Pete Carroll: Wasn't 'football people' who decided his fate

[GemCity]

I believe he is correct but when it comes down to it, the defense has been bad for awhile now and it was certainly time for a change.

That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to get better or worse. It’s change.

If JS didn’t know, I’d be surprised. I only hope that he’s as motivated as ever to do right by this team. As I’m under the impression that JS was seriously considering the Detroit gig, I think he’ll take this as an opportunity to do things he could not do with PC here.

I don’t know if the “marriage” was as sweet as we’ve been told. Pete made it a point to mention something to the effect that the next coach and personnel will be selected by JS.

As a GM of an NFL caliber/level team, I don’t think I’d enjoy being overruled by the coach (who was also the VP…or was he president?) except for what happens on the field.

I’m not saying that it was a bad relationship. I know their history. But JS has to be somewhat relieved that he is going to have full control of the position he’s allocated to.

 

[renofox]

Great post! The only thing I sort of disagree with is John’s involvement. I think he was a part of that decision or he at least agreed with it and wanted this even though it was super hard for him because of his respect for Pete

Probably true. But JS probably just kept his mouth shut during that fateful meeting so as not to destroy his personal relationship with PC.

Then again, I've talked a lot about loyalty and duty to the organization. It was JS's ethical and moral obligation to tell Jody the truth about the best interests of the Seahawks organization. The truth didn't favor retaining PC.

 

[TheLegendOfBoom]

Carroll needs to point a finger back at himself as he himself wanted all the football power and decision making.

Isn’t the product on the field for the past however many years a result of the FOOTBALL decisions (YOU) Pete Carroll made???

Cause I don’t think Jody Allen was the person that traded for Jamal Adams, gave him a ridiculous contract, extended Quandre Diggs, traded for Leonard Williams, drafted Jordyn Brooks to solidify the linebacker corp, and whiffed on a bunch of other draft picks, LJ Collier, Malik McDowell, traded away Max Unger, etc….last time I checked Jody Allen wasn’t responsible for these terrible football decisions….this is a shot at Jody Allen and whoever but when your title is Football Operations Executive and you even tell Schneider who to draft, you have to bare the full responsibility of the bad football product on the field….if Carroll doesn’t realize this than his old senile age has kicked in and it’s been more than long enough for Carroll to stay.

Carroll, had no more scapegoats.

And think Jody Allen knew this.

Thank you, Jody Allen, you made the correct decision!

 

[Torc]

It wasn't football people who hired Pete in the first place. At that time, he was able to explain to them well enough, ie dumb it down, to the point where they hired him, so why can't he 'dumb it down' to those who were in the position of deciding his fate?

While this is true, I am 100% sure that the decision to hire him wasn't made in a vacuum. Paul Allen didn't just look at a newspaper about USC's national championship and say "hire him". I'd bet they brought in consultants, "football people" to vet candidates. And I'd hazard a guess that the same process was followed before deciding to let him go.

 

[cymatica]

You don't have to be a football person to see the job hasn't been getting done and he's been getting out coached frequently as of late. I don't need to be a car guy to understand if my mechanic hasn't been doing a great job. I don't need to be a doctor to understand if I need to find a better one

 

[GemCity]

One thing to remember…it’s not like Pete failed. I can’t remember the number of coaches who came and went during his tenure but, the number shocked me a bit.

He had an incredible run.

His latest comments have me thinking he’s in a bit of denial. Not necessarily wrong.

NFL coaches can only hope and pray they have a run like PC.

It was time.

 

[James in PA]

Another interesting thing I took from this interview was how much things changed for the worse as Russ started transitioning away from being a running quarterback. Look at those crazy rushing totals that we had in the early Russ years. It wasn't all Marshawn. It made us so dangerous and unpredictable on offense. And on defense, our guys were so well rested as we were dominating time of possession with all of those rushing yards. Getting away from that really impacted the whole thing. Damn you Russ for getting old, fat, and wanting to prove you could "cook."

 

[CouchLogic]

I mean he's not wrong, but does it even need to be stated? Lol.

 

[rjdriver]

A football person would have fired him 2 years ago.

He should feel lucky

 

[Scout]

A proper defense doesn't need elite talent or perfection across the board. Knowing assignments and communication is step 1. The second step is obviously finding gifted athletes that can do more than the average players.

I saw too much lack of communication by the Hawks the last few years. As soon as Wagz came back the defense started to tighten up a bit. But you can't expect a defensive player to do all that which is where coaching matters.

Pete Carroll has extensive knowledge about defense. But his stance of being so hands off probably doomed him in the end.

 

[Chukarhawk]

Ah boy, this is gonna get ugly. And it's all going to prove his point, lol.

Yeah, no its not because he fielded some of the worst defenses in the league, year after year. That's a fact. Everything else are just excuses. Some of those defenses were historically bad. Thats unacceptable. Undisciplined is one thing if you are aggressive and smashing people. Undisciplined AND soft? That will rightly get you fired. The game passed Pete by, and he probably should have been let go earlier.

 

[MORGULON]

There's no doubt in my mind, not even one smidge of doubt, that he is referring to Jody and her people.

And I 100% agree with him.

I'm not saying it wasn't the right choice, I do still think it was the right decision and his time had come but Pete is dead on here. He was trying to get Jody and her team to grasp the concepts that only someone like Pete with his eons of coaching experience would understand from a pure football perspective.

In the end, it's a business.

This.

