Could this really be the last year for Pete Carroll? Say it ain’t so!
Rumors are swirling that Pete Carroll, the NFL’s oldest head coach, may consider retirement at the end of the season. Could it be true?
First, I really hope this doesn’t happen. Pete Carroll is easily one of the best coaches in the league. More on that in a bit. Second, I didn’t create this scenario for clickbait. This originated from Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback. That’s MMQB to the cognoscenti.
Yesterday, Albert Breer posted an excellent wrap-up of the possibilities of Black Monday. Black Monday, not known as BM although it might be thought of that way to its victims, is the day after the end of the regular season. That’s the day bad coaches get canned – unless their name is Jeff Fisher, in which case they get fired years too late, yet weeks earlier than anyone else.
Back to the upcoming possibilities. Breer muses over the likely heads on the block. John Fox, Marvin Lewis and Chuck Pagano are a few of the very likely gentlemen that are packing up the office this weekend, to the shock of absolutely no one.
What was shocking was the inclusion of one Peter Clay Carroll in the “It’s Complicated” section. Here, read it for yourself:
"• Seattle Seahawks: Crazy? Maybe. But with the future of several big defensive stars in question, and a possible overhaul of the roster coming, could Pete Carroll, 66, retire to southern California? It’s not the wildest idea out there."
More from 12th Man Rising
- 4 prospects Seahawks could reach for at No. 20 in 2023 NFL Draft
- Seattle Seahawks Mock Draft: Post-first wave of free agency
- Seahawks podcast: A review of the first week of free agency
- 4 experiments the Seattle Seahawks could cut short in 2023
- 3 pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks drafting Anthony Richardson
Pete Carroll is a darn good football coach
Before we get to the likelihood of this, let’s take a deeper look at Pete Carroll’s record with the Seahawks. Pete’s 79-47 (and yes, that damned one tie) in his eight years in Seattle. A win Sunday would give him exactly a 10 win average season. Right now, he has a .626 winning percentage with the Hawks. He’s 9-5 in the playoffs with one Super Bowl win. Yes I know, it should have been two. The Seahawks average rank in the NFC West under Carroll is 1.6.
Is that better than Bill Belichick? No, of course not. Pete doesn’t have the video budget of the Patriots, so it isn’t a fair comparison. Kidding… mostly. Belichick is obviously one of the best coaches ever. But Carroll’s record does stand up to any other current coach. Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Mike Tomlin – Pete’s as good as any of them, if not better.
Back to his possible departure. On the face of it, it really isn’t that far-fetched. After all, the Seahawks are facing the possible forced retirement of two defensive stars, Cliff Avril and Kam Chancellor. Even if both are healthy enough to come back, Seattle is facing some serious contract decisions. Paul Richardson could cost a pretty big chunk of money alone, and he’s far from the Seahawks best player. So it might not be a bad time to retire after all.
All things considered, Sunday’s game really might be Pete Carroll’s last as the head coach of his beloved Seahawks. I think he continually looks for the next big challenge. It’s clear that 2018 could be his biggest challenge since he first came to Seattle. I think he can’t wait to meet it.