What Coach Macdonald's First Two Weeks of Camp Tells Us About Seahawks' Vision

The Seattle Seahawks are trucking along in training camp as they look to get a gauge on where their team is going into the 2026 season.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is entering his third season in his tenure with the team, but he is treating it as if it's his first time on the job. Here is what we know about how Macdonald is attacking training camp so far:

New Year, New Team

Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald during the first training camp. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions, but you wouldn't think that if you didn't know any better based on how they have been practicing. The team looks like they have something to prove, even though they already won a Super Bowl six months ago.

There are people that are new to the roster, like rookie Jadarian Price and offensive coordinator Brian Fleury, so Macdonald is trying to integrate those pieces into the fold. The new additions are part of the reason why he is treating this year like a new season compared to last year.

Incorporating Fleury's new wrinkles to the offense will be key to make the Seahawks more unpredictable on that side of the ball. Fleury wants to establish a presence on the ground and Price should play a big role in making that happen even as a rookie.

Ultimately, I believe this is the right mentality to have going into the year so that the team doesn't get too caught up in trying to repeat as Super Bowl champions and add unnecessary pressure to their jobs.

One Day at a Time

Training camp is long and arduous, but it's built to prepare players for the season ahead. The Seahawks know how long a season can be, especially if they end up trying to accomplish their goals, but a Super Bowl isn't going to be won in August. Stacking days of strong practices and getting players in the right mindset is what's going to cultivate the culture of the team and get them to where they want to go.

Team Over Everything

Macdonald referenced Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls early in training camp, and that could be an overarching theme for the Seahawks for the rest of the year.

Macdonald spoke about how Jordan was a great player in the 1980s, but it did not result in much team success. They had to battle against the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs but ultimately fell short.

Once Jordan became more comfortable building his teammates around him and the concept of winning as a group, they became a true dynasty. Jordan and the Bulls won six of eight championships from 1991 to 1998. The only two years they did not win were 1994 and 1995, when he was spending most of that time in minor league baseball.

"Talking about the early (Chicago) Bulls teams, like the '91 team and how they got over the hump. The idea of (Michael) Jordan being the scoring champ for years before that, but still not getting over that hump of the (Detroit) Pistons. Him being selfless enough to dial it back a little bit and understand that 'We' gets the job done," Seahawks safety Julian Love said via Ari Horton of the team's website.

"When you start to play team ball that Phil Jackson incorporated, that's when you see the good stuff happening. The new little nugget he gave to us was that '12 as One' is real. The more we dive into and invest into each other, the more we'll receive out of this whole deal."

If the Seahawks want to go from a one-time champion to a dynasty, they have to adopt the idea of playing as a true unit. That's what they did last year, and that blueprint isn't going to change even with new pieces added to the roster.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Super Bowl champions from Seattle Seahawks On SI —

Sign Up For the Seahawks Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Seattle Seahawks Newsletter

Add us as a preferred source on Google