Seahawks replacement for Pete Carroll could be working for the Dallas Cowboys
By Lee Vowell
No disrespect to Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carrol here, but eventually he will need to be replaced. I say this not because Carroll is the oldest coach in the NFL, but simply because all head coaches get replaced at some point. Carroll has been the most successful coach in franchise history and he deserves to write his own ending.
But 12s have the right to wonder about the direction of the franchise. After all, fans pay all the bills for professional sports teams, right? We watch sports on TV or streaming, we pay for overpriced tickets and overpriced drinks and food at stadiums, and without fans, pro sports does not exist. Therefore, we have a right to interject our opinions about what might happen to our favorite teams.
While Seattle has been successful over the 14 seasons Carroll has been the head coach, the team did see digressing results from 2014 through 2020 and then the team went 7-10 in 2021 and missed the playoffs completely. The team exceeded expectations by going 9-8 in 2022, but this year might not go nearly as well.
Dan Quinn could be a natural replacement for the Seattle Seahawks and Pete Carroll
The problems for Seattle have somewhat stayed the same for the last several years even though coordinators have been replaced. Pete Carroll remains as head coach. Defensive problems on third down and giving up so many completions over the middle of the field have been the same from former defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. through Clint Hurtt.
While the quarterback has changed and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron appears to be an upgrade over former OC Brian Schottenheimer, the inconsistencies with when to run the ball and when to pass remain the same. The issue isn't that Pete Carroll wants to run the ball because sometimes the Seahawks simply don't run the ball enough, such as in Week 1 against the Rams. It would be odd if two consecutive offensive cordiantors had the same issue without there being some input from the head coach.
Carroll is the Vice President of Football Operations as well for the Seahawks and that's important. Most head coaches might retire or be fired and not have much say over the future of the team. Carroll could step down as head coach and he would still have input over how the team is run, just not the on-field activities. Therefore, it would make sense that once Pete Carroll does decide to step down - he is very unlikely to be terminated outright as he has been too successful for too long in Seattle - that he would be able to basically name his successor, possibly someone he has worked with previously.
Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has both been a head coach in the NFL and has worked with Carroll before. Quinn was the defensive coordinator for the Seahawks in 2013 and 2014. You remember those years, right, 12s? Seattle went to the Super Bowl years and had incredible defenses. Quinn then left to be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and led the Falcons to the Super Bowl before going through a few tough years and being terminated.
Quinn has been the Cowboys DC since 2021 and each of his three years the Cowboys have been in the top ten for scoring defense. They have also improved each year. Dan Quinn knows how to coach defensive football.
Seattle going with another defensive-minded head coach after Pete Carroll makes sense if Carroll has a say in who replaces him. Quinn has also chosen not to be interviewed for head coaching jobs recently. One would assume that if general manager John Schneider and Carroll called him to be the HC, however, Quinn would listen. And the Seattle Seahawks would be able to extend this run of being mostly successful for more than a decade if Dan Quinn were the next head coach in Seattle.