The Seattle Seahawks will no longer have Pete Carroll as their head coach moving forward. This is not breaking news, of course. The news broke last week.
But the question about "why" Carroll is no longer the coach is still being answered. That answer is not simple. Sure, the team missed the playoffs in two of the last three years, but the team had a winning record this year. Mediocrity, though, is a worse place to be in professional sports than simply being bad.
Geno Smith is not on the list of Seahawks that follow as a guy who should feel guilty that he let Carroll and the team down in 2023. Smith wasn't perfect this year, but he also wasn't one of the bigger reasons the team struggled at times. The following four members of the organization should feel bad about Pete Carroll being fired, however.
Dre'Mont Jones needs to feel guilty about Pete Carroll
Jones simply stole money from Seattle this year. He was signed last offseason as the most expensive free agent general manager John Schneider had ever signed. Jones had a cap hit of $10,056,666 in 2023 and that goes higher over the next two years. But Jones not only did not finish near the NFL lead in some key statistical categories, but he was just fourth on the Seahawks in sacks (4.5) this year, and ninth in tackles for loss (5). Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Jones 55 among all interior defenders this year.
But while Schneider can also be blamed for the signing of Jones, we have also learned in the last week that Pete Carrol had final word over all roster moves. Carroll likely saw more in Jones than other teams as Jones chose to take Seattle's money over all other teams. Jones failed to perform and this was one reason the defensive line underwhelmed.
There is perhaps no bigger roster reason that Pete Carroll is no longer the coach with the Seahawks than simply how bad the defense line was, especially against the run. Schneider and whoever the new Seahawks coach ends up being could save almost $5 million in 2024 cap room if they release Jones. They should make that move.
Jamal Adams should feel guilty about Seattle Seahawks firing Pete Carroll
This is the low-hanging fruit. And this is not because Adams was terrible in coverage once again, failed to provide consistent quarterback pressure once again, and missed more of his tackles this season than almost ever before. All that is true, and while Adams should feel guilty about his play because of all that, that shouldn't be his main reason for having a picture of Pete Carroll in his house and every day passing by that photo and apologizing to Carroll.
There were three off-field issues Adams had this season that gave us an indication that Carroll had lost control of the team. The first was in Week 4 and in Adams' first game back since Week 1 of the 2022 season. Adams suffered a concussion and rightfully was taken off the field, but once confirmed to be concussed, he screamed at the unaffiliated doctor who had diagnosed him while still on the sidelines. Carroll should have had someone run over to Adams and told him to shut up but Carroll simply, and unfortunately, is not that guy.
There was a second off-field issue with Adams that involved in him classlessly tweeting out a photo of a New York Jets reporter's wife in a social media squabble with the reporter. That certainly was not a team-first attitude and that is a mantra Pete Carroll preaches. Adams did not seem to care, though.
Lastly, and the worst offense, is that after learning he would not be playing in Week 15 against the Philadelphia Eagles, instead of staying at the stadium to root for his teammates, Adams simply went home or stayed at home. This appeared to be allowed by Pete Carroll, however. There is no bigger sign a coach has lost his team than having a player decide to go home (or stay home) than to stay or be at the stadium when his team is playing.
Clint Hurtt should feel guilty about Pete Carroll
Clint Hurtt has been with the Seattle Seahawks since 2017 and he worked his way up from being the defensive line coach to defensive coordinator. Hurtt became DC in 2022 after Pete Carroll finally fired Ken Norton, Jr. Norton had been the Seahawks DC for four seasons and the team was not good defensively in that time.
But Hurtt did not improve the defense. Any coordinator who has never been a coordinator before should be expected to greatly improve from year one to year two on the job. This is especially true since the Seahawks appear to have added more talent last offseason. Seattle drafted cornerback Devon Witherspoon (who made the Pro Bowl as a rookie), brought back linebacker Bobby Wagner, and traded for defensive lineman Leonard Williams.
Yet over the last 12 games of the season, Seattle's defense ranked dead last in yards allowed per rush and yards allowed rushing per game. Seattle was like the great example of an aging boxer who could see a punch coming but could do nothing to stop from being hit. The Seahawks knew the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17 and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18 were going to rush the ball and yet Seattle could not stop it.
Carroll is at fault for elevating Hurtt to defensive coordinator, of course, but Hurtt should have the know-how and experience to make the defense good. He could not. Hopefully, whoever the next head coach for the Seahawks does not choose to retain Hurtt in any position.
DK Metcalf should feel guilty about Pete Carroll
First of all, I should say that I like DK Metcalf. Maybe he becomes a different person on the field, but off the field, he is effervescent with a quick smile and does not seem to get into any legal issues. If you knew him during his rookie season, he likely would have shared some of his candy with you, but he appears to have moved on from eating so many sweets.
On the field, though, he had a habit of drawing too many 15-yard penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct, unnecessary roughness, and others of the same ilk. From 2020 through this season, Metcalf drew more penalities of that kind than any other player and the number is not close. Metcalf simply appears to lose control of himself and opponents know that and try to get Metcalf to react in hopes of getting a flag.
While Metcalf did get better with not costing his team 15 yards on penalties as 2023 drew on, something he said earlier in the year likely proved that Pete Carroll had either lost, or was losing, the team. Clearly, Seahawks management would have noticed Carroll trying to call out, somewhat passive-aggressively, Metcalf for his penalties and Metcalf saying, "So what?"
After Carroll had a meeting with the team that included having players' names with how many penalties they had picked up, Metcalf dismissed the attempt to get his behavior corrected. Metcalf said, "I'm not going to shy away because he put a penalty board on the screen. I'm just going to continue to be me." Ouch.