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RENTON — When defensive lineman Leonard Williams joined the Seahawks last October, one of the first things he noticed walking into the building at the VMAC was a hallway leading to the locker room that was lined with large photos of great moments from the team’s past.

The wallpaper images represented many of the most iconic scenes of the Pete Carroll era — Carroll, John Schneider and Paul Allen accepting the Super Bowl trophy, Marshawn Lynch’s “Beast Quake’’ run, Richard Sherman’s tip against the 49ers, Russell Wilson holding aloft the George Halas Trophy following the 2015 NFC title game, among others.

Like Carroll and all of those players, those images are gone, papered over as part of a redecorating of the VMAC that is part of a larger re-imagining of the team following the dismissal of Carroll and the hiring of coach Mike Macdonald.

Williams said the change in décor was something Macdonald made sure to let the players know about when they first gathered last week for the beginning of the team’s voluntary offseason program.

“I remember the first day we came into the team meeting, Mike pointed out that there is empty walls in the hallways and things like that,’’ Williams said. “And I think that made me really excited, and I hope that made the rest of the guys excited. Because we are obviously going to respect tradition and the history of the Seahawks, but I think it’s given us a clean foundation to create whatever we want to be. We are not chasing to be like any other team that’s been here before. We want to create our own identity.’’

Seahawks adjusting to fewer basketball hoops, new coach in Mike Macdonald

The makeover included the removal of the basketball hoop in the meeting room, which was often deployed by Carroll in team-building exercises.

Explained Williams: “He kind of wants to create our own slogans, create our own mantras and things like that.’’

But if the “I’m In” signs, and those of other ubiquitous Carroll sayings may be gone, Williams says the Seahawks appear to be all in with Macdonald so far.

“You can just tell there is a sense of urgency right now in a way that’s kind of bringing everyone closer together, that’s making everyone be so locked in in meetings and the weight room and on the field,’’ Williams said of the feeling in the building since players returned for the offseason program last week.

That’s the kind of feeling Williams was hoping for when he agreed to re-sign with the Seahawks on March 11, the first day of the free-agent negotiating period, inking a three-year deal worth up to $64.5 million with $26.1 million fully guaranteed.

Schneider, holding the title of president of football operations, said re-signing Williams was a “priority,’’ not just to continue to get some payoff for what the Seahawks gave up to get him last October from the New York Giants — a second-round pick in 2024 and fifth-rounder in 2025 — but to give Macdonald a centerpiece player in the middle of the defensive line.

Williams was on a three-week vacation in Japan at the time of the agreement, and returned to Seattle in the middle of the trip to sign his contract.

Williams said he got into Seattle at about 10 a.m. on March 12 and after signing his contract, flew back to Japan to continue the vacation that night around 7 p.m.

The trip to Japan was part of an excursion that also included a stop in Bali, where his girlfriend, Hailey Lott, the daughter of Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, was doing work in her profession as a yoga and meditation instructor.

“A lot of flying, but it was worth it,’’ Williams said.

The contract makes Williams the highest-paid defensive player in Seahawks history on a per-year basis at $21.5 million, and fifth-highest of all defensive ends heading into the 2024 season.

But if the money to return to Seattle was surely enticing, Williams said he was attracted by what he feels Macdonald can build.

He also makes clear that he appreciated his time with Carroll.

Williams could have vetoed the trade to Seattle but said on Wednesday that Carroll’s presence was “a big reason’’ he didn’t.

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“I was, like, having fun with my guys again,’’ Williams said of playing for Carroll last year. “And that kind of felt like college ball, and it made me play hard for him.’’

Williams, 29 and entering his 10^th season in the NFL, said he also understood that change could come after the way the Seahawks ended the 2023 season.

The Seahawks had just beaten Cleveland to improve to 5-2 and move into first in the NFC West when they acquired Williams, who was on the market because it was viewed as unlikely he would re-sign with the Giants. The Seahawks lost six of their last 10 games to finish 9-8 and missed the playoffs.

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“I was obviously sad to see him go, but at the same time, you understand this business,’’ Williams said.

The more Williams learned about Macdonald, the more returning to Seattle excited him.

“I mean, I just love that he’s a defensive-minded coach,’’ Williams said. “He had the top defense in the NFL last year [as the defensive coordinator with the Baltimore Ravens] and playing for a defensive head coach really excites me. I’m playing for a guy that knows that games are won on the defensive side of the ball, and that’s how I think.’’

