Mariners poised to share key trait with Super Bowl-winning Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks just had one of the best sports seasons a team in the state of Washington has ever had. They won the franchise's second Super Bowl in dominant fashion under the leadership of long-time general manager John Schneider and his second head coach, Mike Macdonald.

While the journey to win a championship in the NFL is very different than in MLB, the two Seattle teams share some similarities that suggest the Mariners could be in for a similarly successful 2026 season.

The Mariners are preparing for their second full season under manager Dan Wilson, just as Macdonald was before this season. Similar to Schneider, Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has had a long tenure marked by dominating the draft to build good teams. While the two sports are vastly different, there is a big part of both teams that can be traced across many championship teams in many sports.

Like the Seahawks, the Mariners have a strong culture that could boost a World Series run

What separated the Seahawks from other teams was their incredible culture. They had slogans that motivated them and kept their eyes on the ultimate prize. Baseball teams are not always like that because of the indivual setup of baseball vs. the whole team aspect of football. However, there is one thing that can cross the lines of the two different sports, and that is how much the players enjoy each other and want to win for the person next to them.

Macdonald led the Seahawks effort to build a cohesive culture that had players from all different backgrounds and experience levels playing for each other and for a collective goal bigger than themselves. The Mariners have the chance to do the same thing. Under Dipoto's last manager, Scott Servais, the culture was good but it was not as special as the one Macdonald built with the Seahawks. Now that Wilson is entering his second full season leading the Mariners he can build on his culture.

Last season, we saw Cal Raleigh be given the opportunity to lead more and become more of the focal point of the team, and he showed up by having the best season by a catcher in baseball history. While great cultures may not always result in players having great seasons, they can help the collective group of players perform better than people may expect on paper.

A key philosphy of the Seahawks was that their whole 70-man roster (even including their practice squad) was a part of the team and could contribute in valuable ways. We are seeing the next wave of Mariners contributors shine this spring training, with Ryan Sloan, Kade Anderson, and Colt Emerson having impressive showings in camp that have fans, media, and players talking about them. Those three and many others are not the core of the team, but to have a successful season it will take more than the 26 players that break camp with the big league club.

Wilson had a great culture last year and there is no reason to think that it will regress in 2026. And with high expectations, the Mariners the have the chance to recreate what the Seahawks did and go all the way to the World Series.

It will not be easy, but by sticking together and working hard for each other, the Mariners have the ability to go far this year and they have plenty of talent to go along with it.