3 pros and 2 cons to the Seahawks moving on from Pete Carroll

It feels a little odd to write the Seattle Seahawks have fired Pete Carroll. I mean, yeah, but they fired him by moving him upstairs. Time will tell exactly what his role as an advisor will entail, or if he'll even stay with the organization. I can think of a few reasons this was the right move and why it was the wrong one.

Looks like Jody Allen won't have Pete Carroll to kick around anymore. Okay, she never did, plus she wants him to stay with the organization. Doesn't seem like it was a very acrimonious split, does it? Whether this was the right move at the right time poses a more difficult question. Should the Seahawks have parted ways with their head coach or not?

There are literally dozens of questions this creates. The biggest is naturally this: who will be the next head coach? To answer that we need to decide what kind of team John Schneider wants to build. We may get the answer to that question from Schneider himself in the next few days. Or we'll discover that for ourselves by who he brings in for interviews. But for now, let's look at the first: did Seattle make the right decision to move on from Pete Carroll?

Why the Seattle Seahawks made the right choice

The record: One reason you could say that they made the right call is the oldest: scoreboard. Over the past three seasons, the Seahawks record was 7-10, 9-8, and 9-8. They only made the playoffs once in that stretch and were summarily dispatched by their division rivals, the 49ers. They'd been much more successful in the three years prior (2018-2020), going 33-15 overall and making the playoffs each year. Yet they had just one division title and one postseason win to show for it. In fact, that sole playoff win was their only one since 2016.

The drafts: It's important to remember that Pete Carroll wasn't just the head coach of the Seahawks. He was also named the executive vice president of football, and so had final say on all personnel decisions. Most speculation about the team's drafts was that Carroll was the more conservative of the pair. Schneider would advocate for the bold move, while the old football coach would argue for the safer prospect.

Seattle's first picks from 2016 through 2019 were less than spectacular. Most insiders - not me; believe me, I barely qualify as an outsider - argue that the last two drafts had more of John's input than Pete's. If so, then giving Schneider complete control will be another big step up for the Seahawks. After all, Carroll himself said it was time for John to run the show.