That was not what the Seahawks were able to do last year, finishing 30^th in yards allowed and 25^th in points allowed despite the best efforts of Williams, who had four sacks and 11 quarterback hits in 10 games with the Seahawks.

Williams said that what he’s quickly learning to appreciate about his return to Seattle is the fresh start Macdonald offers.

“Mike is serious about bringing something different and creating our own identity,’’ Williams said. “ … It just feels like a clean slate. It doesn’t feel like we need to have [the] pressure of trying to chase anything. It’s almost like, just put one foot in front of the other and create our own identity, create our own team and something that we can be proud of.’’

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or [email protected]; Bob Condotta covers the Seahawks for the Seattle Times. He provides daily coverage of the team throughout the year.

Noelle Quinn won’t give in to envy.

During her 12 years in the WNBA, which included stops with five teams and a five-year stint with the Storm, she never practiced in a place remotely on par with the facility/headquarters the Storm unveiled Thursday.

“I thought about that this morning,” the Storm coach said. “I’m not jealous or anything like that. It’s just part of life. You know, you do things for the betterment of people who come after you.

“And so, this generation of players have access to things that we didn’t and that’s what you want. … For me, it’s good enough to be a part of it and to see someone like Jewell [Loyd], who has multiple championships, to actually have a spot for herself in this place because she helped build this.”

Not just Loyd, Quinn credited everyone who played for Seattle’s WNBA franchise during its 25-year history for helping build The Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance.

The project, which was designed by ZGF and led by Sellen Construction, broke ground March 27 last year and resulted in a $64 million, two-story, 50,000-square-foot structure in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood.

The ground level of the high-tech facility features two full-court indoor courts, two outdoor 3×3 courts, locker room, nutrition center and player lounge, weight and training rooms and an aquatics center.

The second floor includes conference rooms overlooking the court and office space.

“It’s beautiful to have a facility that is for us solely,” Quinn said. “We now have a place that houses everything that the players need. They don’t have to go outside of this place. For us as a staff, we’re connected from a basketball standpoint in every way, to the front office and as a team.

“It’s just a convenient, efficient place. The technology and the courts are amazing. We’ve been in here for about a week, and all I can say is, I love it. Truly amazing.”

On Thursday, Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel led a 40-minute tour of the facility she referred to as “a home” on numerous occasions.

“We built a home,” Brummel said. “We built a home for our players. We built a home for our staff. We built a home in this community for the Seattle Storm.”

Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder, who noted 85% of the design team and engineers are women and people of color, added: “This building represents the path that women have taken, and in some ways, have had to make space for themselves. This place will be a place where girls walk in and never have to look around and wonder if they belong. They’re just going to know.”

Since its inception in 2000, the Storm practiced at the Furtado Center across the street from the Seattle Center until the NBA’s Sonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

Over the next 16 years, the Storm practiced at Seattle Pacific University’s Royal Brougham Pavilion.

“I never really had an office at SPU,” Quinn said. “Sometimes at SPU, there was a time limit on how long we had use of the court. We don’t have those issues anymore. … I envision getting here at 7 or 8 in the morning and my staff staying as late as we need to.

“And that’s beautiful because it’s just, it makes you want to work harder and makes you work more consistently, more efficiently. And those things matter when you’re trying to be very successful as an organization.”

The details — which includes 27 flat-screen TVs, a tile mural in the aquatics center, artwork inside the players lounge inspired by a photo Gilder took after Seattle won the 2020 WNBA title to the dinnerware carefully curated by Brummel — is what distinguishes the Storm’s facility.

“There’s so many little touches all around this place that are so special,” general manager Talisa Rhea said while standing in an open-air foyer adorned by glass-enclosed sneakers from Storm players on a wall and tiered bench seating made from the old Storm court. “For me, my favorite place is the courts.

“It’s such a beautiful space that represents who we are.”

Sue Bird lives here. A logo of the recently retired Storm legend is imprinted on both ends of the indoor courts.

There’s also a mural of the Seattle skyline, which includes the iconic Space Needle, and the Cascade Mountains on the west wall of the building.

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Loyd, the longest-tenured Storm player, who was taken No. 1 overall in the 2015 WNBA draft, toured the facility Thursday alongside Brummel.

“She obviously had been through a couple of times [on] a hard-hat tour, but it’s her first time seeing it as a finished product,” Rhea said. “It was pretty special. She gave a lot of feedback the whole way and provided a lot of inspiration. So, to see her excited about it and see it come to life means so much just based on how loyal she’s been to us and this organization.

“She is who we are, and for her to say this is cool and this is my space was pretty special.”

