The Seattle Seahawks have had a very disappointing season in 2021, part due to injuries sustained by two of their best players. First, it was running back Chris Carson, who is now out for the season after playing in just four games. Then they lost superstar quarterback Russell Wilson for a quarter of the season that has them sitting on the outside looking in for an NFC playoff berth.
With little cap space and a lot of money tied up to Wilson, the changes must be made in other areas than free agency and the coaching staff may be on the chopping block. Head Coach Pete Carroll is the oldest head coach in the NFL and has been with the Seahawks for the past 12 years. If he were to get fired in Seattle it would be the first time a super-bowl-winning coach was run out of that town since Tom Coughlin was fired in New York in 2015. While he may end up being the scapegoat for the struggles of the entire Seattle organization, he is not completely without blame. So, if he does end up getting the ‘heave-ho” this off-season, these are the top four reasons that he would deserve it.
4. He does not run either side of the ball
In today's day and age of specialized football, you had better be above average at least on one side of the ball if you are going to contend. That usually comes in the form of the head coach, if the coach is a former offensive coordinator then the team usually takes an offensive identity. The same goes for a defensive coach. The problem for the Seahawks is that over the years, Carroll has come to no longer specialize in coaching either side of the ball. Pete is your typical “rah-rah” type of head coach that leads in large part by his inspirational speeches. That part of his “coaching game” has been fading as he has slowly aged away from the core of his team.
3. His coaching hires have been questionable
Carroll recently hired former Rams passing-game coordinator Shane Waldron to lead his offense out of the dark days and into the new age of passing football. Well, that hire has not worked out as Seattle's offense had regressed even before Wilson and Carson's injury. The writing was on the wall when the hiring happened if you really think about it. Waldron led a “passing attack” in Los Angeles that took Jared Goff from being a pro-bowl quarterback under Matt LaFleur to what he currently is…so maybe Waldron was not the right person to bring to Seattle after he had basically spent the past two years making Goff worse than he was before he got there.
2. He threw the ball on the goal line in the Super Bowl
This one is going to sting for Seahawks fans everywhere, but old memories sometimes have to be brought up if you are going to move into your future. The future probably does not include Carroll, but the past will always have him as a part of the good and the bad. The bad happened in Super Bowl 49 when the Seahawks had a chance to take a late lead and win the Super Bowl.
Instead of taking the easy one-yard rush into the endzone with running back Marshawn Lynch, Carroll decided to let Wilson throw the ball and the game…away. The pass was intercepted and the rest is history. Instead of two Super Bowl wins, the Seahawks are left with one win and one heartbreaking loss in the Pete Carroll era. That pass may have caused Carroll to start to not trust Wilson with the ball in his hands, leading to our last reason that Carroll should be fired…
1. He won't let Russell Wilson loose
With a generational talent like Russell Wilson and receivers in D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, the Seahawks have no excuse to not be throwing the ball 35 or more times every game…except Carroll won't allow it. His insane “commitment” to a run-game that is not even close to being his best weapon is just silly at times and at others, it's absolutely frustrating. In today's NFL, where teams are passing more than ever before, Carroll just seems like an old man that won't get with the times. Maybe it's time for him to head into retirement and only then we will truly see what the issue is in Seattle. It's either Pete, or it's Wilson…and firing Carroll may be the only way to find out.
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