The day after taking the podium for Super Bowl Opening Night, Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was back at a podium for more media on Tuesday afternoon. Like any other Tuesday during the season, the players had the day off.

"Quite the spectacle," Macdonald said when he took the podium. "Exciting times. Guys have been great the last couple of days. City of San Jose has been awesome and just looking forward to getting into a regular cadence here tomorrow."

Here's a few things we learned from Macdonald's session with the media:

When Mike Macdonald said, "We did not care," he really meant that.

At the beginning of the season, when record predictions and guesses as to which teams would make it to the playoffs were happening, according to most media, the Seahawks were not a part of that conversation. And neither was the team they will be facing on Sunday for Super Bowl LX. But true to himself and his words, Macdonald tripled down on the sentiment that what is important to him and the team has nothing to do with people who are not inside the building.

"Look we said it after the Championship game that we didn't care," he said. "We really don't. I think what was important for us was to become a championship team. We weren't that in the Spring. We were on our way, that's what we wanted to become, but in order to get to a stage like this and win a game like this, it's got to be real and that's what you have to become, and that's what our focus was on."

Klint Kubiak has helped Seattle's offense thrive.

To be one of the top three scoring offenses in the NFL requires good players and good coaching and Seattle has had both of those this season. And in particular, the Seahawks have had a lot of success under offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, despite this season being just the first year under his scheme. Klint's offense has allowed Jaxon Smith-Njigba to be the NFL's leading receiver, while quarterback Sam Darnold became a top 5 quarterback in passing yards. And although it took a bit of time for the run game to see success, over the final three games of the regular season, Seattle rushed for 171, 163 and 180 yards. And through two playoff games, Seattle ran for 175 yards against the 49ers and 75 against the Rams. Kubiak undoubtedly helped the offense thrive.

On hiring Kubiak, Macdonald said, "There's a lot of great coaches that were available last year, so, in a classic Mike fashion, I took my time, probably overthought of a bit, talked to a lot of great people. I think as the process really unwound; it became very clear that, and Klint was the first person we talked to, not only was he going to bring a great staff, has a great plan, I think our visions were aligned on what we were trying to create. And [it] just became very clear that he was going to be a great partner to work with. So, I'm excited for him, he's done a great job, a lot of fun to work with him. And we got one more game to go."

The team will continue to be "loose and focused," like they have been all season.

Super Bowl week comes with all the flashy lights and players being required to more media sessions, but Macdonald, like he's said all season, wants the players to be "loose and focused." He said that's how the team will get through this week.

"You try to be so steadfast in your process, and at some point, things are going to change, things are going to be different, and what doesn't change is our principles and the things that we're about on a moment-by-moment basis," he said. "So my message to the team is, look, "we're going to be loose and focused, and that's how we roll.' So the loose part is we're going to enjoy it. We're going to enjoy these moments. We going to love being with our friends and family and enjoying our teammates. We're also going to be focused. That we have an accountability to our process and the things that we need to do to go play our best. So that's going to be our process."

Cooper Kupp's expertise benefits everyone, not just the offense.

Nine years into his NFL career, Cooper Kupp may not be the top receiver on the team, but his impact reaches far beyond the stats he can put up week to week. Players have noted Kupp's intention when blocking on runs, dubbing it the "Cooper Kupp run blocking school. Coaches have even said they learn from Kupp on a weekly basis. And with almost a full season to his resume, Macdonald is sure that Kupp's expertise helps more than just the offensive side of the ball.

"You knew Cooper Kupp through his reputation," Macdonald said. "Jake Peetz (passing game coordinator) is on our staff. He's got a great relationship with Cooper. We made it a point that, I think whenever the first time we were actually allowed to reach out to Coop, I had [Peetz] on the line. And just said, 'We don't get a lot of opportunities to really acquire a player like you, especially early in our program, and what better player to bring in early than the Cooper Kupp. Man, he's been, like, I use the term force multiplier, he's that with the receiver room. You can see it with the effect of a lot of our guys, like Jax (Jaxon Smith-Njigba) is obvious, but really the rest of our young receivers. And that's rippled all the way throughout the whole team, offense, defense, special teams, all three phases. He's helped me. And then to see him make plays in the Championship game, when stakes are highest, was really special."

Ironically, it was an away game at San Francisco where Seattle's defense had its turning point.

On Tuesday, players answered questions about playing in "enemy territory" and what it means to have the opportunity to play a Super Bowl game in a divisional opponent's stadium.

But it was this opponent, the 49ers, that the Seahawks were gearing up to play at Levi's Stadium during the 2024 when Macdonald and the defense, "made a pact," to play with a certain standard and to uphold that standard always.

"I think our defense has taken a turn when we became more connected," Macdonald said. "And it's not easy to do that. Like last year we were going through some adversity, the beginning to the middle part of the year and it takes a leap of faith to really buy in and stick to the process of what we're trying to achieve. I'm thinking of a meeting we had, ironically enough going into our San Francisco game here last year and we just made a pact with each other. We're going to be a great defense, no matter what it takes. And they bought in and it didn't happen over night, but that's the type of stuff and the dedication it takes, moving in the same direction to actually make this thing come to life. Of course, you've got to stop people, you've got to keep people off the board, control field position, you've got to affect quarterbacks, all those things are really important to win football games."