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The Storm, who open training camp April 28, are the first WNBA team to design and build a practice facility from the ground up, which draws a slight distinction from the Las Vegas Aces, who spent $40 million to renovate an existing 64,000-square-foot facility that opened in May 2023.

The Phoenix Mercury are expected to complete a $100 million, 58,000-square-foot practice facility before the start of this year’s training camp.

Meanwhile, the New York Liberty enjoy a unique arrangement that gives them exclusive use to a practice court and access to training amenities at their home arena, Barclays Center.

The Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx and Washington Mystics share practice facilities with their NBA counterparts — the Pacers, Timberwolves and Wizards, respectively.

And the Atlanta Dream, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, Dallas Wings and Los Angeles Sparks are among WNBA teams that don’t have or share a practice facility.

“It’s a difference,” Loyd said when asked about the difference in practice facilities among WNBA teams. “Not going to lie, those things matter. When you’re a professional athlete and playing in this league as long as some people have, you know who’s investing in the game, the league and their teams, and who isn’t.

“Standing in this building, it’s easy to see the ownership group here is investing in this team and this community.”

Percy Allen: [email protected]; Seattle Times staff reporter Percy Allen covers the Washington Huskies and Seattle Storm.

Shortly after Nike overhauled uniforms for every WNBA team in 2021, the Storm started brainstorming on a new look for their widely popular black Rebel Edition jersey, which had been a favorite among players and fans.

“We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” general manager Talisa Rhea said. “It’s been a long process, but I’m excited for it to come to life today.”

On Thursday, Nike unveiled new Rebel Edition uniforms for six teams: the Storm, Chicago Sky, Connecticut Sun, LA Sparks, Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury.

“I love not only this organization, but what our game is growing into,” Storm coach Noelle Quinn said. “Having multiple uniforms that represent our culture and that fans can purchase. It’s not just a white or green choice, you can get the black and different versions of that.

“It’s a cool thing. I become a fan when I think of that. … Growing up and wanting somebody’s jersey, a lot of times all you had was a men’s basketball player. Now, everyone can get our women’s athletes jerseys and get swaggy with it and have a variety of different jerseys to choose. I love it. I love what it represents.”

The Storm’s new Rebel Edition jersey is a bold, dramatic change from their black-and-gray predecessor, which had a rustic feel and was inspired by Seattle’s ties to the grunge music genre.

Nike designers incorporated neon green in the new look with colorful lightning bolts going down the side panels and bolts infused in the “Storm” label on the chest.

In addition to the Rebel Edition (alternate) jerseys, the Storm still have their Heroine Edition (home/white) and Explorer Edition (away/green and yellow) jerseys, which are also due for a refresh.

“The league is working on a comprehensive plan with Nike for a cadence of new jerseys and being able to change things as we want,” Rhea said. “So, periodically over the next couple of years, we’ll see new jerseys in the other editions like the one today.”

The Storm will unveil their new Rebel uniform at the May 14 season opener against the Minnesota Lynx.

Fans can purchase the Storm Rebel jersey through the team’s website at seattlestormteamshop.com and at the Storm Team Shop at Climate Pledge Arena.

Percy Allen: [email protected]; Seattle Times staff reporter Percy Allen covers the Washington Huskies and Seattle Storm.

The Seahawks are less than two weeks into their voluntary offseason program, putting them in the earliest stages of their preparation for the 2024 season. But while there is still a long, long ways to go for the team to get ready for fall, new head coach Mike Macdonald is already making a strong impression on players, and doing so while instituting some changes that are having a positive early influence, according to players.

"I remember the first day we came into the team meeting, Mike pointed out that there's empty walls in the hallways and things like that," said defensive lineman Leonard Williams. "For a person like me, that made me really excited, and I hope it made the rest of the guys excited. We're obviously going to respect tradition and the history of the Seahawks, but I think it's giving us a clean foundation to create whatever we want to be. We're not chasing to be like any other team that's been here before, we want to create our own identity."

An important point made by Williams and others is that Macdonald being different, and the team embracing that, isn't an indictment of how Pete Carroll did things during his 14 seasons in Seattle. Williams credited Carroll for making him want to come to Seattle, and for making him enjoy the game more, saying, "I'll forever be grateful towards Pete for bringing me here… I always reminded Pete that him bringing me here kind of brought back that college feeling for me where it was new and exciting for me. It relit a fire in me, it didn't just feel like I was going to work every day, it felt like I was having fun with my guys again."

