SEATTLE — As reality sets in for a football world that predicted the Seattle Seahawks would be a seven-win team this season, the Seahawks’ “secret sauce” for success is becoming the most talked-about topic in football.

This isn’t new. In a league as competitive as the NFL, any advantage is researched ad nauseam if it can provide even the slightest edge. Look at the Rams when Sean McVay took over: He led them to multiple Super Bowls, but even after the first run, teams across the league began hiring who they hoped would be the next young offensive mind to lead them to greatness.

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It only worked for a couple of teams.

And therein lies the point.

There is no other Mike Macdonald. He is truly and absolutely one of one.

There are, of course, other great defensive coaches. Look at the team the Seahawks just beat in the Super Bowl — New England — where Mike Vrabel worked wonders with the Patriots and previously with the Tennessee Titans.

But the truth is, Mike Macdonald just has “it.”

When you talk to him in person, it feels like you’re talking with an old friend you’ve never lost touch with — easygoing, down-to-earth, a stand-up husband and father. When it comes to football, though, he is as locked in as anyone could possibly be. He chases every edge he can find. He has the mind of a genius, designing schemes and calling plays he had never used before — and they worked to perfection.

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OK, so he’s a good guy and a great defensive mind. Is that all it takes?

Not even close.

He is an incredible leader. He set the tone in the Seahawks locker room from his very first team meeting in February 2024, even calling this moment — though it’s remarkable how quickly it happened. Every decision, whether personnel-related or otherwise, has been made to fit the culture Macdonald preaches.

The Super Bowl 60 champion Seahawks are the result.

You often hear — or even see — how close-knit this team is. Whether it’s Ernest Jones delivering a profanity-laced defense of Sam Darnold (or firing off memorable clapbacks at Puka Nacua on X), or the postgame celebration with the Lombardi Trophy, the bond is obvious. Look deeper and you’ll find stories of perseverance everywhere: Darnold’s journey, Jarran Reed’s persistence, and so many others defying the odds to reach this point.

They were brought together by Mike Macdonald. They bought into his vision. They embraced the culture he set.

Now they’re champions.

You can dive into the X’s and O’s, the personnel decisions brilliantly made by John Schneider, and countless other factors. In a copycat NFL, front offices across the league are searching for anything from Seattle they can incorporate into their own programs.

But they’ll never fully replicate it.

Other teams will win Super Bowls. Other coaches will take the league by storm. But the Seahawks are in a class of their own — not just as champions, but for maintaining something special for so long.

You can’t copy that.

Not unless you have a machine that can clone Macdonald, Schneider, Jody Allen and all 70 players.

Still, teams around the league will try.

As the Seahawks become the gold standard of success in the NFL as defending world champions.