Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald won the Super Bowl in only his second year in the position. These kinds of feats don’t happen unless you’ve got a proper champion backing you, or giving you advice.

Dan Patrick had asked Macdonald on his show about any surprising figures from the NFL who’d given him some advice for Super Bowl LX. The Seahawks head coach gave a diplomatic answer.

“I wouldn’t [call it a] surprise; I called John Harbaugh, and I talked,” Macdonald said. “He was great. Probably can’t mention one guy that really helped us out that had some conflict of interest.”

When Patrick pressed on to guess if it was Belichick, Macdonald humbly said, “I’m not that cool.”

“I’ve had a beer with coach Belichick, and that was pretty cool.”

It was natural to guess Belichick, because who better to take advice from than the coach who has won the Super Bowl eight times? However, Patrick might not have been far off.

12th Man Rising’s Lee Vowell wrote that this mystery adviser might be Tom Brady. He figured the ‘conflict of interest’ might have arisen because the former quarterback works for FOX, but it’s not so much of a concern, as Brady did not cover the Super Bowl game.

However, Vowell also wrote that around the time of this game, the Raiders had fired former head coach Pete Carroll. And, they were going to bring in Klint Kubiak as his replacement, who was then the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator. The latter’s hiring was made official on February 9.

Tom Brady, of course, is a minority owner in the franchise.

But Macdonald’s instinct to take advice from Harbaugh isn’t surprising. The duo has spent around 10 seasons together with the Baltimore Ravens. Macdonald built his coaching foundation there, beginning as a coaching intern in 2014. He got promoted to defensive assistant in 2015, became the defensive backs coach in 2017, and the linebackers coach in 2018. Eventually, he became the team’s defensive coordinator and held that position for two seasons.

To commemorate Macdonald’s Super Bowl win, Harbaugh publicly praised his protege earlier this year.

“[It’s] well deserved,” the now-NewYork Giants head coach said at the NFL Combine. “Proud of Mike, one of my favorite people.”

Whoever the secret adviser was, the resulting game plan was absolutely flawless. The Seahawks’ defense dismantled New England’s offense through the first three quarters. They sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye six times and intercepted him twice. But the defining play came when edge rusher Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for 45 yards. 

Now, as the NFL prepares for the 2026 season, Seattle is getting ready to defend its championship. On September 9, 2026, the Seahawks will collide against the Patriots once again. Macdonald might have to invoke his mystery advisor’s guidance again.