Since their foundation in 1976, the Seattle Seahawks have had only eight coaches. Two of those only lasted one season each which makes for slim pickings when ranking the best coaches in franchise history.
Still, the Seahawks‘ history is one of ups and downs and as a result, so is the team's story when it comes to coaches.
5. Jack Patera
When a team doesn't have the greatest coaching history, someone like Jack Patera makes their top-five list. Patera had an abysmal winning percentage of 37.2 in just over six seasons as the Seahawks' head coach but his 35 career wins put him fourth all-time for the franchise.
As the team's first head coach, Patera started his career off with an awful 2-12 season. While Patera did manage a pair of 9-7 seasons in the late 1970s, neither were enough to make the postseason or enough to boost him any higher on this list.
4. Dennis Erickson
The second Seahawks coach on this list with more losses than wins with the franchise, Erickson only lasted four seasons in Seattle. The one word to describe the Erickson-led Seahawks would be “average.”
The team went 8-8 in three of the four seasons of Erickson's tenure, with the one outlier being a 7-9 season in 1996. Like Patera, Erickson was never able to bring the team to the postseason.
3. Chuck Knox
Knox is an NFL coaching legend. He enjoyed a 22-year head coaching career that saw him earn the Associated Press' Coach of the Year award three different times. Knox spent nine seasons with Seattle, from 1983 until 1991.
During that time, the team certainly saw a lot more success than they did in the Patera era, as they went 80-63 during Knox's tenure.
The Seahawks made the playoffs four times under Knox and never finished worse than 7-9. Knox was also able to lead the team to their first conference championship in only his first season as head coach. Additionally, Seattle had its first double-digit win season when the team finished 12-4 in 1984.
2. Mike Holmgren
The team's coach from 1999 until 2008, Holmgren transformed the Seahawks into a perennial playoff contender in the mid-2000s.
Under Holmgren and with stars such as Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander, Seattle would make five-straight playoff appearance.
Holmgren also brought the team to their first Super Bowl in 2005. However, the Seahawks, who finished that season with a franchise-best 13-3 record, would fall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Still, Holmgren deserves a lot of credit for making Seattle a respectable franchise.
1. Pete Carroll
One of the best head coaches in the league today, Carroll's arrival in Seattle has done wonders for the franchise. Obviously, the former USC coach has brought the team their first-ever championship, and nearly another a year later.
After two mediocre years to start his career, Carroll has led the Seahawks to 10 or more wins more often than not even though he has had to deal with plenty of injuries and, recently, a sub-par offensive line.
Obviously, the arrival of superstar quarterback Russell Wilson has helped Carroll. But nowadays, the Seahawks are consistent contenders in the NFC which isn't something most of the other coaches in franchise history can say. This clearly makes him the best man to lead Seattle in franchise history.
Follow Us
Subscribe