win a championship," Macdonald said, per Seahawks.com. "So that's where my mentality is. We are getting ready to go play a football game even though it's three or four months out. And whoever lines up across from us, we are expecting to win that matchup. If you don't have that mentality, you are not going to get very far in this league."

Just two months into the job, Macdonald is still getting to know his new team, but first impressions seem positive. Even if the Seahawks don't have the most-talented roster in the league, playing together and for their coach will take them far.

"I think right now what we are focusing on is this team has to come together," he said." This team has to spend time with one another, we've got to bond, we've got to have each other's back so that when we go against adversity in December and January that we know that we have each other's backs and we're going to war with each other rather than just a bunch of independent guys out there playing ball. We have to build our team. But absolutely, the sky is the limit for this football team."