Seahawks' Recipe for How to Win a Super Bowl (Unheeded by Cardinals?)

                                                      (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

By Walter Mitchell

Wow, who would have thought two years ago that the Seattle Seahawks would be the 2025 NFL Champions in such dominating fashion? Here are just some of the ingredients of their Super Bowl winning recipe

GM John Schneider Takes Charge

1. Lets go of the legendary Pete Carroll.

2. Hires Mike Macdonald to revamp a stagnant defense for the express purpose of tantalizing Sean McVay and Kyler Shanahan.

3. Moves on from veteran QB Geno Smith.

4. Trades mercurial WR D.K. Metcalf.

5. To prep a year ahead and fortify the new Macdonald regime, he drafts the following:

2023:

• Round 1, No. 5 Overall: CB Devon Witherspoon, Illinois
• Round 1, No. 20 Overall: WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Ohio State
• Round 2, No. 37 Overall: OLB Derick Hall, Auburn
• Round 2, No. 52 Overall: RB Zach Charbonnet, UCLA
• Round 4, No. 108 Overall: G Anthony Bradford, LSU
• Round 4, No. 123 Overall: DT Cameron Young, Mississippi State
• Round 5, No. 151 Overall: DE Mike Morris, Michigan
• Round 5, No. 154 Overall: C Olusegun Oluwatimi, Michigan
• Round 6, No. 198 Overall: S Jerrick Reed II, New Mexico
• Round 7, No. 237 Overall: RB Kenny McIntosh, Georgia

2024:

• Round 1, No. 16 Overall: DT Byron Murphy II, Texas
• Round 3, No. 81 Overall: G Christian Haynes, UConn
• Round 4, Pick 118 overall: LB Tyrice Knight, UTEP
• Round 4, Pick 121 overall: TE AJ Barner, Michigan
• Round 5, Pick 136 overall: CB Nehemiah Pritchett, Auburn

2025:

• Round 1, No. 18 Overall: G Grey Zabel, North Dakota State
• Round 2, No. 35 Overall: S Nick Emmanwori, South Carolina
• Round 2, No. 50 Overall: TE Elijah Arroyo, Miami
• Round 3, No. 92 Overall: QB Jalen Milroe, Alabama
• Round 5, No. 142 Overall: DT Rylie Mills, Notre Dame
• Round 5, No. 166 Overall: WR Tory Horton, Colorado State

6. Does everything he can to try to help Macdonald win from the get-go. Which is key because then after a 10-7 inaugural season, they are an attractive draw for the OC/QB tandem of Klint Kubiak and Sam Darnold, who worked together before while with the 49ers. 

7. Huge added bonus, signing Kubiak's sidekick, OLC Rick Dennison, to improve the Seahawks' previously meh offensive line.

8. Then he goes and makes arguably the perfect acquisition at the trading deadline in WR Rashid Shaheed, from the Saints, per Klint Kubiak's request. 

HC Mike Macdonald acts on his vision of what championship-level football looks likes

1. In the middle of his first year, unsatisfied with the play of the two UFA ILBers they signed, Tyrell Dodson and Jerome Baker, he moved on from both of them in favor of trading for ILB Ernest Jones and promoting rookie ILB Tyrice Knight to the starting lineup. 

2. While first year OC Ryan Grubb helped to put up big numbers in the Seahawks' passing game, Macdonald let go of Grubb because he wanted a more powerfully balanced rushing and passing attack. Look who was the Seahawks' MVP of the Super Bowl as a testament to Macdonald's vision: RB Kenneth Walker III. 

3. His "Big Nickel" defense (that John Schneider focused on building in his drafts), emerges as the top defense in the NFL. Perfect "home run" scheme fits for each of the three levels: NT Byron Murphy II, Big Nickel CB/S  Nick Emmanwori and CB Devon Witherspoon.

4. Manifesting a penchant for conditioning his players into tip-tip physical strength which aids and abets the players' mental toughness.

Per Cooper Kupp: 

https://x.com/TyDunne/status/2020741620518563888?s=20

“Mike did not make OTAs easy. Guys were talking about that actually earlier this week, about how OTAs is in two weeks and that thing kicked our rear-end last year. And so it’s like, ‘You're going to come here and you’re going to work.’ But the way it builds guys together and then you lift each other up — once that was happening — then I knew we had something special.”

