Why Pete Carroll dynamited the Seahawks staff
Many 12s hoped that Pete Carroll would make a few changes in the Seahawks staff. Almost all of the coaching staff has been replaced. Why?
Let’s start with exactly who got walking papers from Pete Carroll. The Seahawks said goodbye to, well, practically everyone but the waterboy. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see Darrell Bevell and Tom Cable go. Both men had been blamed for the Seahawks foundering offense for the past two seasons. There were certainly complications, namely losing about 37 running backs and 28 offensive linemen to injury. Regardless, the offense severely underperformed. Even Marshawn Lynch got tired of it, right?
So no surprises there. When you have one of the league’s best quarterbacks and your offense is still mediocre, there’s a problem. Russell Wilson set several records, and yet the offense didn’t crack the top ten. It makes sense to make changes on the offensive staff.
The big surprise was that Pete Carroll exploded his defensive staff, too. It’s true that the Legion of Boom had its worst performance in the Pete Carroll era. It’s also true that injuries were far worse on the defensive side of the ball. Between them, Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman, and Cliff Avril missed 26 games.
Pete Carroll saw problems before the injuries
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The injuries certainly didn’t help. However, the defense wasn’t up to LOB standards even before they lost star players. The Titans ran for 2,000 yards, after all. Okay, it was actually 195 yards. It sure felt like 2,000 for everyone watching. Time and again, the Seahawks missed tackles. In the past, the LOB made their bones on punishing tackles, not whiffs. The injuries only compounded the missed tackles and excessive penalties.
I believe Pete Carroll did some soul-searching on the Seahawks behalf, and didn’t see much soul left. His dominating style of offense hadn’t been seen in two years. The punishing defense that had become the Seahawks trademark just wasn’t there as often. The late season swoon that saw them lose three of their last four didn’t help anyone keep their job. Frankly, I think Pete had already made up his mind after the Rams debacle. That was the most un-Seahawks game since Pete Carroll arrived in Seattle.
Pete clearly felt it was time to go back to the future with his hires. In comes Brian Schottenheimer, a run-first coordinator with a bit of a quarterback whisperer rep. There’s plenty of controversy on whether he’s the right hire or not, but he fits Pete’s comfort zone perfectly. On the defensive side, Ken Norton Jr. arrives to put the Boom back into the game. At least, that’s the plan. It’s still a matter of debate which Ken Norton are getting. Regardless, he certainly fits into Carroll’s comfort zone, even more so than Schottenheimer.
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Were these hires and all that followed the right moves? Only time will tell.