The Seahawks have been really good under Pete Carroll since he arrived in 2010. But that time has not been without several mistakes. In fact, some mistakes might have kept Seattle from being even better in future years.
Let me be clear, though, I am not a Pete hater. I am glad he is the coach and Vice President of Football Operations for the Seahawks, Seattle is better over the last decade because he is involved in the organization.
But his mistakes still need to be addressed. And what follows are his five worst. (And no, none of these involve his questionable time management or questionable challenge calls in hopes of getting some penalties reversed.)
Pete Carroll’s worst mistakes in his Seahawks coaching career
Number five: Drafting Rashaad Penny in the first round
Rashaad Penny might still have tons of talent but he was a reach to take in the first round in 2018. Yes, he was explosive in college and projected to be a good pro but no other team was going to take him in the first round and Seattle traded down to get him. Penny would have been around in the second round and Seattle could have traded back again and picked up picks instead of Penny.
Of course, Pete Carroll couples with John Schneider to create the Seahawks roster but while Schneider has possibly more control over free-agent signings, Carroll has at least as much control over draft choices.
Penny so far has been a bust. He does have a 5.1 yards per carry average over his first three years, but he has only played in 27 games (on average, 9 a season) and run the ball 161 times. For comparison, Chris Carson was underutilized last year and in 12 games still had 141 carries.
Maybe Penny will do a 180 and be good this year and healthy. But the Seahawks have already declined his fifth-year option for 2022 so he will likely be playing elsewhere next year.
Number four: Letting Richard Sherman walk away
I know. I remember just as much as you do, fellow 12s, that Richard Sherman was way too vocal on the sidelines in his criticism of the Seahawks offense at the end of his tenure. But here is the thing. He was right! Seattle’s offense was not going in a good direction and Pete Carroll actually replaced the offensive coordinator after the 2017 season.
Maybe Sherman was going to be really expensive in the coming years but he was also under contract for the 2018 season. Seattle released him while still under contract and Sherman ended up signing with the San Francisco 49ers. While with the 49ers, Sherman (who still lives in the Seattle area, mind you), was a Pro Bowler in 2019.
Part of the thinking behind releasing Sherman was Shaquill Griffin was ready to become the number one corner and take over Sherman’s position. Griffin wasn’t and wasn’t very good in 2018 (he has the worst grade of any NFL corner in 2018, per Pro Football Focus). Seattle would have been better off keeping Sherman and having Griffin hold down the other outside corner spot.
Richard Sherman is once again a free agent and Seattle would be wise to bring him back. That is unlikely to happen but having Sherman return would partly fix an error made in 2018.
Number three: Letting Kris Richard go
Kris Richard was the Seahawks defensive coordinator for three seasons. In his first season of 2015, Seattle ranked first in points allowed. In his second year, Seattle was third. In 2017, the Seahawks ranked 13th. So yes, there was a bit of digression for Seattle’s defense after the historically great seasons of 2012 through 2015.
Still, 13th in points allowed is not bad. And there were a lot of reasons for Seattle going from first to 13th. One was that Seattle’s defense was starting to get a bit old and starting to suffer injuries. Kam Chancellor never played again after week 10’s injury. Richard Sherman was never a Seahawk again after his week 10 injury.
After those injuries, Seattle went 3-4. Seattle gave up 26 or more points four times in those games. Before week 11, Seattle gave up exactly 26 points or more just once. The problem wasn’t Richard, it was good players getting hurt.
After letting Richard go, Pete Carroll brought in Ken Norton, Jr. Norton, Jr. is still the Seahawks defensive coordinator. Seattle ranked 11th in points allowed in 2018, 22nd in 2019 and 15th in 2020.
Richard was beloved by his players and knew Pete Carroll’s system really well. Firing Kris Richard was a huge mistake by Pete Carroll.
Drafting Malik McDowell
It’s weird in a way that a second round draft pick could set a team back so far. But then, this is the Seahawks. Seattle is a team that likes to trade down in the draft (or was a team that did that prior to the last couple of years). Seattle got cute in 2017, not just by selecting McDowell who was a guess at how good and disciplined (he interviewed horribly at the NFL combine) he would be but by trading down to get him.
Seattle could have done so much better. Now the Seahawks have Duane Brown at left tackle and he is very good but also getting very old for an NFL player. Seattle could have taken Ryan Ramczyk in the first round and he would have been a longer-term answer to protect Russell Wilson’s blindside than Brown will be. Plus, Ramczyk will likely end his career by being just as good as Brown.
Seattle choosing McDowell led to possibly the trade of Brown which cost Seattle a second round draft pick in 2019. The Seahawks also lost Jeremy Lane and a fifth round pick in 2018 in the deal. Seattle needed to make up draft capital which basically led to Seattle trading away defensive end Frank Clark in 2019.
Clark is really good. Ramczyk is really good. McDowell will never play for the Seahawks and might never play in the NFL at all. Seattle is a good team. They would be better having never drafted Malik McDowell.
Not giving the ball to Marshawn Lynch in Super Bowl XLIX
There were several stages that went into the call that could have won the Seahawks their second straight Super Bowl but didn’t. Then-offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell called the play. Instead of handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch, which even if he had not scored on second down would have eaten clock and forced the Patriots to call a timeout near the end of Super Bowl XLIX, Seattle called a pass play.
Pete Carroll could have overruled the play call. Even Russell Wilson could have called timeout and been like, “What? No.” But neither did and so the play proceeded.
Bevell took a gamble as inside the 5-yard line slant patterns had scored most of the time in the regular season of 2014. But this was the Super Bowl and this was no time to play games. The Patriots would not have stopped Marshawn Lynch three straight times. He had just gained five yards on first and goal from the 8-yard line.
Pete Carroll should have heard the call from Bevell and known better and changed the call. Yes, Bevell was playing the angles of modern-day statistics but Carroll normally coaches a different, old-school way. Carroll not changing the call, which he had a right to do as head coach, changed the outcome and changed the fortunes of future Seahawks seasons.