The Seattle Seahawks have a new head coach for the first time in 14 seasons, with Mike Macdonald taking over for Pete Carroll.
The Seahawks' top three coaches are all first-timers at their positions. The 36-year-old Macdonald hasn't been a head coach outside of high school football. Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb is making his first foray into the NFL. Defensive coordinator Aden Durde has never been a DC before.
With the young sprouts on the coaching tree, it'd be easy to assume the Seahawks could take a step backward in 2024, but general manager John Schneider wholly rejected that notion.
"I don't feel a step back," he said Thursday on Seattle Sports' The John Schneider Show.
The last time prognosticators predicted a rebuilding year from Schneider's club, Geno Smith helped lead them to a wild-card bid in 2022. But that was with Carroll at the helm.
Schneider understands the thought process behind predicting a rebuilding season with a new staff. Still, the GM believes the new ideas, "philosophies, ways to teach, schematics," will help cultivate a long-lasting contender. Since NFL teams undergo drastic changes each year, Schneider doesn't view his club in any different light than other squads entering the offseason.
"I think based on open lines of communication, the way it's gone so far, I don't see a lot of hindrances to what would lead to success on the field," Schneider said. "I could see where people would think, well, people are gonna have to adjust. Yeah, everybody's gotta adjust, but everybody's gotta adjust every year. And if you're not adjusting, you're falling behind."
