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INDIANAPOLIS — The Seattle Seahawks expect to be invited to the White House by President Donald Trump to celebrate their Super Bowl title, head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday, but until then, they have not decided whether or not they will go.
Speaking at the NFL Scouting Combine, Macdonald was asked whether the team plans to visit. “We haven’t gotten an invite yet,” he said. “We’ll address it after that.”
The coach declined to say whether he would prefer to go or not go. Macdonald said it would be a group decision.
“We’ll wait for the invite and work through it,” he said. “I think it’s just everybody involved, just like we do everything else.”
Championship team visits to the White House across sports have become a subject of political discussion in recent years, with some teams declining invitations entirely and others seeing only partial attendance from players. Last year, the Philadelphia Eagles accepted President Trump’s invitation in March and visited in late April. Several players, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, did not attend.
This week put a brighter spotlight on the subject after the gold medal-winning American men’s hockey team faced criticism following a phone call with President Trump in the victorious locker room on Sunday, in which he joked about having to invite the women’s team to the White House after their own gold medal performance. The men’s team was also invited to Tuesday’s State of the Union address, which 20 of 25 players attended.
The Seahawks visited the White House in May 2014, while President Barack Obama was in office, following their victory in Super Bowl 48. They had almost perfect attendance among players except for running back Marshawn Lynch, whose mother told the Seattle Times at the time that Lynch had said he didn’t want to go.
Other takeaways from MacdonaldWalker’s and Charbonnet’s futures
The Seahawks would like to retain Super Bowl MVP Ken Walker III, who is going to be an unrestricted free agent. General manager John Schneider said as much Tuesday, and Macdonald echoed the sentiment Wednesday.
“We won the Super Bowl with him as our lead back; that’s pretty good,” Macdonald said. “I don’t know what his stats are, but I know he affected the game every game in a pretty significant manner. I thought he had a heck of a season. He’s so talented — let’s keep pushing the envelope and take it to the next level.”
Zach Charbonnet recently had surgery to repair his ACL. Macdonald doesn’t have a firm timetable for Charbonnet’s return but said the outlook is “more optimistic than it was initially.”
“So, that’s exciting,” Macdonald said, adding that Charbonnet had surgery only recently because they waited for the swelling to subside. “Being able to come back at an earlier time, it’s hard to put a timetable on those things. If you’re betting on anybody, you’re going to bet on Zach. We’ll go from there. He’s not going to do anything in the spring.”
QB coach hire near
Former quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko left to join Klint Kubiak’s staff as the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive coordinator. Macdonald said the Seahawks are “getting close” to hiring a quarterbacks coach and announcing formal titles for the entire 2026 staff.
Macdonald confirmed the Seahawks have hired Thomas Hammock, presumably as the running backs coach. He’ll replace Kennedy Polamalu, who stepped down in December. Run game specialist Justin Outten took over for the rest of the season and is credited with helping the run game come together down the stretch. Hammock was most recently Northern Illinois’ head coach, but he overlapped with Macdonald as the running backs coach in Baltimore for five seasons.
“Thomas and I, our first year in the NFL was the same year in 2014,” Macdonald said. “It was very clear to me this guy is a heck of a football coach. How he handles his business, how he thinks about the game. He was a guy I’d always be knocking on his door about how you attack certain protections, and he gave me some of the tricks of the trade. I’ve always had a respect for his football intelligence, but also how he led his position group.”
How Stern fits on the coaching staff
Macdonald also confirmed the Seahawks have hired Daniel Stern, who spent 10 seasons with the Ravens and was most recently director of football strategy and assistant quarterbacks coach. In Baltimore, Stern had a similar role to Brian Eayrs, whose title is director of football analysis and special situations. Eayrs and assistant head coach Leslie Frazier aid Macdonald with in-game strategy. They’ll continue to do that while Stern will focus more on Seattle’s passing game.
“Daniel and I have had a relationship for a long time,” Macdonald said. “Daniel is a ‘chasing edges’ guy. He’s always in stuff. He thinks four-dimensionally about the whole program. He’s really focused his talents, so I’m excited for what he’s going to bring to the table for our offensive staff. Great person. He fits the identity of our team, and he’s going to be a fun guy to have around in the building as well. I think our players are going to love him.”