It’s been a long time since the Seattle Seahawks opened the season with a head coach not named Pete Carroll skulking around the sidelines. But when the Seahawks host the Denver Broncos on Sunday, it will be with Mike Macdonald leading the franchise.

The coaching change came despite the Seahawks winning nine games and narrowly missing the playoffs. But while Macdonald should get some play in his first season with the team, quarterback Geno Smith has a much shorter leash. Smith was the 2022 Comeback Player of the Year but regressed significantly last year after receiving a lucrative extension.

Macdonald told reporters he has every confidence Smith can get Seattle back into the playoffs despite last year’s struggles.

“A tremendous amount of confidence,” Macdonald said. “I mean, it’s all about the QB, and he’s our quarterback. And we’re happy to have him. Obviously, quarterback is the most important position, but just like anybody else that goes there, I don’t see how you can put someone there that you don’t have 100 percent confidence in. And they’ve earned this opportunity, but Geno (Smith), more importantly, he’s there, leading the charge.”

“Seattle is a tough team to predict because it’s hard to know how Mike Macdonald will do in his first try as a head coach,” he said. “I do think he’ll bring some improvement to a defense that ranked 30th last season. That alone could be enough to get the Seahawks back into the playoff discussion.”

“It’s easy to forget that Seattle won nine games last season despite a terrible defense and one of the worst interior offensive lines in the league,” Knox wrote. “I think the Seahawks are just out of the playoff picture in Week 1, largely because of the unknown coaches: offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb gets his first NFL shot. However, Seattle faces the seventh-easiest schedule in the league (tied), and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a major factor in the NFC West this season.”