John Schneider’s great drafts and trades, plus hiring Mike Macdonald, paid off big time.
The players were the stars of the show in the Seattle Seahawks’ championship parade on Wednesday afternoon. The way it should be. They were out there working at practice and at games all season long to bask in the adulation.
It’s interesting that we can’t come up with a star on this Seahawks team. You can make a case for Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but this is his first breakthrough season, so he has yet to become a household name like Vikings star Justin Jefferson. The same can be said for Devon Witherspoon and Nick Emmanwori. As great a story as quarterback Sam Darnold is, no one will confuse him with a star.
The Seahawks represent a whole greater than the sum of its parts, where defense, offense, and special teams feed off each other. So, maybe we should think deeper here.
John Schneider (photo courtesy Seattle Sports, MyNorthwest.com)
In a case like this, we should say Seahawks general manager John Schneider is the star of the team. He built this team with great drafts and trades. He is envied by his peers for how he gets it right, which is not an easy thing to do.
But it didn’t happen overnight. Seattle has had a successful culture since winning the Super Bowl in 2014. Yes, they have been stagnant in recent seasons, which led to quarterback Russell Wilson and head coach Pete Carroll being fired after they achieved success when they first joined the team. But now, the Hawks are back in the elite class as a result of Schneider’s moves. Remember, he was the architect of that 2014 Super Bowl team.
His moves go beyond just taking a chance on Darnold by signing him to a three-year, $100.5 million deal and trading Geno Smith to the hapless Las Vegas Raiders.
Of the 38 players Schneider drafted in the past four years, they made 571 starts altogether. Thirty of those players played in this year’s Super Bowl. And the most impressive thing about his four draft classes is that the team did not have to tank to get high-end talent.
Most of Schneider’s draft picks from this year contributed to this year’s success. Guys such as Grey Zabel, Rylie Mills, Troy Horton, Elijah Arroyo, and Emmanwori. Last year’s draft class produced the same, such as Byron Murphy II, AJ Barner, and Tyrice Knight. Zach Charbonnet, Witherspoon, and Smith-Njigba hail from the 2023 class. Free agent Kenneth Walker III was the star of the 2022 draft.
That’s a credit to Schneider’s scouting background from his days with the Green Bay Packers. He was also a director of player personnel with the Chiefs and Seahawks at one time.
There’s something to be said about scouting. In this day and age, where it’s all about analytics, the Seahawks are a refreshing throwback.
Schneider has gotten it right by building his team in the trenches. There’s no doubt most general managers know that’s how a team is built, but it’s not as easy as your average fan thinks. Schneider also made great trades to build his team, such as acquiring Rashid Shaheed from the Saints this trade deadline. Shaheed played a role in the Seahawks’ success this postseason, especially in special teams.
Getting former Jets and Giants Leonard Williams and Ernest Jones IV at the trade deadline in recent years also explains the Hawks are Super Bowl champs.
Mike Macdonald (photo courtesy KNKX)
Schneider’s best move was hiring Mike Macdonald as the head coach. He knew he needed a defensive head coach who could counter the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan and the Rams’ Sean McVay, and he found his guy. If he didn’t get this one right, who knows where he and the franchise are today?
Macdonald devises effective defensive schemes to frustrate quarterbacks, as 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and Patriots quarterback Drake Maye can attest. It reminds me of what Bill Belichick would do as head coach and defensive coordinator.
This explains why he has become the 19th head coach in league history to be in either their first or second season as head coach. Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni was the last young coach to make the Super Bowl in his second season.
Macdonald knows how to relate to the players and what makes them tick. He earned their respect for his defensive knowledge and the amount of work he put into his job. He sure knows how to press the right buttons.
He has a chance to be the best coach in Seahawks history when all’s said and done. The 38-year-old head coach has a chance to collect many Super Bowl trophies with the roster he has.
Schneider has two Super Bowl championships on his resume. If he can amass several more, he should be a shoo-in for the NFL Hall of Fame. He could be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.
But that’s for a distant future. Yesterday, Schneider celebrated with his team and handed out Baby Jesus candies to the fans in the parade.
In his speech, he thanked the players, calling them “the heart and soul of the team.” You can thank John Schneider for making that possible.
