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Head coach Pete Carroll is struggling in the latter part of his coaching career with the Seattle Seahawks. The future Hall of Fame coach has overseen the recent decline of the Seahawks defense and many report that his traditional principles on how the game should be played have held the team back offensively for years.
Despite these fireable offenses, coach Pete Carroll is not on the hot seat and won’t be this season. Coach Carroll has achieved and done too much for the Seahawks to fire him and will also not walk away from the job. The Seahawks are trapped.
The Seahawks are still contenders, but for how long? As the team continues to falter each year by missing the playoffs, it is safe to ask whether or not Pete Carroll is the coach to take the Seahawks back to the lifting Lombardi's?
What Pete Carroll brings to the table
Pete Carroll has many factors working for him: a franchise quarterback in his prime in Russell Wilson, a general manager who finds talent in later rounds, and one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL. He also has a large say in front office dealings.
With these advantages in place, the Seahawks enter every season well-positioned to make a run at a Super Bowl.
Pete Carroll's problems
The NFC West has improved dramatically over the last few years, as the division is filled with young, ambitious coaches and quality quarterbacks.
Another weakness for Pete Carroll is that his vaunted defenses have been getting diced by passing offenses ever since holding the Colts to 16 in the opener. The Seahawks really needed coach Carroll’s defense to make the leap this year if they were to separate from their division rivals.
Coach Pete Carroll needs to rediscover his mojo as a player evaluator and motivator if the Seahawks are to get back to being a title contender. Currently, the Seahawks solely have a star quarterback and a porous defense in what many consider to be the hardest division in the NFL.
The last problem facing coach Pete Carroll is the clear break down between him and star QB Russell Wilson. As Wilson ascended to MVP status coach, Carroll has sharply declined. The QB made his complaints public this offseason and put out a list of favorable trade situations. If the push came to shove, coach Carroll should know the Seahawks will choose a QB in their prime over a head coach declining sharply.
The Future Of The Seattle Seahawks
If Pete Carroll were to perhaps step aside from coaching and focus on things behind the scenes like player personnel, they may see an improvement on the field. Despite his accolades, Pete Carroll is 70 years old and is likely to be close to the end of his coaching career. Unless he manages to kickstart a rare 2nd prime e.g. Belichick 03-08, Belichick 14 -18, the Seahawks will always be major playoff contenders and never actual Super Bowl contenders.
Very few coaches build a great team that lasts for at least a decade. Even other Hall Of Fame coaches are struggling to rebuild e.g. Belichick right now. Pete Carroll built one amazing team, had an amazing five-year run with it, saw it first hand break down and is now rebuilding it back up. Sadly Russell Wilson’s prime is during Pete Carroll’s defensive rebuild. The star QB won’t enjoy wasting prime years away as Pete Carroll tries to take the defense from average to great again.
The end result will either be Pete Carroll building another great defense, kicking off another 5-year true contender run and Russell Wilson retires a Seahawk. Or like many other great coaches, Pete Carroll fails to build that second great team, Russell Wilson demands a trade after getting tired of constantly carrying the franchise and Pete Carroll starts another rebuild centered around the assets from a Russell Wilson trade.
