![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26040028042273.jpg\")
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Rylie Mills, right, sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\nNow that we have an undisputed NFL champion, it\u2019s time to go to school.<\/p>\n
What did the Seahawks teach us across the 20-game run they capped Sunday with a dominant performance in Super Bowl 60?<\/p>\n
Foremost, general manager John Schneider, 54, showed he\u2019s evolved into a top-tier talent man and wheeler-dealer.<\/p>\n
Already well regarded by virtue of the two NFC titles and Lombardi Trophy the Seahawks won a decade-plus ago, Schneider has raised his game to a platinum level.<\/p>\n
He rebuilt those two Super Bowl lineups into the NFL\u2019s most complete roster and replaced head coach Pete Carroll with a steady problem-solver in Mike Macdonald, also a defensive mastermind.<\/p>\n
If Carroll deserved substantial credit for helping Schneider to assemble two Super Bowl rosters, Schneider put his full stamp on the current roster.<\/p>\n
Schneider played football as a Division III running back at the University of Thomas in Minnesota. He began his NFL career under Packers general manager Ron Wolf and scouted for the Packers, Commanders and Seahawks before he and Carroll took over Seattle\u2019s football operations in 2010.<\/p>\n
Among the traits Schneider values highly: footspeed and grit.<\/p>\n
Other thoughts as we process Sunday\u2019s football finale:<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Patriots and Rams probably wish that Macdonald\u2019s first sports dream had come true.<\/p>\n
A Boston native, Macdonald told NBC\u2019s Maria Taylor last year that he wanted to become general manager of baseball\u2019s Red Sox. Instead, he accepted a high school football coaching job in Georgia after opting against taking a lucrative job in finance.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Known for his attention to detail, Macdonald had his team playing very well down the stretch. The Seahawks had no turnovers in the final four games. In the Super Bowl, their first penalty came late in the third quarter. In the Super Bowl, his defensive calls succeeded at an extraordinary rate.<\/p>\n
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Rylie Mills, right, sacks New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, left, during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 60 football game, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, in Santa Clara, Calif. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was indeed the right choice as the league MVP.<\/p>\n
Yes, MVP runner-up Drake Maye\u2019s supporting cast was inferior to Stafford\u2019s group. But the gap in performance by each QB against the NFL-best Seahawks defense was Grand Canyon-sized.<\/p>\n
In three games against the Seahawks, Stafford had eight touchdowns and no turnovers. He led the Rams to a 21-19 victory in which they never trailed. He drove L.A. to several touchdowns in 38-37 and 31-27 late-season defeats.<\/p>\n
Maye had three turnovers in Super Bowl 60, including a ghastly, unforced interception that snuffed a semi-decent comeback chance. The Patriots didn\u2019t score until the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
As impressive as Maye\u2019s regular-season statistics were, they didn\u2019t capture what he could do against a great opponent in high-stakes competition. Stafford, on the other hand, showed he was the rare QB who could solve Macdonald\u2019s defense, even in noisy Seattle.<\/p>\n
Still athletic at 37, Stafford made high-level reads and throws against the Seahawks that Maye, 23, did not.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh may be worth a look as a head coach candidate in college or the NFL.<\/p>\n
His Seahawks units outplayed Rams counterparts in two critical late-season wins and scored another no-doubt victory in Super Bowl 60.<\/p>\n
Macdonald hired Harbaugh onto his first Seahawks staff last winter. A San Diego native, Harbaugh coached 13 years under his dad, Jim Harbaugh.<\/p>\n
![\"Seattle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26025812551178.jpg\")
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Patrick O\u2019Connell kiss his son Patrick Jr. before the NFC Championship NFL football game against the Rams, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Seattle. (AP Photo\/Godofredo A. V\u00e1squez)<\/p>\n
\u2022 Other NFL teams need to figure out how Schneider was able to build so much depth \u2014 a key factor in Seattle\u2019s special teams successes and in assisting quarterback Sam Darnold\u2019s ascent into Super Bowl-winner status.<\/p>\n
Relatively obscure players did big things for the Seahawks.<\/p>\n
Two recent examples:<\/p>\n
Patrick O\u2019Connell is a backup linebacker who joined the Seahawks in 2023 after no one drafted him out of Montana.<\/p>\n
He and San Diego\u2019s Rashid Shaheed teamed up on a 58-yard punt return for a TD that sparked a pivotal, stunning comeback win over the Rams.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Connell sealed off Rams gunner Ronnie Rivers to spring Shaheed.<\/p>\n
Nehemiah Pritchett is a Seahawks gunner who\u00a0earned 24 yards of field position Sunday by defeating two Patriots blockers and forcing an\u00a0illegal block on a punt return. Schneider got the Auburn cornerback in the fourth round two drafts ago.<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Raiders and other bad teams saw Sunday how far they have to go: A loooong way.<\/p>\n
The Raiders will pick Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza first overall, but unless they can vastly improve their offensive line this offseason, they may want to go with a veteran in September. The Seahawks\u2019 line is several levels better, giving offensive coordinator Klint Klubiak and Darnold advantages that no Raiders QB had last season.<\/p>\n
Kubiak, who will become head coach of the Raiders this week, inherits a defense that\u2019s miles behind Seattle\u2019s D.<\/p>\n
No wonder Maxx Crosby reportedly wants out of Vegas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now that we have an undisputed NFL champion, it\u2019s time to go to school. What did the Seahawks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,752,74,76,75,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-171131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-san-diego","11":"tag-san-diego-headlines","12":"tag-san-diego-news","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}