4 mistakes Seattle Seahawks cannot afford to make in 2024
By Lee Vowell
The Seattle Seahawks are facing an uncertain offseason, but one that also might be extremely productive. The team let go of Pete Carroll after the season. Carroll was a great coach for many years but eventually, all tendencies are discoverable by other teams and used against a coach. There is likely a good reason third-down offense and third-down defense have been an issue from coordinator to coordinator while the head coach remained the same.
This offseason could go all wrong, of course. General manager John Schneider has never been fully in control of a roster and now he is. Schneider has also not had to choose a head coach with the Seahawks and now he will be.
But here are four major mistakes the Seahawks cannot make. (Unless, of course, the team suddenly releases Michael Dickson, of course. That would be an awful mistake.)
Seattle Seahawks cannot afford to make the wrong coaching hire
I will start with the low-hanging fruit. Seattle needs to make a smart coaching hire to replace Pete Carroll and that does not take any brains to know. That does not make untrue the fact that the Seahawks cannot risk hiring a coach who doesn't work out and has to be let go in a couple of years. That would mean moving on from Carroll didn't just risk the next year or two with a new coach, but most of the next decade could be bad with a poor hire.
The issue is there is no guarantee that anyone the Seahawks hire will work out well. Dan Quinn has seemingly lost some of his luster after his Dallas Cowboys defense had a complete meltdown in the playoffs against the Green Bay Packers. And yes, Quinn was fired by the Atlanta Falcons in 2020 as their head coach, but Quinn also had coach Atlanta since 2015, made the playoffs twice and went to one Super Bowl.
Should Seattle go with with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, either coach might work out but they are bigger risks than even Quinn because neither has NFL head coaching experience. They both know how to do their specific jobs well enough, but overseeing an entire team is completely different. Seattle needs to hire a head coach and then just hope for the best, it seems.