Leonard Williams, Seahawks Launching 'New Foundation' Under Mike Macdonald

Brought back as an invaluable veteran leader for the Seattle Seahawks, Leonard Williams and his teammates have embraced the major changes enacted by new coach Mike Macdonald with hopes of better days ahead.

Nov 12, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) sacks / Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

RENTON, Wash. - Walking into the Virginia Mason Athletic Complex, history and tradition have long been a major part of the aura of the Seattle Seahawks practice facility, providing frequent reminders of a successful past decade and change under coach Pete Carroll.

Upon the entrance into the building, Seattle's lone Lombardi Trophy can be seen proudly on display near the entrance to the auditorium. On the way to the indoor practice field, large murals commemorating iconic moments in franchise history such as Richard Sherman's famous "tip" in the 2013 NFC Championship game and a tearful Russell Wilson after a thrilling comeback win in the 2014 NFC Championship game cover the walls down the corridor.

But with coach Mike Macdonald now at the controls, one week after discovering that the famous basketball hoop Carroll employed in the auditorium had been removed from the facility, more history has been erased from the hallowed halls of the VMAC. Those aforementioned murals? After hanging up on the walls for the majority of Carroll's tenure, according to defensive tackle Leonard Williams, they are nowhere to be found and that hallway now lies empty like a blank canvas.

While nobody wants to completely disregard the best era in franchise history to this point and Carroll, the famous "Legion of Boom", Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch, and others will forever be legends, Williams loves the decision by Macdonald to start from scratch with the goal of this incarnation of Seahawks writing their own legacy. Preparing for his first full season with the organization, he can sense a different mentality in the building that he expects to pave the way for future success without leaning too much on the past.

Making an instant impact, Leonard Williams earned a three-year contract with the Seahawks by racking up four sacks and 11 quarterback hits in just 10 games last season. / Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

"You can just tell there's a sense of urgency right now," Williams said following Wednesday's offseason workout. "And in a way that's kind of bringing everyone closer together, that's making everyone be so locked in in meetings and in the weight room and on the field. You could just tell there's a different sense of like, everyone's locked in on a different level."

Since being hired on January 31, though he holds Carroll in high regard and views him as one of the best coaches in NFL history, Macdonald hasn't been quiet about his desire to coach within himself. Far from the chronically hyped up Carroll personality-wise, he's not going to try to copy his predecessor, relying on his strengths as a communicator and football mind that helped him transform the Ravens into a historically dominant defense under his watch over the past two seasons.

Writing his own story as a first-time head coach, Macdonald has done away with many of the staples that became fixtures at the VMAC during Carroll's tenure. Players won't be competing in shooting contests before or during team meetings and as Williams noted, they won't be seeing pictures of iconic plays such Sherman's famous pass deflection or Lynch rumbling through Saints tacklers on the walls every time they head to the weight room or practice.

Instead, Macdonald has made it a priority from the outset to get his players to buy into the idea they can create their own moments out of the shadows of the greats who came before them and that turning the page from a successful past can be a path to an even greater future.

"For me personally, I think that made me really excited and I hope it made the rest of the guys excited," Williams said. "Because we're obviously going to respect tradition and the history of the Seahawks, but I think it's given us a clean foundation to create whatever we want to be. We're not chasing to like be like any other team that's been here before. We want to create our own identity."

For the Seahawks to achieve Macdonald's goal and contend for championships on their own accord, the first order of business will be turning around a defense that has been stuck in mediocrity for the better part of the past five seasons.

Despite Carroll's presence on the sideline, Seattle never finished better than 11th in scoring defense dating back to 2019, including dreadfully ranking 25th each of the past two seasons. Aside from struggling to limit explosive plays, poor run defense has plagued the unit more than anything, including giving up 2,352 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground last season, ranking 31st and 29th in those two categories.

This offseason, the Seahawks made substantial personnel changes at linebacker and in the secondary seeking quality fits for Macdonald's hybrid 3-4 scheme to help aid the turnaround efforts. Perennial All-Pro Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks were replaced by Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson at linebacker, while Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams were jettisoned as cap casualties in favor of veterans Rayshawn Jenkins and K'Von Wallace at the safety spots.

While Seattle endured dramatic changes at the second and third level, however, the team will be bringing back most of the same cast of characters in the trenches. Along with adding much-needed size with nose tackle Johnathan Hankins coming over from Dallas, Macdonald will be counting on another strong season from veteran Jarran Reed and a bounce back campaign from Dre'Mont Jones to get the defense back on track.

But no player will be under more pressure to perform and provide invaluable leadership with Macdonald now at the helm than Williams, who signed a three-year, $64.5 million extension with the Seahawks in March after coming over via trade from the Giants last October. Though the team missed the playoffs, the former USC star wasn't to blame for a second half collapse, tallying four sacks, nine tackles for loss, and 32 quarterback pressures in 10 games while providing the disruption general manager John Schneider hoped he would.

Now entering his 10th season, Williams welcomes that responsibility and despite Carroll's exit, he thoroughly enjoyed his time in Seattle and the two sides had mutual interest in re-signing him on a long-term deal. After speaking with Macdonald, he couldn't be happier to return to the organization with a new contract in hand and high expectations to fulfill, even if he had to fly roundtrip between Japan and the Pacific Northwest to make it happen midway through a vacation.

If those aspirations come to fruition as planned under Macdonald's tutelage and Seattle quickly takes a positive step forward with a new regime? Williams could soon find a picture of himself making a crucial play to secure a playoff win in the hall where many franchise legends have previously been immortalized to help set a new standard.

"It just felt like a clean slate. It doesn't feel like we need to have pressure of like trying to chase anything. It's almost like just put one foot in front of the other and create our own identity, create our own team, and something that we can be proud of."