When John Schneider took over as general manager of the Seattle Seahawks back in 2010, he helped build a champion. Twelve years after hoisting the franchise’s first Lombardi Trophy alongside Pete Carroll, he’s done it again - this time with a completely different cast.
On Sunday, the Seahawks captured their second Super Bowl title under Schneider’s leadership, and while that in itself is an elite accomplishment, it’s the how that sets this one apart. Schneider is now the first GM in NFL history to win two Super Bowls with the same franchise, doing it with two different head coaches and entirely different rosters. That’s not just rare - it’s unprecedented.
And if you’re wondering what makes this version of the Seahawks’ championship run so impressive, you’re not alone. Former NFL wideout and Seahawks Radio Network analyst Michael Bumpus summed it up well: Schneider adapted.
He evolved. And he did it without sacrificing the team’s competitive edge.
“He’s been able to adjust,” Bumpus said. “He understands what creates a successful team and did it in two different ways.”
That’s not just lip service. While both of Schneider’s Super Bowl-winning teams leaned on strong defensive play, the blueprint wasn’t a copy-paste job.
The 2013 Seahawks had the Legion of Boom - a generational secondary that bullied offenses and changed the way teams built their passing games. This 2026 version?
Still built on defense, but with a different identity and a new set of strengths. That shift speaks volumes about Schneider’s ability to recognize what works now, not just what worked then.
And it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Like any GM, Schneider had his misses.
Not every draft pick panned out, not every move paid off. But the bigger picture tells the story of a front office that learned, adjusted, and kept finding ways to win.
“There’s some times where guys didn’t work out,” Bumpus said. “Most guys won’t work out the way that you hope in the NFL - that’s just the nature of the league. But it shows a real understanding of how to get the type of personnel your head coach needs to have success.”
That’s a key point. Schneider didn’t just build rosters - he built fits. And he did it without ever bottoming out.
Since their Super Bowl win in 2013, the Seahawks have had just one losing season: a 7-10 mark in 2020. That’s it.
No tanking. No multi-year rebuilds.
And yet here they are, back on top of the NFL.
Even their highest draft picks in recent years weren’t the result of poor seasons. Charles Cross (No. 9 overall in 2022) and Devon Witherspoon (No. 5 in 2023) were both acquired through the blockbuster trade that sent Russell Wilson to Denver.
That move, at the time, raised eyebrows. Trading your franchise quarterback is a gamble - especially one who helped bring a title to Seattle.
But the return? Franchise-altering.
“At no point did this team benefit from having a top-three pick,” said Stacy Rost, co-host with Bumpus. “They had No. 5, but you had to make a sacrifice to do that. There was a risk inherent to trading your franchise quarterback.”
That’s the part that gets lost sometimes. Building a championship roster without ever hitting the reset button is hard.
Most teams that hoist the Lombardi get there after a few lean years - high draft picks, cap resets, and fresh starts. Seattle never went that route.
They stayed competitive, kept winning, and still managed to reload.
Rost pointed to a story about Bills GM Brandon Beane telling Ja’Marr Chase - the No. 5 pick in 2021 - that he wished Buffalo could draft that high to land a player like him. That’s the dilemma for consistently good teams: how do you get elite talent without elite draft position?
“I know that there are GMs around the league who oversee franchises that are mostly very successful or at least stable and probably lament not having that No. 1 pick,” Rost said. “How are you gonna get Nick Bosa at No. 2 overall when you’re winning nine or 10 games every single year?”
That’s what makes Schneider’s accomplishment so remarkable. He built a loaded roster without ever having the luxury of a top-three pick. Instead, he nailed trades, found value in later rounds, and developed players at a high level.
Bumpus brought up the Steelers as a cautionary tale. Pittsburgh has been the model of consistency - nine playoff appearances and five division titles over the last 12 years - but they haven’t advanced past the wild-card round in their last five postseason trips. Now they’re heading into 2026 with a new head coach and a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers under center.
“They’re stuck,” Bumpus said. “They just made a move with hiring Mike McCarthy that I think is just gonna keep them there, and they’re looking at a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers and saying, ‘Alright, we gotta roll with this.’”
That’s the challenge: when you’re never bad enough to pick at the top, you have to be nearly perfect everywhere else. Drafting, trading, development, cap management - it all has to hit. And for the Seahawks, it has.
“It’s just so hard to improve your team when you’re not a horrible team,” Bumpus added. “That means that your development has to be on point, you need some late-round picks to hit. It means that your trades need to be on point and you need to find the right guys for the right price to fill your roster.”
That’s exactly what John Schneider did. And now, 12 years after building one of the most iconic teams of the 2010s, he’s built another - different in style, but just as effective.
Two titles. Two eras.
One architect.
In a league built on parity and turnover, that’s a legacy-defining achievement.