Mike Macdonald is building Seattle's title defense around a simple idea: the Seahawks are at their best when the whole team buys into the same standard, and Jackson Smith-Njigba is central to that plan after a season that finished with 1,793 receiving yards and Offensive Player of the Year honours.
Seattle are coming off a championship season, and the challenge now is not just to repeat the result but to recreate the habits that made it possible. Macdonald has been open about where that mindset comes from, and it starts with the way he has tried to frame the team from the beginning.
Macdonald's model is about the team, not the superstar
The Seattle coach said the message in his first team meeting was never simply about winning the NFC Championship. Instead, he wanted to create a feeling of trust, bond, connection and toughness that would shape the daily habits of the group.
He explained that he had taken inspiration from Sacred Hoops, which he read on his honeymoon in 2021, and from Phil Jackson's first year with the Chicago Bulls. Macdonald pointed to the 91 Bulls as a model for what a three-peat mentality can look like when the best player in the world is still part of a wider system.
That point matters for Seattle because it shows how the Seahawks want to repeat. The aim is not to ask one player to carry everything. It is to build a team that can keep its standards when the pressure rises, and Smith-Njigba's production gives that idea real substance.
Smith-Njigba's season changed the scale of Seattle's attack
Last season, Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards and won Offensive Player of the Year. That is the kind of return that changes the conversation around a team, because it tells everyone where the primary threat really is.
For Seattle, that kind of performance is exactly what a repeat push needs. It gives the Seahawks a player who can tilt games, stretch coverages and keep the offence moving even when opponents know where the danger lies.
Macdonald's challenge is to make sure that individual excellence fits into a broader structure. The coach's language is all about buy-in, and the reference to the Bulls underlines the same point: a great team still needs a shared identity, even when it has a standout player leading the way.
What comes next for the Seahawks?
Seattle's championship season has given them a platform, but the next test is harder. Repeating demands consistency, and consistency is usually about more than talent alone.
Smith-Njigba has already shown he can be the central figure in an elite attack. Now the question is whether Seattle can keep the same spirit and energy around him as they try to turn one title into the start of something bigger.
