RENTON, Washington – Pete Carroll is out after 14 seasons as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, who was responsible for two NFC championships and the only Super Bowl title in franchise history during his long tenure.
The 72-year-old coach is moving into an advisory role with the organization, according to a statement from owner Jody Allen on Wednesday. But it’s clear that Carroll wanted to remain in his role for more than a decade.
“As you know, I competed very hard to be a coach,” Carroll said during an emotional farewell news conference. “I just wanted to make sure I stood up for all of our coaches and players and the things that we have accomplished. Not just so we can still coach, but so that we continue to have an opportunity to be successful and keep the organization running. This is what I was fighting for.”
Filling the auditorium with the entire campus staff, assistant coaches and some current players, Carroll spoke through tears and laughter for more than 30 minutes about a tenure that will be difficult for any future coach to rival. It will be difficult for.
“I am thrilled that we have won this race. I am indeed. The level of consistency we have shown is such that it makes you proud, Carroll said.
Seattle concluded the regular season with a 21–20 win at Arizona on Sunday. The Seahawks entered the final two weeks of the regular season with a chance to reach the playoffs for the 11th time under Carroll, but Seattle needed help after a Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh that ended the season. ,
Carroll would leave as the most successful coach in franchise history, but with an unsatisfactory conclusion after several seasons of mediocre results. He will always be lauded as the first coach to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Seattle with a Super Bowl 48 victory over Denver.
But Carroll never fully recovered from what happened with Russell Wilson’s goal line interception in the final seconds in the Super Bowl a year later, and Seattle never experienced another title similar to what happened in Super Bowl 49. To wash away his memories.
Carroll stepped up to a 137–69–1 record in the regular season during his time with the Seahawks. He led Seattle to five NFC West titles and 10 playoff victories.
But the Seahawks stagnated toward the end of Carroll’s time there. Seattle finished with a losing record in 2021, missed the playoffs in 2022 at 9-8 and was unable to make the leap expected to more contenders in the NFC West this season.
In Week 18, Carroll herself seemed disappointed with how the season had gone.
“We have a lot of work to do, but the outlook for the future is very positive, because of the makeup of the people, the way they want to work, the way they go about it,” Carroll said.
However, Seattle’s future will be under the watch of a different coach.
Despite the lackluster final chapter, Carroll’s tenure in Seattle would be viewed as the most successful since the franchise’s arrival in 1976. He introduced a player-friendly environment to allow personalities to show within the defined structure of his system. Carroll promoted the competition but also made it fun.
For example, the Seahawks flourished under Carroll with the personalities of Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman. They drafted Wilson in the third round and watched him help the team win a Super Bowl in his second season. Known for his defensive mind, Carroll built a defense that was the best of its era for several seasons and was the foundation of back-to-back teams that won NFC titles.
But Super Bowl 49 was a turning point from which the Seahawks never really recovered. Wilson’s pass that was intercepted by Malcolm Butler gave New England a 28–24 victory, ultimately revealing the core that carried Seattle to those championship games. Even though Carroll tried several different reboots, the Seahawks never again found that level of talent and chemistry to create a juggernaut of a team.
Seattle has never advanced beyond the divisional round of the playoffs since a previous Super Bowl trip and has been eliminated from the postseason in the wild-card round in three of the last four postseason appearances.
Questions will immediately turn to Carroll’s replacement and whether the Seattle Seahawks try to stay within the family tree or bring in a new voice to work with general manager John Schneider. This would be the first time that Schneider would have complete control over personnel since Carroll arrived at the same time.
Seattle is currently the seventh NFL team looking for a new coach, joining Tennessee, Atlanta and Washington who have fired coaches since the regular season ended. The Raiders, Chargers and Panthers didn’t wait for the season to end before firing coaches.
NFL teams cannot begin in-person interviews until after the divisional round, as owners voted to push them back a week in October to try to slow down the recruiting process and increase diversity in hiring. They cannot interview head coaching candidates employed by other NFL teams until Tuesday or Wednesday after their assignment is complete or the team has received a playoff bye. Teams can start virtual interviews.
Any internal candidate or someone who is not currently employed by the NFL may interview in person.