Here's an interesting take from someone named Warner28 on fieldgulls. I'm not necessarily endorsing it yet is it possible? I didn't want to start a separate thread
But what do y'all think?

"No matter how they narrate it, in the end it's a power struggle just like happens everywhere. For the last 4 or 5 years Pete has been firing coordinators, basically putting the blame on them without saying so. Eventually when that's not working you have to explain to someone why it isn't your fault in the end since new coordinators aren't working and you're the one that hired them and sold those hires as the right move. So now... either Pete or John or both had to take the fall. Looks like they decided it was Pete or Pete volunteered to save John. Whatever the truth, someone must have decided that player talent wasn't the issue or that John wasn't responsible for the player talent on the team."

I will say this. Pete IMHO was calling the shots, making almost all final decisions,not to say John Schneider wasn't putting together draft strategy etc..
but a lot of the time I had the feeling they were "Pete moves".

I think John Schneider is finally going to get his chance to do things his way without a boss standing over his shoulder.I'm not saying that as a dig at Pete Carroll.

 

[knownone]

Pete is 48-35 over the last five years, and he's 18-16 since moving on from his franchise QB. Good owners don't fire that guy unless they think someone better is out there. We'll see who that guy ultimately is. But the idea that Pete deserved to be fired is absurd and only speaks to his point—media and fan narratives have little to do with reality.

 

[GemCity]

Yeah, no it’s not because he fielded some of the worst defenses in the league, year after year. That's a fact. Everything else are just excuses. Some of those defenses were historically bad. Thats unacceptable. Undisciplined is one thing if you are aggressive and smashing people. Undisciplined AND soft? That will rightly get you fired. The game passed Pete by, and he probably should have been let go earlier.

.

Perhaps we go under .500. The NFL is unpredictable.

But, we can’t really go lower down the pole on Defense. We’re already there.

 

[James in PA]

Pete is 48-35 over the last five years, and he's 18-16 since moving on from his franchise QB. Good owners don't fire that guy unless they think someone better is out there. We'll see who that guy ultimately is. But the idea that Pete deserved to be fired is absurd and only speaks to his point—media and fan narratives have little to do with reality.

On the flip side, one could point out one playoff win in the past 6 seasons (against a Philadelphia team with a backup QB). Or never having an answer for McVay and the Rams. Or being a Lions upset at GB away from missing the playoffs 3 straight years. Or having one of the worst defenses in the league after pouring so many resources into it. Or all the poor defensive coordinator hires. The list goes on and on. There were no checks and balances in place. Pete had full control over everything and wasn't getting the job done anymore.

 

[Ozzy]

Pete is 48-35 over the last five years, and he's 18-16 since moving on from his franchise QB. Good owners don't fire that guy unless they think someone better is out there. We'll see who that guy ultimately is. But the idea that Pete deserved to be fired is absurd and only speaks to his point—media and fan narratives have little to do with reality.

I’ll agree to disagree. We are a .500 team, look to be regressing in key areas the team invested a ton of money into, continues to have the same problem for years now, seem to be the third best team in your own division and have one playoff win in 7 years which is very average and he’s going on 73 and was only going to coach another year or two. Moving on now and trying to kickstart the next cycle isn’t absurd.

 

[Ozzy]

On the flip side, one could point out one playoff win in the past 6 seasons (against a Philadelphia team with a backup QB). Or never having an answer for McVay and the Rams. Or being a Lions upset at GB away from missing the playoffs 3 straight years. Or having one of the worst defenses in the league after pouring so many resources into it. Or all the poor defensive coordinator hires. The list goes on and on. There were no checks and balances in place. Pete had full control over everything and wasn't getting the job done anymore.

I understand people wishing we gave him another year but to say moving on was absurd seems odd to me. If Seattle was crazy to move on and we’re all just dumb fans, why is there zero interest in Pete mor buzz for him to take another job? Seems to confirm what many here saw. Bellichick is being talked about but Pete isn’t. Interesting to me

 

[Fresno Hawk]

Pete is still a great coach. But Pete made the football decisions. He needs to look in the mirror, and see the person who sealed his fate.

 

[NoGain]

Meh, I'm going to give him a pass because I still love the guy and what he did for the franchise. He's still got fire in his belly. He's hurt. It leaked out a bit. We're all human.

And there's a job waiting for you at UW.

 

[chris98251]

Bert Kolde.

Bert Kolde is Vice Chair of the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers, and is Executive Vice President of Sports Strategy and Operations at Vulcan, where he oversees the long-term strategy and business operations of the teams and their affiliates.
Kolde has been on the Seahawks leadership team for over 20 years. He played an instrumental role in Paul Allen's purchase of the Seahawks, spearheading the legislation and referendum that led to the development of Lumen Field. Bert works closely with Jody Allen on all Seahawks-related matters.
Kolde grew up in Seattle and earned a degree in finance from Washington State University and received his MBA from the University of Washington. Bert and his wife Alison have four sons.

I think this guy was involved, he is a mediator between Jody and all the entities in sports. Jody I think was looking at the results the last few seasons and taking the input from this guy, neither are "Football" people as in Football operations but Business.

Pete speaking strategy, schemes, etc would be outside their area of strength, they are fans and that understanding can go from Novice to Die hard as far as X's and O's, schemes, how things work inside a locker room.

Speaking that the possibility of those two making the decision is not really a slam on them, he said he competed hard to be the coach, and it was the non football people that had the final say.