But for Macdonald to succeed as a head coach, and for the team to be its best under his leadership, the Seahawks can't set out this offseason trying to recreate what Carroll built. As Macdonald said on the day he was introduced as the head coach, he needs to be authentic to who he is as a person and a coach, just as Carroll was during his memorable run in Seattle. So yes, the basketball hoop in the auditorium is gone, as are, as Tyler Lockett noted last week, the "I'm In!" signs players used to tap as they went through doorways.

"He wants to create our own slogans, create our own mantras and things like that," Williams said.

In time, the Seahawks will build their own traditions and slogans under Macdonald, and perhaps then new signs will go up, but for now the Seahawks are building something new with Macdonald leading the way, and players like how that process has gone early on.

"You can just tell there's a sense of urgency right now, in a way that's bringing everyone closer together, that's making everyone be so locked in in meetings and the weight room and on the field," Williams said. "You can just tell everyone's locked in on a different level."

Added left tackle Charles Cross, "I love him. I feel like he brings a tenacity to the building. He's a very blunt, to-the-point guy. He just wants to get the job done at the end of the day."

Second-year cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who earned Pro-Bowl honors as a rookie, said things do feel different under a new coach, but said the first week under Macdonald, has been "smooth so far. Everybody's trying to get to know each other, figure each other out, create that chemistry."

Asked about the differences, Witherspoon said, "Different as far as the way he runs things around here, the way he talks, terminology when we're speaking about football, and just the way he teaches us about the stuff we're doing right now."

Despite a standout rookie season, Witherspoon says he can and will be better in his second season, pointing to more production and playing all 17 games as goals for improvement, and he thinks Macdonald and the defensive coaching staff will get the best out of him.

"I had a good year, but it could be a lot better. That's what coach keeps telling me every day. He's like, 'You had a good year, but you've got so much more potential, and I can't wait to exploit that.'"

Longtime (or maybe even short time) readers of the blog will know that I have my own men’s college basketball model that I created during the great “should we move on from Lorenzo Romar?” debates. The point of the model was primarily to try to judge which coaches were able to consistently overperform the inherent talent level of their rosters. I also like to try to use it to make preseason projections about how teams will fare which means getting to look back on those when the season ends.

My “source of truth” for the projections is KenPom’s adjusted efficiency margin. That’s what I use to evaluate each team’s performance and that’s the number that gets spit out by my system as a target. The model is intended for power conference teams since at the mid-major level almost none of the players actually had a baseline recruiting ranking. The one exception is Gonzaga who have obviously performed as a top-ten team in the sport for the last decade. That makes 81 teams I’ve included.

We’ll start though looking at what went right or wrong with the Huskies’ projection.

My model had the Huskies projected for an adjusted efficiency margin of +16.6 this year which would’ve been the best team of the Mike Hopkins era. That’s because on paper this roster had the most talent of any Hop team, even the one that made the NCAA tournament. Keion Brooks Jr. started the season as my top player in the conference given his status as a senior who was a former top-25 recruit plus his prior production. A potential starting lineup with four seniors plus a Pac-12 all-defense team center seemed pretty darn potent. That aEM projection was #43 among P6 teams which would’ve meant a top-50 squad and a solid bubble team.

Washington would’ve been even higher if not for that pesky little problem of Mike Hopkins being the coach. Hopkins entered the year with the lowest coaching grade in my system of any P6 coach that had more than 2 years experience. However, I don’t include the full coaching adjustment into my projections since year-to-year performance can be volatile. So Washington would’ve been at a +13.8 aEM if I’d applied the full weight of Hop’s coaching score. That would’ve been good for 57th among P6 schools.

Yet as has almost always been the case during the Mike Hopkins era, Washington ended up worse than even the full coaching adjustment would’ve suggested. The Huskies finished with an aEM of +13.0 and ranked 48th among P6 schools (and 60th including mid-majors). That cemented that Hopkins would finish with a negative coaching grade in all 7 of his season with the Huskies.

It’s worth noting that my system actually would’ve projected Washington to finish even higher based on the actual minutes distribution. The Huskies had both Wesley Yates and Franck Kepnang suffer serious injuries but I didn’t have either as projected starters anyways and more minutes for Brooks and Wheeler inflated the number.

I also this year recorded the preseason projections of 3 of the major college basketball analytics systems out there: KenPom, Torvik, and EvanMiya. Washington averaged out to 61st among P6 schools across those 3 systems which means that I ended up getting closer to Washington’s final ranking than any of the other systems. I’ll take it.

Here’s a look at how I had the Pac-12 standings in the preseason with the number in parentheses their rank among the P6 schools.