5. Playing top level football on the road, no matter the venue or time zone.

How far behind the Seahawks are the Cardinals?

As most of you know, this off-season I have been imploring the Cardinals to adhere to the Seahawks' paradigm (and design for taking over the NFC West) by prioritizing the defense first.

It therefore was encouraging to see Michael Bidwill and Monti Ossenfort request interviews for a plethora of defensive head coaching candidates in:

* Robert Saleh

* Jesse Minter

* Anthony Campanile

* Raheem Morris

* Anthony Weaver

* Chris Shula

* Vance Joseph

* Jeff Hafley

* Matt Burke

* Ron Rivera

Turns out, this was a head fake by the Cardinals because, according to Bidwill, Mike LaFleur, who received minimal interest elsewhere, was their top candidate all along.

So then, it appeared that perhaps MB and MO may have been trying to recruit some of these defensive-minded candidates to be Mike LaFleur's DC. PHNX Cardinals podcasters had been promoting Mike LaFleur and Raheem Morris as the Cardinals' "dream team." 

That did not make any sense. Why would Raheem Morris, as a legitimate HC candidate and eventual finalist, accept a subservient role to a first-time head coach, when he would have offers to be the DC for a winning program, as he did in accepting the 49ers' DC job?

Fact is all of those interviews with defensive-minded HC candidates amounted to absolutely nothing for the Cardinals.

Then after being unable to hire any of the defensive HC candidates as DC, their plan B was to sign Gus Bradley, only Bradley shunned more money and playcalling duties in order to join Robert Saleh in Tennessee. 

Perhaps equally or more vexing, meteoric DC candidate Dino Vasso of the Texans withdrew his name for consideration from the Cardinals when he was signed to a hefty raise in salary to stay in Houston. Hello, Anthony Campanile, all over again.

Now it appears that Rams' assistant head coach and defensive passing game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant and Giants' linebackers' coach Charlie Bullen, a former coach with the Cardinals from 2019-2022, are perhaps the two remaining candidates. Aubrey Pleasant if promising, but has no play calling experience and Charlie Bullen was given the defensive play calling duties down the stretch for the Giants this season and shined in that interim role. 

Meanwhile, Michael Bidwill has asked Mike LaFleur to interview Nick Rallis and the remaining defensive assistants who, unlike Rallis, are no longer under contract. In my opinion, neither Rallis nor any of his assistants are qualified to keep their jobs. It makes one wonder what Aubrey Pleasant and Charlie Bullen could do at this point to hire a competent group of assistants. 

Last night while watching the Seahawks' swarming "Big Nickel" defense put a hurting on Drake Maye and the Patriots' offense, I began to wonder if the Cardinals would be wise to hire of the Seahawks' top defensive coaches as DC. One of the main reasons why I was so high on Anthony Weaver as HC was his time spent in Baltimore with Mike Macdonald forging the Big Nickel in its infant stages. 

Seahawks' top three defensive assistants:

* Leslie Frazier, 66, Assistant Head Coach, 26 years NFL (HC, DC exp.)

* Kirk Olivadotti, 52, Inside Linebackers Coach, 23 years NFL (coached with Mike Macdonald in 2011-2013 on the University of Georgia defensive staff).

 

 

* Jeff Howard, 43, Safeties Coach, 13 years NFL (former defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach for the Browns from 2020-2022). 

Having tapped into Sean McVay's staff in hiring Mike LaFleur as HC, how about tapping into Mike Macdonald's staff for DC?

If the Cardinals hire Aubrey Pleasants or. Charlie Bullen, how about hiring ta veteran defensive advisor for added support? Ron Rivera? Pete Carroll? Marvin Lewis?

What about Antonio Pearce, 47, who has head coaching and NFL defensive play calling experience going back to his years as DC for Arizona St.?

 

In my opinion, the number one priority for the Arizona Cardinals this off-season has been getting the defensive coaching staff appointments right. 

At this stage, to see the Cardinals' twisting in the wind, having yet to make a defensive coordinator decision, while so many well qualified defensive coaches have spurned Bidwill's and Ossenfort's interests, especially after watching the Seahawks' defense dominate the Patriots' offense throughout Super Bowl LX in just Mike Macdonald's second year as head coach, it feels as unsettling as it is predictable.