INDIANAPOLIS — The devastating loss in Super Bowl XLIX was a learning experience for a team still primed for more title runs, and the Seattle Seahawks want running back Marshawn Lynch to remain a centerpiece of the offense as they forge ahead toward the 2015 season.

Those were the two main bullet points of coach Pete Carroll’s media session at the Scouting Combine on Friday. Just as he did in the moments after the 28-24 loss to the New England Patriots on Feb. 1, Carroll accepted responsibility for the outcome while expressing great optimism about the Seahawks’ future.

“As soon as the games are over, regardless of what the outcome is, we go back to business,” Carroll said. “We don’t let what happened affect our ability to move forward.

“We’re a very unique team for people to watch. They saw us win it all, and they saw us come so close again. What were we going to do then, what are we going to do now? Wait and see.

“How we respond, we’ll find out.”

Carroll knows challenges lie ahead in keeping the team’s loaded roster as intact as possible while addressing vulnerable areas. He believes the foundation is in place to remain among the league’s elite for several years.

“As an organization, well before the last game we were in this (offseason) process,” he said. “There are a lot of very trying, challenging decisions as there always is this time of year. There’s a lot going on here for us to learn from, to grow from.”

The front office may have charted its offseason course, but a major X-factor is the pending decision of running back Marshawn Lynch, who is taking time to decide whether he wants to return for another season. After a 2014 that included a holdout, reported issues with the front office and reports that he would be released following the season, Carroll and general manager John Schneider have made it clear they want Lynch back in the fold.

Lynch turns 29 in April, often known as the witching age for NFL lead backs, and dealt with a back injury much of last season. He is taking time to make a decision — one that the Seahawks are eagerly awaiting.

“I haven’t talked to Marshawn, but we have been in earnest for a great deal of time now to negotiate with Marshawn to get him back,” Carroll said. “It’s been an ongoing, long process and we have had big offers out and we continue to work with that and we are excited about the future.

“He has been an integral part of our program for five years and loved the contribution he has brought. He has been a great character in our program and all of that, so we are excited to move ahead. We would really like to move at that swiftly. It’s such a big deal as it has always been to get our lead players intact, so we are working at that now.”

One thing that will certainly change in 2015 is the face of the rivalry with the San Francisco 49ers. After years of contentious battles in college and the NFL, Carroll said he is going to miss squaring off against Jim Harbaugh, who parted ways with the 49ers and took over the program at the University of Michigan.

“I thought he was a great competitor. He brought the best out of us,” Carroll said of Harbaugh. I think the world of his coaching ability, and I like it when it’s tough, and he could make it that way. I think he’s going to kick butt at Michigan, and I’m really anxious to watch.”

Plenty of contentious games lie ahead for Carroll, as the two-time defending NFC champions are the early betting favorites for Super Bowl 50 and will enter the 2015 season prepared to get the best from every opponent.

That is why Carroll has quickly flipped the page from the loss to the Patriots and turned it into a rallying force moving forward.

“We shared the experience with the world. We’re not into this world of blaming,” he said. “(The loss) has already been dealt with and it’s time to move; we’re moving. We’re charging forward. We feel like we’re just in the middle of everything.

“I don’t know how it’s going to start, I don’t know what it’s going to end up as, but I know how we’re going to go about it.”

–Carroll said safety Kam Chancellor (knee) and cornerback Richard Sherman (elbow) will not need offseason surgery, and tight end Zach Miller is recovering well from his second ankle surgery and on track to return next season.