RENTON, Wash. (AP) -- John Schneider was already a candidate for the Seattle Seahawks' general manager position when the team suddenly moved forward with hiring Pete Carroll as its head coach.

"When this thing went down with Coach Carroll I had a moment where I thought, 'That was different.' But that's how they had to do it," Schneider said. "Then I thought, 'This job is even more attractive right now."'
Schneider was introduced on Wednesday morning as the new general manager of the Seahawks, working alongside Carroll in reinventing a team that is 9-23 over the last two seasons.
Schneider, 38, was picked from a finalist pool of four candidates. Team CEO Tod Leiweke said the immediate connection between Carroll and Schneider was vital in the final decision.
"Most compelling for me is the amazing energy I saw between the man to my right and man to my left," Leiweke said, sitting on a stage between Carroll and Schneider. "They connected, they saw eye to eye and they had a similar philosophy on how they wanted to do this."
Schneider replaces Tim Ruskell. The Seahawks forced Ruskell to resign as GM and president last month as Seattle was finishing 5-11 and losing its last four games by a combined 123-37.
Schneider has been the Packers' director of football operations since May 2008. He was the top personnel assistant to Green Bay's GM for six years before that. He spent 2000 as Seattle's director of player personnel in the Seahawks regime of former Packers coach Mike Holmgren and current Green Bay GM Ted Thompson. He was the vice president of player personnel for the Redskins for one year, 2001, before returning to Green Bay.
His role in Seattle is unique. Unlike most general managers who get say over the coaching staff, Carroll was in place for a week before Schneider's hiring was made official.
But both Schneider and new coach Pete Carroll said they hit it off from their first meeting. The team will be built around Carroll's philosophy and Schneider agrees with that approach, Leiweke said.
"If someday there is a dispute between these guys, we're going to build a team around (Carroll) and the players. "We're going to build a team around the philosophy of this coach."
Leiweke also said that salary cap and contract will be under Schneider's control. Previously, Leiweke believed he'd have three positions atop Seattle's remodeled football operations: "a cap/contract door" for money and number crunching; a GM door that Schneider will sit behind; "and Pete will have his own, unique door."
Leiweke said his job will be to ensure collaboration.
"We wanted to create a team approach where we're unified in our goals," Leiweke said.