Few football coaches are capable of dominating both college and the NFL. Jimmy Johnson managed to do that, but he also ran so hot that it burned his relationship with Jerry Jones and he eventually completely burned out as coach after a few seasons with the Miami Dolphins. Pete Carroll has spent much of the last 20 years at the top of football, regardless of the level he was coaching.
This is over.
THE Seattle Seahawks announced Wednesday that Carroll will no longer be their head coach. According to a statement from franchise owner Jody Allen, his decision to extend the position was mutual and amicable. He will remain with the franchise in an advisory role.
The Seahawks finished the 2023 season with a 9-8 record. They only have one season with a losing record since 2012. By the time Russell Wilson was traded in the spring of 2022, the Legion of Boom era was long gone. Yet, Carroll still managed to work with young talent in Seattle to keep the team competitive and the 12 roaring into the stadium.
At 72, he decided to hang up his helmet and the Air Monarchs. He will leave football with a full national championship in 2004 – the NCAA can revoke the title from its record book, but it can’t take the ring – and a partial championship in 2003. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl during the 2013 season by shattering the Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 55 touchdowns like a snow globe in a 43-8 victory.
Decades of championship-level football, and Carroll has always done it in style. He helped USC players become Hollywood stars. They mixed with the best performers of the era and only lost nine matches between 2002 and 2008. Forget a movie premiere, the LA Coliseum was the place to be in those days.
The Seahawks had never moved the needle before his arrival. Their 2005 team went 13-3 and played in one of the most unforgettable Super Bowls of all time, in a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. As the NFL shifted to a more pass-first league, the Seahawks won primarily on defense and a strong running game. This team gained national notoriety with these players as spokespeople. Russell Wilson didn’t hit kids with footballs Saturday Night Live. Richard Sherman turned on Skip Bayless on First takeand Marshawn Lynch was the main spokesperson for Skittles.
While Carroll comes from the old school – his early years as an NFL assistant he worked for Bud Grant. Minnesota Vikings – that was never his style. He is not the stereotypical disciplinarian type of coach like many his age. He’s a fist-pumping, high-fives guy who also allows the team to take charge of the players’ personalities. The Trojans were very different from the Seahawks, but they both won.
Carroll has his faults. Former Seahawks claim he treated Wilson with gloves for children at the beginning of his career. Additionally, the moment when Carroll invited Jordan Peterson to speak to the team was both strange and offensive.
He always coached his way, whether he received praise or criticism, and he received plenty of both. Carroll is one of the only three football coaches to win a Div. 1-A/FBS championship and a Super Bowl. One day he will be inducted into the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame, because while he is not a typical football coach, he was certainly one of the best.
