The Super Bowl LX matchup is set, and it’s a rematch from Super Bowl XLIX with the New England Patriots set to take on the Seattle Seahawks.
The last time the two teams met, it was an instant classic with Malcolm Butler picking off Russell Wilson at the goal line in the final minute to preserve a 28-24 victory for the Patriots.
This time around, the two teams are drastically different, but they do share a common characteristic in the front office.
Eliot Wolf is the Patriots’ de facto general manager, who helps run the football department in New England even if he does not have an official title.
In Seattle, it’s John Schneider who runs Seattle’s football operation; he has Seattle in their third Super Bowl since he took over.
Of course, both Schneider and Wolf were in Green Bay to start their careers under the general manager stewardship of Eliot’s father, Ron Wolf.
Eliot Wolf is also flanked by Alonzo Highsmith, who was in Green Bay under Wolf and Ted Thompson as well.
The trend of poaching talent out of Green Bay or the Ron Wolf tree continued this offseason with Jon-Eric Sullivan accepting the job in Miami to become the Dolphins’ general manager.
Shortly after Sullivan was hired, he brought Packers’ defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley with him to be their head coach.
Hafley had a successful two-year stint as the defensive coordinator in Green Bay. The defense finished strong in his first season and was off to a great start in 2025 until Micah Parsons went down for the season with a torn ACL.
Hafley’s defense finished with a thud, which culminated with a 25-point collapse in the fourth quarter of what turned out to be Hafley’s final game in Green Bay.
While there is some frustration to be had about the Packers only having three Super Bowl appearances and two titles since 1992 with three consecutive franchise quarterbacks, it’s a level of success that really isn’t able to be measured across the league.
The Packers represent a lot of things in the NFL, and one of those is stability. The Packers have almost always been good since 1992. Under Brett Favre, they had just one losing season, going 4-12 in 2005.
They’ve never had a losing season under Jordan Love and had just two under Aaron Rodgers when he did not miss significant time with an injury.
Three losing seasons in more than 30 years is enviable to anyone across the league.
Furthermore, Ron Wolf is in the Hall of Fame, and he’s seen his disciples grow up to be successful general managers in their own way once they were able to sit in the big chair.
Thompson was a pupil of Wolf’s in Green Bay and took two separate teams to the Super Bowl — losing Super Bowl XL with Seattle to Pittsburgh and winning Super Bowl XLV against Pittsburgh when he came to Green Bay.
Thompson was elected to the Packers Hall of Fame for the excellence in Green Bay during his tenure.
When Thompson moved on, he gave way to Brian Gutekunst, who has overseen the turnover from Rodgers to Love. He has not won a championship yet, but he helped streamline a rebuild in Green Bay, moving away from Rodgers and handing the keys to Love.
The most successful pupil of Wolf has been Schneider. Schneider is about to see his team participate in its third Super Bowl since he took over. They’ve won one of the two Super Bowls they’ve played in and will be favored to win this one as well.
Wolf helped oversee a rebuild in New England, which was reeling from Tom Brady’s departure in free agency, but Wolf helped find his eventual long-term successor in Drake Maye.
Wolf does not yield the same power that Schneider does and is more of a partner with Mike Vrabel but still has been part of the organization’s rise back to a national power.
Wolf and Schneider are two examples. Another is John Dorsey, who helped build Kansas City’s core that fell one win short of three consecutive Super Bowl titles. He had some success in Cleveland, as well.
With a track record like what we’ve listed above, it makes sense why struggling teams, like the Dolphins, would want to follow the blueprint of stability that has been the Green Bay Packers during the last 30 years.