Arizona: My projection- 1st (1), Actual- 1st (6)

USC: My projection- 2nd (27), Actual- 7th (60)

Oregon: My projection- 3rd (28), Actual- 5th (43)

Utah: My projection- 4th (29), Actual- 4th (39)

Arizona State: My projection- 5th (39), Actual- 11th (73)

Colorado: My projection- 6th (40), Actual- 2nd (22)

Washington: My projection- 7th (43), Actual- 6th (48)

UCLA: My projection- 8th (51), Actual- 8th (65)

Stanford: My projection- 9th (56), Actual- 9th (67)

Wazzu: My projection- 10th (68), Actual- 3rd (35)

Cal: My projection- 11th (71), Actual- 10th (71)

Oregon State: My projection- 12th (80), Actual 12th (77)

In the end I would consider to have gotten 7 of the 12 schools “right” based on my projections. I had Arizona as the top school in the Pac and was a little bit higher on them than I should have been in a national perspective. But I had them as the far and away best team in the Pac-12 and that was what happened.

Similarly, I had Cal and Oregon State as the 11th and 12th place teams as well as being among the bottom 10 worst P6 schools in the country and that’s exactly where they were.

Several of the schools that I got in the right spot in the conference standings were much worse in a national context than I expected. Utah was indeed #4 in the Pac-12 but were 39th nationally rather than 29th. UCLA was indeed #8 in the Pac-12 but were 65th nationally rather than 51st. Stanford was indeed #9 in the Pac-12 but were 67th nationally rather than 56th. That’s some clear evidence as to why the Pac-12 ended up being a bad basketball conference in its final iteration.

Of the other 5 schools, I was way too high on USC, Oregon, and Arizona State and way too low on Colorado and Washington State. For the 3 schools I was too high on, the only one I really missed on was Arizona State. The other prediction services were even higher on USC than I was and Oregon was almost exactly where I had them. But ASU was predicted to be bad by the other sites and it turns out they were in fact bad (and even worse than those sites predicted).

Just about no one saw Washington State’s miracle season coming as the other sites also saw them as roughly the 70th ranked P6 team. But they were much closer on Colorado than I was. My model hated their bench and it was tested due to injuries but KJ Simpson took a huge leap which kept them more than afloat during that time.

Ole Miss- My system: #4 overall, Other 3 Sites: #55 overall, Actual: #66 overall

This one was mostly because of their new head coach Chris Beard. He was fired from Texas due to a domestic violence incident but his teams always overperformed at Texas Tech and Texas. My model viewed him as a top-10 on-court coach which boosted Ole Miss up but instead they fell way short. That’s partly due to actual availability as my model would’ve had them at 13th rather than 4th if I knew the actual minutes distribution. But other models said “it’s Ole Miss, they’re usually bad and probably will be again” and that was the correct approach.

Iowa State- My system: #58 overall, Other 3 Sites: #37 overall, Actual: #8 overall

This one is a reverse of Ole Miss. The other prediction sites were too low on Iowa State and my model was even lower. Otzelberger has exceeded expectations from my model in all 3 years as a head coach even with a positive coaching adjustment already put in. After this season though he is now my model’s #5 coach in the country and that should boost ISU’s prediction up come next fall even if their roster looks a little underwhelming on paper.

Connecticut- My system: #37 overall, Other 3 Sites: #4 overall, Actual: #1 overall

All right, let’s talk about it. My model had UConn falling back to the pack coming off a national title. Instead, they actually got even better and went on as repeat champs. How does this happen? To start off, the model clearly underestimated Dan Hurley. Here are his coaching scores in order during his time at UConn: -6.2, -0.6, +6.2, +7.9, +11.3, +19.2.

They’ve literally gotten better every single season. I don’t weight more recent seasons any higher than older ones so his record coming into this season was essentially: 1 bad, 1 average, 2 good, 1 very good. He followed that up with 1 all-time great season. If instead I had just used the past 3 seasons and thrown out his first 2 years then it would’ve boosted up my prediction for Connecticut up to 14th instead of 37th. Still way short of correct but at least approaching reality.

There’s also the fact that Connecticut lost some really good talent and relied at least partially on homegrown talent to fill the void. Donovan Clingan only played 32% of the team’s minutes when he was a freshman because he was playing behind an All-American in Adama Sanogo. But my model didn’t know that he would’ve been a starter on 95% of teams in the country. Tristan Newton and Alex Karaban each got much better as returning starters. Cam Spencer was much better surrounded by more talent at UConn than he was at Rutgers.

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