Seahawks’ Hard Knocks Motto Isn’t ‘Running It Back’ — It’s ‘Running It Forward’
The Seattle Seahawks aren’t trying to run it back. They’re running it forward.
That’s the phrase NFL Films producer Kaley Campen kept hearing throughout training camp as HBO’s Hard Knocks embedded with the defending Super Bowl champions for the first time in franchise history. Seattle’s season premiere aired Tuesday, Aug. 4, marking the show’s first look at a reigning champion since the Baltimore Ravens in the original 2001 season, according to ClutchPoints.
Campen, who is working her ninth season on Hard Knocks and her fifth year with NFL Films, spoke with ClutchPoints from an NFL Films production van the morning of the premiere. She’s the daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach James Campen, according to The Sporting News.
Why ‘Running It Forward’ Became the Team’s Guiding Phrase
Seattle didn’t come back fully intact after beating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 60 this past February. The roster turned over in free agency, and running back Kenneth Walker III, the Super Bowl MVP, left the building. That reshuffling is where the motto comes from.
“Their motto, instead of ‘running it back,’ was ‘running it forward,'” Campen told ClutchPoints. “We’ve heard a lot about that motto this year because the team has changed. They lost some people in free agency, so this team’s belief was really we’re not trying to run it back because it’s not the same team as last year.”
New pieces are still finding their footing through camp, and that competition — who steps up, who takes over vacated roles — is the thread Campen expects will run through the season. It’s a different show than a rebuilding team’s training camp: the roster isn’t fighting for relevance. It’s fighting to defend a title with a different cast.
Training Camp vs. In-Season: A Different Show Entirely
Campen has directed six training camp editions of Hard Knocks and three in-season versions, and she says the two formats barely resemble each other. Training camp is about who makes the 53-man roster — the veterans returning and the long shots fighting for a spot. In-season Hard Knocks, which has followed entire divisions like the AFC North and NFC East in recent years, is built around who wins.
“Training camp’s end game is to make the team,” Campen explained. “In-season Hard Knocks’s stakes are winning… I think the stakes are just so different. And as storytellers, that adjusts what we’re looking out for and the stories we’re telling.”
| Format | Stakes | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Training Camp | Making the roster | Veterans and long-shot players |
| In-Season | Winning games/division | Divisional matchups |
| 2026 Seahawks | Repeating as champions | New pieces replacing departed veterans |
Five Directors, One Walkie-Talkie Network
Hard Knocks runs on five directors in the field at any given practice, each assigned to specific players, coaches, or position groups, all connected by headset. Campen described a system built for reacting in real time — if one director’s crew spots something worth capturing outside their assignment, a quick call over the walkie-talkie redirects the nearest camera.
“We know what our assignment is, but we also know to keep our eyes out,” Campen said. “It’s really dividing and conquering among the five directors.”
That field footage then funnels back to an editing team at NFL Films, which is combing through far more raw material than any five-person crew could review live. Campen called it a close, two-way collaboration — editors flag moments they catch in the footage that field crews might have missed entirely.
What Episode 1 Actually Showed
The premiere leaned into the “not content, not complacent” framing Campen previewed. According to SI’s Seahawks on SI, head coach Mike Macdonald addressed the team by admitting he doesn’t yet know exactly what defensive identity they’ll settle into this year, then invoked the 1990s Bulls’ back-to-back three-peats as a point of reference for sustaining a dynasty.
Quarterback Sam Darnold, six months removed from the Super Bowl win and newly married, was reportedly sharp enough in the opening practices to frustrate Seattle’s own defense through most of camp, per the same report. The episode also touched on cornerback Devon Witherspoon’s unresolved contract situation — SI reported Witherspoon was displeased with an Ian Rapoport report characterizing his stance on a potential record-setting extension, though the outlet noted the report didn’t originate with the team and doesn’t appear to be causing friction. That contract situation remains unconfirmed as a completed deal and should be treated as ongoing per Phase 6 speculation guidelines.
A notecard on Macdonald’s office shelf — a old, blunt criticism of him from early in his coordinator days — got camera time too, suggesting the outside doubt around Seattle entering 2026 is fuel the coaching staff is actively leaning on.
Why the Format Keeps Pulling Fans Back
Hard Knocks has run since 2001, and it now shares shelf space with shows like Netflix’s Quarterback and Receiver. Campen has a simple theory for why it still works: fans watch these players every Sunday with the helmets on. Hard Knocks is one of the only windows into who they are with the helmets off.
“There are so many players who had a 1% chance of making it where they are,” Campen said. “Hard Knocks being able to show the triumphs and adversities so many players and coaches have gone through to reach where they’re at, fans will never get sick of that.”
New episodes air Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO through Sept. 1, with the full five-episode run tracking Seattle’s camp as it builds toward defending its title.
