Seattle Seahawks: 5 coaches who could be Pete Carroll’s replacement

2. Kris Richard

If a coaching “tree” were a real thing, Pete Carroll’s biggest, and longest branch would be Kris Richard. Richard played for Carroll at USC as a defensive back (Carroll’s former position) before later being hired as a graduate assistant by Carroll at his alma mater. Pete then took Richard with him up the coast to Seattle where he was assigned to be the assistant defensive backs coach.

Richard was promoted, then promoted again, and then again as he became the DC taking over for Dan Quinn. In terms of DVOA among most other stats, Richard’s defense’s got worse and worse in his three seasons before he was fired. His departure had a feel of Carroll loved him, but a change had to be made.

The defense was not entirely Richard’s fault either, as players got older, some key pieces left the team to make room for Wilson’s salary, and there were some injuries as well. The Legion of Boom also broke up directly after Richard’s firing, with Richard Sherman calling the firing “odd” and leaving for the 49ers.

Richard moved on to become a key assistant on the Cowboys defense until this offseason when he was fired along with pretty much everybody else on the Dallas coaching staff. He even garnered “interest” as a head coach from the Giants who interviewed him for the vacant position, but many called it a Rooney Rule move and nothing else.

The way Richard finds himself at number two on this list is that he’s on the market, and the connections to the Seahawks and Carroll are plentiful. Surely Carroll would plead with the front office to give Richard a second chance to come back in some capacity the next few years, whether DB coach or defensive coordinator.

Or maybe Richard goes a different route and makes his way up a different team’s coaching totem pole, before becoming a prominent head coaching candidate in a few years. If either of these things happens, I would almost guarantee that Richard gets an interview request from the Seahawks at least, and maybe even an offer carry on Pete Carroll’s legacy.