Pete's time has come and gone. I'm thankful for what Pete has brought us, he created a juggernaut like none other that we've ever seen here in Seattle. He created a historically good team that will forever be talked about. His 2013 team was this generations 1985 Bears. These were the best of times, but nothing gold stays forever. Seahawk fans are desperately clinging to the past glory with Pete, unaware what is transpiring before them. The game has past Pete by, time has left the Seahawks, and Pete Carroll clinging to a past that will never be resurrected by Pete Carroll.
When Pete Carroll came into the Seahawks he had several things working for him. The first of which is he had a system that utilized players that others did not value. This allowed Carroll to get good value on players such as Richard Sherman, Browner, and Kam Chancellor. Nobody was looking at the big corners, and LB/S tweeners such as Chancellor. They were considered fringe NFL players. Carroll's system was able to take full advantage of these types of players. He used a tweaked version of cover 2 and 4-3 under that utilized a lot of press and a uniquely talented safety to make sure plays didn't get behind the defense. This is how he was able to get max value on many of his draft picks, and turn guys who were considered too big/stiff to play corner into stars.
Unfortunately, with success comes others who look to emulated that success. Teams started taking big corners and utilizing the same concepts that made the Seahawks so great. Former defensive coordinators and assistants got poached by other teams and they implemented the same defense. This means the player pool for our potential defensive players got much smaller. It became much harder to get good depth, and find the value that defined the Pete Carroll era. Our QB that was making 750k suddenly came up for a second contract. Furthermore teams learned how to counter this defense.
In many ways Pete Carroll is facing many of the same problems that the 85 Bears faced after their success. The 46 defense was not widely used before the 85 Bears, teams either emulated or learned how to work around it. Talent got poached, and that team died a long, slow protracted death. Ditka started to lose the locker room, and the team suffered slow decline. Carroll is in this same position.
The core tenants that gave Carroll the edge have been replicated, or exploited. On the offensive side of the ball he also faces some of the same issues. Teams have figured out Russell Wilson's patterns which set up the deep pass that Carroll so coveted. He continues to run an antiquated offense that has long since been left behind. More often than not it seems we stumble into victory than actually capture it. Poor usage of timeouts, and offensive mishaps/mistakes seem to plague the Seahawks. Time management is horrible and the situational play-calling is appalling to say the least. Coaching mishaps have cost the Seahawks two games we could have won.
So the question remains: does Pete Carroll's coaching actually elevate the Seahawks, make us better? I think the answer is clear, no it doesn't. In the NFL coaches must constantly evolve, and adapt, and Carroll has failed to do so, time has left him behind. He clings to old ideas, and approaches every game the same way. His defense is still decent but his offense is a shackle that is pushing this team down to obscurity. His refusal to recognize this will end up costing him his job. Especially if Wilson does get that 30 million dollar contract and he still keeps doing the same thing.
I'm happy for what Carroll has brought us, but I can no longer say he is actually elevating the team. Things could be worse than Carroll, but with Carroll I think we are going to stuck with a team that hovers around 7-9 each season, plus or minus a few wins -- essentially Jeff Fisher territory. I think he could have more success if he gives up all control of offensive play calling, and planning, but that won't happen.