Almost ten weeks after he was introduced as the head coach of the Seahawks, Mike Macdonald was back in the auditorium at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center Monday morning to lead his first team meeting.

And with that, Seattle's offseason workout program was officially underway, an important part of every NFL offseason, but an even more significant stretch of spring for teams like the Seahawks that made coaching changes this offseason. Every NFL offseason brings change when it comes to players on the roster, but for the Seahawks it's a new experience with an almost entirely new coaching staff taking over after 14 years under the leadership of Pete Carroll. And though change can take some getting used to, there was also plenty of excitement in the building for players who were getting to know their new coaching staff.

"It's exciting," said Pro Bowl safety Julian Love. "A lot of new faces, new energy. Everybody's getting a feel for what the vibe in the building is, what the energy is. It was a good first day… It's cool, Mike's putting emphasis on that connection between us. He wants us to get close and build something together as teammates. That's what today was about."

Said left tackle Charles Cross, "It was a good vibe, just seeing everyone in the building, seeing guys back, the new coaches, it was a good experience. It was a good first day."

Like Cross, cornerback Riq Woolen was also picking up good first-day vibes from his teammates and new coaching staff.

"It's great to be back," Woolen said. "A lot of new faces, coaches and players, but at the same time, it's all new to everybody here. It's our first day, there are a lot of good vibes, you can tell people are excited about to be back and working with each other and working with the new staff. Guys missed each other, so today's the day guys are just dapping it up, soaking it all in, and just having fun being around each other."

And while a lot has changed this offseason, that newness doesn't mean diminished expectations. As Macdonald and general manager and president of football operations John Schneider explained at the NFL Annual Meeting last month, expectations are as high as ever this year, and players could feel that as well in their first day back together.

"We're very excited," Cross said. "There's so much talent in this room, and when we put it all together, we know we can do something special."

Said Woolen, "It's still early, but we know the coaching staff has a winning mentality, and they know we have a team that's capable of winning games. We feel like we have the right coaches who have a championship DNA with them, and they're going to instill that—we already have a championship DNA, but we have to make everything click to be a championship team."

As players get to know Macdonald and the new coaching staff, they are liking what they're hearing and seeing thus far, and they came away impressed with the first impression he made in front of the team.

"He's a good dude, and he comes off as someone who's incredibly smart," Love said. "He's intentional about what he says and what he means, and the direction he wants to go. It's cool to get to know him more. I've only had a few conversations with him so far, but everybody can feel that we're liking the energy he's bringing to the table."

As a player who had to prepare for and face a Macdonald-led defense last year, receiver Tyler Lockett knows Macdonald knows his stuff on that side of the ball, and is excited to see how Macdonald uses that coaching ability to lead an entire team.

"Mike is very creative and he's really smart," Lockett said. "The type of defense that he brought, and the way that the defense played, you could tell that there weren't a lot of errors in their defense. Everybody knew what they were doing, everybody played together, they were all in together. I think that's the biggest thing that makes a team great is when people don't really care who gets the credit. I think he did a great job there—that organization (Baltimore), they do a great job of everything, but you could tell that defense stood out amongst a lot of other defenses in the league. So it's pretty exciting to see what he's going to bring here, and now he gets an opportunity to make that same type of decision when it comes to the offense. Now he's finding offensive coaches who have similar mindsets, and who can be able to adjust to whatever they need to adjust to, so it's cool to see that you have somebody who has one of the best defenses, then you bring one of the best offensive minds from college football. I can only imagine what practice is going to look like when you have people competing, but also learning from each other as well, which creates that iron sharpening iron mentality."

As for players on the defensive side of the ball, they're excited to see what Macdonald can do to help that unit thrive in Seattle.

"His reputation precedes him because of what they were able to do," said Love. "I'm familiar with the scheme, I like the scheme. He's just an innovator on defense, and we all want to be a part of that."