Franchise Moments: 
Seattle Seahawks' Defining Moment of the Last Decade
The Seahawks' biggest moment of the last decade is, of course, their dismantling of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX last February to capture the franchise's second Lombardi Trophy.
The most franchise-defining moment, however, came two years before -- almost to the day -- with the decision that made last year possible.
Few gave Seattle a chance last season -- NFL betting apps pegged the team's wins at 7.5 -- especially with quarterback Geno Smith replaced by the much-maligned Sam Darnold, whose late-season flame-out with the Vikings the year prior made him easy to dismiss.
The Seahawks, though, dominated, leading the league in point differential with the NFL's No. 3 offense and No. 1 defense, winning the NFC West and earning the conference's No. 1 seed at 14-3.
They similarly cut through the division-rival 49ers and Rams in the playoffs (winning on Darnold's arm in the latter). After that, the Super Bowl was almost anti-climactic. The Dark Side defense was in full force, but the score could have been 50-0 if not for a couple garbage-time New England scores and a few missed passes by Darnold.
Seattle's path to that Feb. 8 world championship, however, started Jan. 31, 2024, when it hired Mike Macdonald as the ninth head coach in Seahawks history — the most franchise-defining moment of the last decade, according to a RotoWire staff vote.
Top Seahawks Franchise Defining Moment of the Last 10 Years
The moment: Hiring Mike Macdonald as head coach
In two seasons, Macdonald transformed the Seahawks from meandering mediocrity to a Super Bowl champion. What's more, Macdonald's defensive acumen not only turned the Seahawks into the league's best defense, but it is changing the NFL.
What Made this Moment the Most Defining of the Last 10 Years?
To measure the full impact of Macdonald's hiring, it's important to understand the antecedent to that move. Seattle's parting with Pete Carroll after the 2023 season was at least unexpected, if not a major surprise.
The winningest coach in Seahawks history, Carroll built an exuberantly competitive culture, developed multiple future Hall of Famers, fostered the iconic Legion of Boom defense and, most important, brought the franchise its first Super Bowl title.
By 2023, though, the Carroll era had grown stale. In Carroll's last seven seasons, the Seahawks had one divisional title, one playoff win and four times failed to win double-digit games. In his final season, his once-vaunted defense sunk to bottom three in the league.
Still, for owner Jody Allen to push out Carroll took a kind of intestinal fortitude few knew she possessed. It was just two years earlier that when forced to choose between the coach and franchise-icon Russell Wilson, she chose Carroll. But while moving on from Carroll was a huge moment, it only served to ratchet up the pressure on finding the perfect coach for a reboot.
A highly regarded defensive coordinator for the Ravens, Macdonald wasn't easy to land. Six head coaches were hired before the Seahawks could even interview Macdonald, as they had to wait for the conclusion of the Ravens' playoff run. And then they had to outbid the Commanders, who also coveted Macdonald, with a reported $9 million contract, the most ever for a first-time head coach.
In so doing, the Seahawks went from the league's oldest head coach in 72-year-old Carroll to the league's youngest in 36-year-old Macdonald.
Macdonald started re-making Seattle's defense immediately, but things to didn't come together until a midseason trade for linebacker Ernest Jones. From Week 9 on, the Seahawks ranked top 6 in points, yards and pass yards allowed per game and third-down percentage allowed.
Then last season, The Dark Side was born, and Seattle led the league in points allowed, opponent third-down rate and defensive EPA on its way to an NFL title.
Since the team's Week 10 bye in 2024, the Seahawks are a league-best 23-5.
Macdonald's Defensive Acumen Unrivaled
The first Super Bowl-winning head coach to also call defensive plays, Macdonald has built a reputation as a defensive mastermind, with specific hallmarks to his system:
1. Pressure without Blitzing - the Seahawks had the fifth-lowest blitz rate last season yet still had the fourth-highest pressure rate. That allows the defense to play nickel coverage almost as its base defense — no one played it more last season.
2. Hybrid Players - Kyle Hamilton in Baltimore, Nick Emmanwori in Seattle; versatile players who line up at big nickel (or nickel Sam, if you prefer), with a size/speed combo that lets them blitz, drop into coverage or take on a run block. The versatility allows the defense to stay in nickel, even when offenses go to heavy personnel, thereby preventing them from getting a clear pre-snap read to diagnose coverage or exploit a mismatch.
3. Teach the Why of the Scheme - Macdonald doesn't teach players individual jobs, he teaches why all parts work together in the scheme. The goal is players who are adaptable, not simply on autopilot. Here's Marlon Humphrey explaining it in Macdonald's first year as Ravens DC:
"He's doing a unique job. … I've kind of never experienced it. He's really having everybody understand the whole philosophy ... as opposed to: 'You got this call. How do you play this call?' He's saying ... 'What is the whole idea of this call?' So I think he's done a really good job of kind of really helping us all be smarter, to where I know what the D-line's doing. I also know what the linebacker is doing. I also know what the safety's doing — because, 'The reason why I call this defense is because of this.'"
That last point feeds into the culture Macdonald has built in Seattle, which is no less important than his defensive magic. His "12 as One" mentality and "chasing edges" might be coachspeak, but they've resonated with players, and is just what Jody Allen wanted in a head coach. It started with his introduction to the team:
21 months in the making. Stacked every opportunity to get here. pic.twitter.com/NxzZsrdoaE
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) January 21, 2026
According to wide receiver Jake Bobo, players bought in quickly to his vision:
"Every head coach I've been around at every level ... [a championship] is the goal, and you expect in the first meeting for them to address that. The way he addressed it, though, it was a little different. It's not like, 'OK, let's get there.' It's, 'This is what it's going to look like when we get there'... After that first meeting, everybody was bought in."
The Macdonald culture — M.O.B Ties — at its heart: We did not care!
Mike Macdonald on going through the 49ers/Rams to get to the Super Bowl:
"WE DID NOT CARE." 🤣😭
— SleeperNFL (@SleeperNFL) January 26, 2026
With a defensive scheme that befuddles opponents and a locker room full of believers — and a Super Bowl title! — Macdonald has exceeded every best-case scenario of his franchise-defining hiring.
Future of the Seahawks
A young Seattle championship core might be just getting started, but Macdonald's influence is also being felt across the NFL, and likely will only grow. Four of his former lieutenants are now running some version of his defense as coordinators or head coaches:
Jesse Minter - Ravens head coach
Anthony Weaver - Ravens defensive coordinator
Dennard Wilson - Giants defensive coordinator
Rob Leonard - Raiders defensive coordinator
And his reliance on versatile, hybrid players is the current innovative trend moving through the NFL. The big nickel idea is not unique to Macdonald, of course — Packers DC Frtiz Shurmur turned LeRoy Butler into a Hall of Famer playing that role, and more recently Derwin James has thrived in a hybrid role — but Macdonald's success brought the scheme into the spotlight. This year's draft featured three first-round picks who fit the big-nickel role in Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs and Dillon Thieneman, plus a handful more later in the draft.
All things considered, the hiring of Mike Macdonald is easily the Seahawks' most defining moment of the last decade.
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The RotoWire expert panel voted to select the single most franchise-defining moment from the last 10 years for all 32 NFL teams. Voting has now closed. The results power a 33-article editorial series published across RotoWire ahead of the NFL season -- one dedicated article per franchise, plus one overarching piece covering the broader trends and standout moments across the league.
